Justice League: Doom - Movie Trailer, Review and more

Justice League: Doom Watch on Amazon

WIKI http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_League:_Doom

IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2027128/

MUST SEE - NOW - GO - WATCH

I love this animated feature by DC Universe. While not officially a Bruce Timm produced feature, this one keeps with the Justice League Unlimited style and even features Timm as the voice of Ace. 

This is the ultimate Legion of Doom. By far the best. I like not having Lex Luthor as the head as it decentralizes JLA as just an extension of Superman. 

On paper, upon seeing a script, I would probably say this movie tries to do WAY TO MUCH and should be a series or trilogy. BUT The director deliver a perfectly action AND story packed movie with a surprise hero at the end, followed by banishment of another... 

I don't know of another project that can handle so many heroes and villains in one sitting. Now perhaps if you are not a DCU geek such as I you you may need some back story. But I love this movie trusts we know who most of these characters are going in... (We really don't need an origin story every time - note to Live action movie producers) This movie works for me on so many levels.... 

At some point I might try to rate each movie favorite / MUST SEE to 0... But I am so much an in the moment kind of guy. Writing this review I really want to watch it again. Being an impulsive kind of guy, I think I will....

Theatrical Trailer

FUNNY STORY - when I first started to right this blog post, in my head I was imagining the Justice League Episode "HERE AFTER"  where Superman, missing and presumed dead, ends up 30,000 years in the future finding a Vandal Savage now remorseful and willing to help him home. MAYBE NOT SO FUNNY but the episode is one of the best of all TV superhero arcs of all time as well...

Here is a clip I found online....







WIKI

Justice League: Doom is an animated direct-to-video superhero film loosely based on Mark Waid's JLA story arc, "JLA: Tower of Babel". The movie was adapted and written by Dwayne McDuffie and is directed by Lauren Montgomery. While not a direct sequel to Crisis on Two Earths, the film uses similar character designs by the lead character designer, Phil Bourassa. It was released on February 28, 2012.^[1] The film also features various actors reprising their roles from the DC animated universe andGreen Lantern: Emerald Knightsrespectively.^[2][3] It is the 13th film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line.

The film is dedicated to the memory of Dwayne McDuffie who died from complications following open heart surgery shortly after writing the film.

• Kevin Conroy - Bruce Wayne / Batman^a
• Tim Daly - Clark Kent / Superman^a
• Susan Eisenberg - Princess Diana / Wonder Woman^a
• Nathan Fillion - Hal Jordan / Green Lantern
• Carl Lumbly - J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter^a (credited), Ma'alefa'ak J'onnz / Ma'alefa'ak (uncredited)
• Michael Rosenbaum - Barry Allen / The Flash^a
• Bumper Robinson - Victor Stone / Cyborg
• Carlos Alazraqui - Bane
• Claudia Black - Barbara Ann Minerva / Cheetah
• Paul Blackthorne - John Corben / Metallo (credited), Henry Ackerson (uncredited)
• Olivia d'Abo - Carol Ferris / Star Sapphire^a
• Alexis Denisof - Sam Scudder / Mirror Master^a
• Phil Morris - Vandar Adg / Vandal Savage^a
• Dee Bradley Baker - Officer in Charge
• Grey DeLisle - Lois Lane (credited), Queen (uncredited)
• Robin Atkin Downes - Alfred Pennyworth (credited), Jack (uncredited)
• Brian George - Mayor
• Danny Jacobs - Special Agent Porter
• David Kaufman - Jimmy Olsen^a
• Juliet Landau - Ten
• Jim Meskimen - King
• Andrea Romano - Batcomputer Voice
• Bruce Timm - Ace

Superman Unbound: Best Superman w/o Bruce Timm

DCU: Superman: Unbound

This is by far my favorite Superman w/o Bruce Timm at the helm. I was at first surprised to see another Brainiac story in the Animated Films after Brainiac Attacks - my personal least favorite DCU Animated feature of the past 20 years.

I always say if you are going to do the same thing over and over again, that is fine if done well... Well this rehashing the Brainiac origin for the 10th time in 20 years works for me. Unlike in Brainiac Attacks, the script is amazing. The voice acting is pitch perfect. This one left me wanting more....

Therefore I encourage you to watch right now... DCU: Superman: Unbound
Want more - SPOILER ALERT - read below...

WIKI
Superman: Unbound is a 2013 animation superhero film, an adaptation of the 2008 comic bookstory arc "Superman: Brainiac" byGeoff Johns. It was directed by James Tucker and scripted by Bob Goodman. It is the 16th film in theDC Universe Animated Original Movies series. The film's sneak preview was included with Batman: The Dark Knight Returns: Part 2and Injustice: Gods Among Us

• Matt Bomer as Superman/Clark Kent
• Stana Katic as Lois Lane
• John Noble as Brainiac
• Molly Quinn as Supergirl/Kara Zor-El
• Diedrich Bader as Steve Lombard
• Alexander Gould as Jimmy Olsen
• Frances Conroy as Martha Kent
• Stephen Root as Zor-El
• Jason Beghe as Terrorist Leader
• Sirena Irwin as Alura
• Wade Williams as Perry White
• Melissa Disney as Thara Ak-Var
• Michael-Leon Wooley as Ron Troupe
• Will Yun Lee as Parasoldier Leader
• Ian James Corlett as Kryptonian #1
• Andrea Romano as News Anchor #2, Superman's Ship

Offering herself as a hostage, Lois Lane is caught in an aerial confrontation between her terrorist captors and the unpredictableSupergirl before Superman arrives to save the day. Soon after, knowing Superman's civilian identity, Lois attempts to get Clark Kent to make their relationship public despite his fear of the consequences, but their argument is halted by a Daily Planet staff meeting before Kent leaves when they are being alerted to a meteor. Intercepting it, Superman learns the meteor to be a robot and that he promptly defeats before activating its beacon and taking it to theFortress of Solitude. With help from a fear-filled Supergirl, Superman learns the robot is actually a drone controlled by a being named Brainiac, a cyborg who was originally a Coluan scientist who subjected himself to extensive cybernetic and genetic enhancements. As Supergirl reveals from her experience with the monster, Brainiac seized and miniaturized Krypton's capital city of Kandor prior to the planet's destruction with her father and mother attempting to track him down before they mysteriously lost contact with Krypton.

Fearing more drones would come, Superman goes flying all through the galaxy in an attempt to track down Brainiac before finding his drones attacking a planet. Though he attempted to stop them, Superman witnesses Brainiac capture the planet's capital like he did with Kandor before firing a Solar Aggressor missile to have the planet be consumed by the exploding sun. The explosion knocks Superman unconscious and he is brought upon Brainiac’s ship, coming to in the examination room and fighting his way through the vessel before he discovers a room full of bottled cities prior to being attacked by Brainiac. At this point, confirming that he spared Krypton because of its eventual destruction, Brainiac reveals that he has been collecting information of all the planets he visited before destroying them. Using Superman's spacecraft, Brainiac decides to chart a course to Earth while sending Superman into Kandor. Inside Kandor, his strength waning due to the artificial red sun, Superman meets his uncle Zor-El and aunt Alura. After spending time with them, Superman formulates a plan and escapes Kandor using the subjugator robots. From there, Superman disables Brainiac's ship and spirits Kandor to Earth. At that time, Lois learns from Supergirl of why Superman left and alerts the Pentagon for a possible invasion by Brainiac as he eventually repaired his ship and arrives to Metropolis.

Despite everyone, including Supergirl, doing their best to fend his drones off, Metropolis is encased in a bottle and both Superman and Supergirl are captured. Having hooked Superman up to his ship, revealing that Earth offers nothing to him, Brainiac tortures Superman to obtain Kandor before destroying the planet. However, telling his captor what Earth means to him, Superman breaks free and then frees Supergirl and convinces her to stop the Solar-Aggressor from hitting the sun. Remembering Zor-El's words about Brainiac's ideals, Superman knocks him out of the ship and they crash into a swamp. As he fights Braniac, Superman forces the cyborg to experience bacteria and micro-organisms among the various chaoses outside his artificial environments he created. Eventually, the combined mental and physical strain reaches its toll on Brainiac as he combusts and is reduced to ash and molten machinery. After restoring Metropolis, taking Kandor to another planet to restore it to its normal size to establish a Kryptonian colony, Superman makes his love life with Lois as Kent public with a marriage proposal. However, placed in the Fortress of Solitude, Brainiac's remains are still active.

1941 Adventures of Captain Marvel - Full Movie All 12 of 12 episodes

One has to put things into context. Compared to today's movies and animations, many may have a hard time sitting through this 12-episode serial. For the young folks reading this, back in the day, before TV and the early days of Film, there would be news reels form the wars, animated shorts form Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny, and Super Hero serials like this one.

If you have seen a lot of these, you might recognize this one being better than most. And some how this feels more like what became the 1950s TV Superman style. In this version Billy is a little older than most, working as a reporter.

WIKI 

Adventures of Captain Marvel is a 1941 twelve-chapter film serial directed by John English and William Witney for Republic Pictures, adapted from the popular Captain Marvel comic book character then appearing in Fawcett Comics publications such as Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures. It starred Tom Tyler in the title role of Captain Marvel and Frank Coghlan, Jr. as his alter ego, Billy Batson.

This serial was the twenty-first of the sixty-six serials produced by Republic and their first comic book adaptation, not counting comic strips. The serial featured an adaptation of the Fawcett Comics superhero, placed within an original story. He fights a masked criminal mastermind called The Scorpion who is determined to gain control of a powerful weapon disguised as a scorpion figurine.

• Tom Tyler as Captain Marvel
• Frank Coghlan, Jr. as Billy Batson, radio operator with the Malcolm Expedition and secret identity of Captain Marvel.
• William Benedict as Whitey Murphy, a friend of Billy Batson.
• Louise Currie as Betty Wallace, a friend of Billy Batson and secretary to John Malcolm.
• Robert Strange as John Malcolm, leader of the Malcolm Expedition.
• Harry Worth as Prof Luther Bentley, a member of the Malcolm Expedition and the mystery villain The Scorpion.
• Bryant Washburn as Harry Carlyle
• John Davidson as Tal Chotali, the Malcolm Expedition's guide.
• George Pembroke as Dr. Stephen Lang, a member of the Malcolm Expedition.
• Peter George Lynn as Prof Dwight Fisher, a member of the Malcolm Expedition.
• Reed Hadley as Rahman Bar, the native chief in the Valley of the Tombs.
• Jack Mulhall as Howell
• Kenneth Duncan as Barnett
• Nigel De Brulier as Shazam, the wizard who gives Billy the power to become Captain Marvel.
• Tetsu Komai as Chan Lai
• Stanley Price as Owens
• Gerald Mohr as the voice of The Scorpion (uncredited)

Superman Vs The Elite Review and Video Preview

                                                      Superman vs. The Elite

Superman vs. The Elite

I am not too sure about this one. It may be my least favorite of the DC Universe Animated offerings. The Elite is a band of young - yet very powerful - superheroes that are a little reckless for Superman's style. Maybe because they're British?

I think this would have been a great 22-minute episode for a TV series. OR The arc for a season. I think many times a feature length movie based on a literary source, even a graphic novel or comic book, often lacks from trying to adopt numerous sub plots into a 80-120 minute feature. A 22-minute short can focus on the main points, removing sub plots in favor of a primary set up and ultimate battle sequence. A mini series, or even better the new 6-12 episode arc of Cable TV shows (And a few networks falling in line) can deal with each of the minor characters.

I feel like the feature introduced a lot. International Politics, Role of Superheroes today, Blurred Lines of Justice, and so much more... Perhaps too much.  

Give this subject s 6 60-minute arc on cable TV OR a Full season on Cartoon Network etc and you could flesh out the characters. Otherwise, it almost feels like one of those movies that ran out of money, and had to wrap up big ideas to quickly. 

The other problem, I think it becomes very hard to like Manchester Black. We love anti heroes and villains like Walter White and Tony Soprano. I think if you make Black more likable - OR Love to hate - this would have worked better. There is a quick moment where you get why he is so hard around the edges, but the character voice acting and animation does not draw you in like so many have done so much better before...

KIDS SIZE - NOT FOR ME

FROM WIKI

Superman vs. The Elite is an animated superhero film based on "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?," the story published in thecomic book Action Comics #775 (March 2001). The movie was adapted and written by Joe Kelly, who wrote the comic it was based on, and is directed by Michael Chang. It was released on June 12, 2012.^[1] The film also featured the return of George Newbern as Superman, and David Kaufman as Jimmy Olsen, reprising their roles from the DC animated universe.^[2] It is the 14th film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line.

Additional video fan put together to show off Superman's power. But maybe you can see why I don't like this one... The whole Superman Character is just a little off... 

Superman / Batman Public Enemies DC Universe Feature Animate Film

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

Released Direct to Video 2009 Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

This movie is like an episode of JLU (Justice League Unlimited TV Series) on steroids. Although it is a stand alone movie, it once again brings in much of the DC Universe characters, now aiding President Lex Luthor against the outlawed Superman & Batman.

I love the whole Superheroes / Mercenaries being recruited by the government to have an equal footing with Vigilanties when ever it occurs. I assume I am not the only one that perks up every time Amanda Waller shows up expecting this to happen - as they keep bringing back that concept in various series and movies. Most recently in ARROW on CW.

Luthor's exoarmor suit is bigger and badder than ever. Amanda Waller has a redeeming moment. Many of the best villains form 1990s Batman / Superman series and JLA/JLU make a cameo.

Movie bring us to an Anime/Manga world - which I think is genius from a marketing standpoint - by making TOYMAN a Japanese Kid that has yet to turn bad. On that note, I think toyman has to be the most interpreted villian of DC history. I mean every incarnation seems completely different. Boy Genius, Fat Computer Geek, Sore Loser / former Luthor employee, Robot Offspring of latter, etc etc etc

Can I take this moment to say WAY too much is made of the need to "JUSTIFY" DC universe realities... The beauty of fiction is that the writers had free reign. The whole GOLDEN AGE, SILVER AGE, POST CRISIS etc is taking this crap way too serious if you ask me. New decade, new world, new needs for superheroes, etc. Simpson have been around 25 years without ever aging.

Reinventing origins is great. Not sure why every writer seems to want to reinvent the wheel so often but i am cool with a revamp every once in a while. Superman 2 (Christopher Reeves) went crazy with redefining Superman's and fellow Krypton's powers. We all went "WHAT THE... (Even at age 10 at the time)" but we said, OK good movie, we will let that one ride...

And to my main point, if you deliver and entertaining product, have fun. I think any project that takes to many liberties will be rejected. A project that just recraps out what we have already seen will be rejected. Projects that are just original enough that are writeen, directed and voice/animated well (Acted for Live Action of COurse) will be loved and make a fortune... Make a superhero for just the money and you get Fantastic Four (Pick a version, they all miss the point for me) or Superman Returns.

Popcorm Movie Central Rating MEDIUM SIZE BUCKET



SUPERMAN / BATMAN at IMDB  WIKI AMAZON

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Parts 1 & 2 Review and Video Clips Animated Features

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1    Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2

CLICK LINKS TO WATCH ON AMAZON INSTANT VIDEO

So those of us that love the 1990s TV work from Bruce Timm's team will recognize the older Bruce Wayne, just a few years younger than in Batman Beyond. Bruce Timm's world of DC was always just dark enough but still showing a glimmer of light allowing hope for a happy ending.

I am one who is a fan of the last three Live Action Batman movies, but felt they tried way too hard with the third film.  This animated double feature is a far superior way to end the saga and more loyal to Frank Miller's style.

PART ONE
Ever take a break from the gym or other activity but failed to alter diet. Well that is what happened to Gotham. Batman quit and the bad guys started getting fatter with power. Gangs rule the streets - called the Mutants.  A reportedly reformed Harvey Dent reminds us eerily of real world suicide killers from schools and malls. A ressurected Batman inspires a new Robin as well. Carrie Kelley dons the colorful sidekick costume. Big battle ensues with massive battank. etc etc etc

The new Batman activity wakes up a catatonic Joker at Arkham....




PART TWO
So this is one of the coolest movies I have seen. Batman practically becomes a gang leader, converting former mutant gang members into Batman wannabe vigilantes. Joker goes on a killing spree. Superman is working for the Government and asked to deal with the Batmna Problem. Nuclear war is on the brink. And we get a showdown between Batman & Superman we have all been waiting for since Nick Cage movie was tabled over a decade ago...

I really want to see PART THREE
So here is my only problem with feature films. While we get to see our heroes and villains on epic scale, I for am used to watching the TV series where you get to see these character far more often. The movies often raise more questions. Or you see the characters in such a way they really leave you wanting more. I loved the Justice League, JLA Unlimited and Young Justice Series as the DC Universe was brought to you weekly and you really got to know these characters. Maybe I should just become a Comic Book guy. But the end of PART TWO demands a TV series... Maybe a Batman Beyond Prequel?

Justice League: War Animated Feature Direct to Video from DC Comics

Just watched this on Amazon.com

There is a lot of controversy. Mostly from the Comic Book types, which I am not. I am an avid DC movie/TV/animation fan. LOVE the Bruce Timm years mostly like most of us do. This one is different. It does seem a little disappointing after the awesome FLASHPOINT PARADOX....

So I feel like I am on a role. I recently reviewed a series of films that have turned old material into grown up fair. And I keep coming back to the same theme. The film world - in this case the animated feature world - has finally caught up to the comic book world changed by Frank Miller and others that turned the old BLACK & WHITE world of good & bad and playing the various levels of grey. 

This also seems to try and turn JLA into the Avengers. While I did not love this at first, I figure if you are going to do the origin story AGAIN lets do something fresh. Rather than a team brought together for the common good (Originally by Martian Man Hunter), this team is more reluctantly forced into co-operating by the situation. Ego and insecurity get in the way of great team work. In the end the fact that they win is almost by happen chance. This feature does not get quite as dark as other new world Superhero Offerings, but I think it has a nice mix of the new and old styles. Imagine if Frank Miller directed 1970s Superfriends - the one with the Scooby Doo knock offs, not the Wonder Twins...

This is far from being my favorite of the DC animated feature series. But I was thoroughly entertained.

I really like Shazam - so we are no longer calling him Captain Marvel right LOL Voiced by RUDY - I mean Sean Astin, the character really came alive. This character always seems so dumb. But was always one of my favorite. Back in the 4th grade I had a dream about stumbling into a scientist's lab and become a superhero. I think in many ways this is most of our dreams' until we discover girls, right? 

Also I loved the CYBORG (Shemar Moore - Criminal Minds) origin story, which I had not seen before.  

Dark Seid has obviously been juicing. Never seen him so big before LOL. The previous appearance Superman/Batman: Apocalypse was far better. 

I think you have to judge each of the DC presentations based on the target audience. Arguably this offering was geared towards a younger audience, minus a few choice words that totally otherwise ruin this argument. The animation and voice direction is definitely better for younger crowds. 

There are a lot of DC Movies head to video this year. - maybe making up for keep us waiting so long for another Superman / Batman installment. Looking forward to Son of Batman and