Directed by Jay Oliva
Okay.
This is actually my second
attempt at writing a review of the latest DC Animated Movie, which
reportedly sets up a prospective series of animated versions of the 2011 Reboot “New 52”
Universe. My initial reaction upon viewing Justice
League: War,
which is based upon the opening story arc (issues #1-6) of the New 52
Justice
League
comic by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee, there entitled Origin,
was a visceral revulsion that verged on physical sickness. Although
for whatever reason I felt compelled to share my reaction and
envisioned it launching a full-bore diatribe about how it exemplifies all those things I do
not like
about the New 52 in general, in truth, I really do not like writing
negative reviews and could get nowhere over the course of several
days in trying to put my feelings into words to bring those ends
about. My son pointed out my reluctance to be a negativist and
wondered why I was trying to do so here. He could not understand the
seething rage that needed some kind of release in this case, and as I
got further and further away from the experience neither did I. That
was when I decided to subject myself to it again for fairness' sake,
determined to be more objective. I'm glad I did so. The resulting
review is, I believe, far more balanced.
Although I still believe the animated form of “living” color brings into far too clear a focus many things I find most disheartening about contemporary DC Comics – indeed modern comics in general – I did find things to like in this effort, although on balance it just makes me long for days gone by even more. Why in the world DC felt the need to wipe out the wonderfully rich history that had been accrued over 75 years (or just, if you want to split hairs,the last 25, although I consider the post-Flashpoint discontinuity to be far more radical than the corresponding post-Crisis break of the 1980s) I'll never truly understand, especially since the execution has been so haphazard and has resulted in at least as much confusion and, in my opinion, overblown interconnectedness between titles and franchises that is deleterious to anyone interested in any specific corner of the DC Universe and disincentive to the perhaps-mythical creature Lector novus. As usual, this will be a “rambling” post. I spent far too much time on the abortive first draft and now mainly just want to get various thoughts out there.
First
with the bad. From the very beginning, this movie seemed to display
with perverse pride as if intent on highlighting just about
everything I have not liked about the New 52 – most blatantly a
level of gratuitous foul language which, while admittedly rather mild
when compared to real life (and from my own mouth at times) nevertheless suffers from the “context
is everything” rule in that in
the context of an animated feature,
a.k.a. a “cartoon,” it stuck out as self-consciously forced and
inappropriate, like grade-school bullies trying to sound all “grow'd
up” and tough. The effect was even more objectionable than in the
comics themselves where I don't approve but where it can be
obfuscated by symbols such as “%*€&!”
Even though the level of profanity used here generally does appear
in plain text in recent years' comics, even before the New 52, it
seems so much more prevalent now; even so, it's just not as glaringly
offensive in print vs. having the ear assaulted by “Damn
it!,”
“Turn
off the damn light!,”
“I'm
Green Lantern, damn it!,”
“What
in the hell did you do?,”
“Are
you freaking kidding me?”
– and that's just in the first couple of minutes. Overall, the
dialogue was just downright awful – I don't know whether to laugh
or cry that so much of it comes verbatim from the comic and therefore
is owed to Geoff Johns, but from the mouths of animated characters
the effect is embarrassingly bad. It's not just stilted wording;
some of the dialogue delivery, the “acting,” so to speak, made me
shudder – especially Wonder Woman (“There.
Is
my. True. Calling. … Leave. This. To. Me.”)
Similarly,
the overall darker tone seemed to necessitate incredibly abrasive
characterizations of heroes whose adventures I generally have
followed all my life and had me wondering “Who are these
strangers?” It's a problem in the New 52 that seemed literally
thrown in my face here. And, as I indicated above, it elicited from
me a strongly negative reaction.
 |
| (L) New 52 - (R) JL: War ... and, yes, she does eat ice cream in this story |
While the quality
of animation and design work seemed on a par with what I've come to
expect from the generally excellent standards of Warner-DC animation
– in fact, somewhat ameliorating features of the New 52 overly
“busy” costume designs that Jim Lee pretty much imposed on the
company in an unwelcome return to the worst of 1990s “aesthetic”
– I have to comment on the horrible miscarriage that was Wonder
Woman. She looked like Twiggy-with-breasts, an impression enhanced
by the addition of some kind of dark blue turtleneck
“anti-decolletage” extension above the traditional bustier. I
have no problem with getting away from the rather silly strapless
swimsuit look that has been traditional for the character, but trying
to keep its lines in this manner is a mistake that visually elongated
her torso. Keeping the high-cut panties doesn't really work
for me, either. If they wanted to depart
more radically from the traditional design than the New 52 version, I
would have made the top all red except for the silver design, and
covered her thighs in unbroken blue down to her boots (which were
also blue). (I've always favored a more “armored” look similar
in spirit to Xena's, however, as fitting the “warrior princess”
aspect of Wonder Woman that is particularly evident in this story.) Other
than Wonder Woman, however* – and the too-bright areas of green
energy on Green Lantern's uniform – I generally liked the vision
shown here. This Darkseid was, in fact, the best animated version
I've seen, conveying full well his evil god-like menace through both
his stature and the archly majestic and condescending – not to
mention quintessentially Kirbyesque – parade-rest pose.
Finally,
I believe there is a lesson in this movie and its execution. Like
the original story arc in the New 52 Justice
League comic which is entitled
Origin, although it tells of
the beginnings of that team and provides an origin for Vic
Stone/Cyborg, that is all. It is not
an origin for the other characters. I'm undecided whether I think
the name-change to Justice
League: War is good or bad in
itself, but I suspect that the use of a subtitle at all was felt
necessary both to distinguish it from the previous cartoon series
mentioned above and
the prospective live-action movie that may
appear within the next five years, reportedly after Man
of Steel 2. But my main point
is that I think Justice League:
War illustrates perfectly a
point I've argued for years. Although this animated movie is
doubtless finding its main audience among those more likely than the
general movie-going population
to be familiar with the
details surrounding the characters' back-stories, the story works
perfectly well without
those details. The big-name DC super-heroes do
not need their origins laid
out from the beginning. They are by and large cultural icons to a
degree that the Marvel Comics characters in general (except for
Spider-Man, perhaps) were not before being brought to the big screen.
A few years ago I dare say your man in the street could not have
told you much of anything about Iron Man or Thor or Black Widow or
Hawkeye, and in fact those latter two characters have yet
to have their origins shown. But who doesn't
know the basics of Superman's story and abilities? – Batman's? –
Wonder Woman's? – Shazam's? (sadly, DC does have a point that in
part due to the legal constraints under which they have used the
original Captain Marvel for forty years now, but also owing to the
significance of the magic word by which Billy Batson assumes the
Power, many
assume that to be the character's name. I don't like it, but I
reluctantly accept it) – Green Lantern's? (at least that he has a
“magic” ring … oh, and there is
that big-budget “unsuccessful” movie of a couple years ago –
which grossed over $200,000,000; its “failure” is based on its
high production cost … but $200,000,000 gross translates to a lot
of people seeing it) – Flash's? (runs fast) – Aquaman's? (you
say “talks to fish” and I'm hunting you down like a dog!
– breaths underwater!)
People even
know what the “Justice League” is far more so than they did “The
Avengers” as a comic-book property a few short years ago. There is
no need
for Warner Brothers-DC Entertainment to build toward a Justice
League movie like Marvel had
to lay the groundwork for the
Avengers
movie. Don't get me wrong – Marvel did what it had to virtually
flawlessly, but they had to do
it. Warner-DC does
not.
Like
the New 52 itself, Justice
League: War ends up having
things that I like as well as things that I do not like. If
Warner-DC is determined to shift their DC animated movies toward the
New 52, I'm not as opposed as I was (one line in that original draft
had me melodramatically wailing an admittedly over-the-top “Please,
God, no!”).
I am saddened that the welcome refuge from the increasingly bleak,
cookie-cutter story-telling that afflicts much of the New 52, that I
find increasingly indistinguishable from Marvel Comics on a bad day,
that has hitherto been provided by the DC animated movies – and
even more so the best of the TV series (the Bruce Timm-overseen “DC
Animated Universe” from Batman:
The Animated Series through
Justice League Unlimited,
with Young Justice
not exactly part of that
continuity but very much in its spirit) – is to be no more. I will
miss that world as deeply as I do the pre-Flashpoint/New
52 DC Universe in the comics. But I will likewise find enough to
accept and even to like to keep me engaged as I hold to the hope that
Warner-DC will find its way back to the greatness that they turned
their back on. I am not just a fair-weather fan. These characters,
in everchanging forms, some I have liked more than others, have been
part of my life for all my life, and I do not see that changing.
Cheers,
and Thanks for reading!
*
* *
*
I just had a horrible thought: Could this have been a trial balloon
for a prospective Man of Steel
2 Wonder Woman costume design?
I pray not.
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