Justice League: Doom (Special Edition with Collectible Flash Figure) (2012)

I will give my review without trying to ruin the movie for fans of this genre, this review may contain spoilers, but I will do my best to not go in depth. This movie is a loose adaption of comic book writer Mark Waid's accliamed 2000 miniseries Tower of Babel, with a little bit of the more recent New 52 from DC comics. This film was directed by longtime DC Universe veteran Lauren Montgomery who was also responsible for bringing us Wonder Woman and Green Lantern: First Flight, which just happens to be one of my all time favorite animated movies.

This movie like all the previous animated movies are a animated feature which are always nice and has the feel to it of the Justice League animated series series. This film also introduces Cyborg which is a character some people might not be familiar with, even though he was a hugely popular character in the animated cartoon series of Teen Titans and has had some good success in comics recently, and is a nice change of pace to the story. This film does a good job of plot twists and those not familiar with the Babel story will be shocked at some of the things that happen.

The film is rated PG-13 like the other films that DC has released so parents with younger kids should be aware that it is given this rating not only for intense action and some blood, but several of the heroes weaknesses are used against them in a dark way, and some are tortured, so there is some emotional drama going on that you do not previously see in the other animated films. You also have the usual Superman beating up on villains type of action. The basic premise of this movie is what would happen if villains new about each members of the Justice Leagues greates vulnerabilities and knew exactly how to exploit them all in a plot to get rid of them for a even more sinister plan. Even worse, how did they find out about their weaknesses and come up with the plans necessary to make it happen? You have to watch this movie to fid out.

Longtime fans will be excited to know that Justice League: Doom boasts a lot of voice veterans that they will be familar with. Tim Daly (Superman), the great Kevin Conroy (Batman), Susan Eisenberg (Wonder Woman), Michael Rosenbaum (Flash), Carly Lumbly (Martion Manhunter), and the newest addition of Bumper Robinson (Cyborg). For the hardocre fnas it has what they believe to be the best Green Lantern in Hal Jordan voiced by Nathan Fillion, and fans of the Justice League animated series and Justice League Unlimited will recognize some of the villains in Mirror Master and Vandal Savage.

My final review is I found the movie highly entertaining and hope that they continue to make movies like this. I do wish that these movies were longer, maybe even feature film length in the 2 hr range, or at the very least the 90 min range escpecially with the PG-13 rating and darker content it is possibly geared more towards adults and pre-teens and they are trying to find the right mixture of violence/action for the adults that they can still watch with their children, with that said, another 20 minutes would have been perfect because they do such a great job of setting things up to it to only feel rushed in other parts. I found the animation to be on par with the previous films, and in Blu Ray it looks even better.

I recommend this film!

In a series of videos based on important comic story lines, this one stands out. What I like about this is each character was depicted accurately showcasing his or her strengths and weaknesses. The story was a solid one back when it was first printed, and the writers did a good job transferring it to the screen. The director did a good job taking the audience through the action scenes and plot points, and it was nice to have the voice talents back from the 90's animated series.

I also really enjoyed the character design. The stylization was just enough the make the drawings more handsome.

This movie and JLA: The New Frontier are my 2 favorite DC releases over the last 12 years.

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I've been a JL fan since the 1970s and loved the Bruce Timm produced JL and JL Unlimited series in the early to mid 2000s as well as Bruce Timm's DCAU movies. JL Doom is OK, I don't think it's nearly as good as Justice League Crisis on Two Earths. The story here is has potential but I think the execution could have been better. Two key characterization flaws here. I don't like how Wonder Woman is de-powered so much here. In Crisis on Two Earths she fought toe-to-toe and eventually got the better of the evil superwoman who was knocking Superman around. Here Diana can barely hold her own strength-wise against Cheetah and it appears they took her ability to fly away. I'd say they made her barely as strong as Spiderman compartively speaking here. The other big characterization flaw is how the Flash is portrayed. In this movie he is Barry Allen, police scientist (well CSI officer here). But the Flash is portrayed as wisecracking, and somewhat immature ...a hallmark of Wally West's personality which was well established and consistent in the JL/JLU TV series. That is not Barry Allen's personality. I agree with others in that I'm glad they used a main villan other than Luthor/Joker. Vandal Savage was a good choice. The fight sequences here aren't as good as Crisis on Two Earths. The way Hal Jordan was defeated was interesting. Despite its flaws if you are a JL fan you should watch this and despite my lukewarm reception to this movie I hope they keep making these movies because these films are a great escape.

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While I found the last five or six of these DC efforts subpar, I think the producers did a great job with this one. The animation was good, the story was very good, the acting and direction excellent, and the dialogue outstanding. I was really pleased to find the (correct, IMHO) voices of Tim Daly and Kevin Conroy in place as Superman and Batman. I thought the action sequences were convincing, and there were nice topical references here and there, e.g., regarding the economy and moribund newspaper industry. Both the JLA members and the bad guys spoke and behaved logically almost all the time. Overall, an entertaining and intelligent production.

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Is Waid's story better? Heck yes! Did this movie do a good job of giving the general gist of what ToB was supposed to be about with only 77 minutes? Again, yes. If you only have enough money to buy one or the other, buy ToB. However, if you can spare a few extra bucks, I recommend getting this movie as well.

Moving into the movie, I liked the new plans/altered plans that Batman came up with in this film just as much (if not more) than ToB and so have no problem with the changes. In fact, Bane beating Bruce's a** was one of the more wonderful parts of the movie.

Overall, the plot wasn't amazing (again, 77 minutes) but for what they had it told a decent story. (Remember, ToB didn't just span its 4 issues, but was also told with follow-up JL issues and it even had repercussions for the younger heroes like Robin in Young Justice.)

Also, for those fans in-the-know, there were several hints throughout the movie to previous things that had happened in the comics (Bane, anyone?) which I'm just nerdy enough to get a real kick out of.

The artwork was great and it looks as if they were drawn by the same person that does Young Justice. The music is again by Christopher Drake and the main theme is a sort of remix from the awesome Crisis on Two Earths song.

One thing I did find odd is that Flash is Barry Allen but voiced by Michael Rosenbaum (who voices Wally in the Justice League cartoons). Nothing wrong with that since I do like Michael's voice, but it threw me for a loop until they definitely confirmed that it was Barry and not Wally as the Flash.

In case anyone is wondering, the line-up is such: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash (Barry, obviously), Green Lantern (Hal), Cyborg (not a member of the JL, for you whiners!). For baddies you have Vandal Savage, Bane, Cheetah, Mirror Master, Star Sapphire, Metallo, & Ma'alefa'ak, as well as a minor appearance from the Royal Flush Gang. As much as I love Luthor and Joker, I'm glad they decided to go for some different villains for once.

As for the special features (on the Blu-Ray), the ones I've seen so far were just ok. The preview of Superman vs. the Elite was cool and I can't wait for it, but the Guarding the Balance: Batman and the JLA had more commentary about American history and politics than Batman. :( The episodes that Bruce Timm Presents are Wild Cards Part 1 & 2, which is cool but I already own the entire Justice League series. I haven't watched the other features yet.