Justice League: The New Frontier
Review by Matthew Hunter
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www.jlnewfrontier.com/ |
In yet another origin-story retelling of the Justice League of America (everyone's favorite superheroes in an alliance to protect the world), the setting is the Cold War era. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter, plus a horde of others in cameos, unite against a mysterious force known as "The Centre". Based on a graphic novel by Darwyn Cooke, this film is actually deemed edgy enough to be rated PG-13...mainly for blood and a minor swear word or two.
It looks nice, but the animation is stiffer than we've come to expect from Warner's superhero stuff. It also takes way too long to get to the point, and seems to spend more time on Green Lantern than anyone else, despite the fact he doesn't even don the famous power ring until well into the second half. The movie feels like it can't decide where to go...the graphic novel that inspired it was supposedly a much less linear story, and something is lost in translation. The voice cast is good, but doesn't really gel, in my opinion... and I miss Kevin Conroy's Batman.
Watch for a funny bit with Martian Manhunter mimicking the characters on a TV set (including Groucho Marx and Bugs Bunny) and a well-cast Joe Mantagna as a Dean Martin-esque Vegas Ratpacker.
The DVD also includes a wonderful documentary about the history of the Justice League, and I actually thought it was more interesting than the feature presentation.
If you're a DC Comics fan or just curious about this film, you might want to give it a rental. It's not bad, but it's hardly Warner's finest achievement in the DC Superhero cartoon category. It's not so much a "New Frontier" as it is the same old frontier re-imagined...to mixed results.
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