Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Kevin Conroy | ... | Batman (voice) | |
Tim Daly | ... | Superman (voice) | |
Susan Eisenberg | ... | Wonder Woman (voice) | |
Nathan Fillion | ... | Green Lantern (voice) | |
Carl Lumbly | ... | Martian Manhunter / Ma'alefa'ak (voice) | |
Michael Rosenbaum | ... | The Flash (voice) | |
Bumper Robinson | ... | Cyborg (voice) | |
Carlos Alazraqui | ... | Bane / Terrorist Member (voice) | |
Claudia Black | ... | Cheetah (voice) | |
Paul Blackthorne | ... | Metallo / Henry Ackerdson (voice) | |
Olivia d'Abo | ... | Star Sapphire (voice) | |
Alexis Denisof | ... | Mirror Master (voice) | |
Phil Morris | ... | Vandal Savage (voice) | |
Dee Bradley Baker | ... | Officer in Charge / Newscaster (voice) | |
Grey Griffin | ... | Lois Lane / Queen (voice) (as Grey DeLisle) |
The Justice League are a team of great power, but also of personal secrets they thought safe. That changes when the immortal supervillain, Vandal Savage, has Batman's Batcave secretly raided to learn them all and more. Soon, the Leaguers are individually beset by their enemies who attack them with inescapable death traps specifically designed with that information. With that, all seems lost until an indomitable Knight and a young Titan combine to deliver salvation even as Savage uses the opportunity to implement a far grander scheme. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
Bottom line, this is an workhorse story and animation with great voice acting. Kids will enjoy it, adults might if they shut their brain off a bit.
Andrea Romano once again assembles the A-list of voice actors - most of the original Justice League cast is back, and for that I'm thankful - the exception is a Nathan Fillion voiced Green Lantern (probably trying to tie in with the recent movie spin offs). He does a good job. Also, Cyborg is added to the mix (perhaps to promote his new role in the comic?).
The character design is solid, unlike some of the other DCAU entries (I'm looking at you Death of Superman).
Unless I am mistaken, they reused the theme from "Crisis on 2 Earths" for the opening sequence - this is kind of a quibble, as I'd say it's the most epic theme ever written for any of the DCAU titles - but seriously, give this composer more work, he is awesome.
I hesitate to call this "bad" but the story is a bit "meh". The Legion of Doom is assembled of mostly C-list villains, headed by Vandal Savage. I don't have a problem with pulling some of the more obscure DC characters out, but none of these villains is particularly well characterized (this is a criticism of the script NOT the voice acting, which is well done). The strength of the story comes in the grudging relationship between Batman and the Justice League and also his relationship with Superman. It is a bit weak in the transition to the 3rd act, making the villains look remarkably short sighted, this could have been handled better. It seems a bit dumb to make these DCAU titles PG 13, having the villains threaten and kill people occasionally, but have their evil plans strictly G rated.
I'm not sure if it's a function of the story-boarding or direction, but the scenes are kind of workhorse, lacking the incredible dynamism demonstrated in "Shazam and Superman: Return of Black Adam" and the accompanying shorts, directed by Joaquim Dos Santos It would be nice if these animated "movies" felt more like movies - bigger, better action than we get from typical animated TV shows. Bruce Timm and company set a pretty high bar years ago, if all else fails, get Dos Santos to consult.
While this is not horrible, a similar story was done before in the Justice League TV show, and I would say it was done better in Season 1, "Injustice for All" and especially in Season 2, "Secret Society", which I think was also written better, with better action.
Overall, it's great to hear the original (perfect) voice cast back, just wish this entry brought a little more "boom" with them.