Justice League: Gods and Monsters

For the past two years, DC's Original Animated Movie lineup was a bit shaky in terms of quality, unlike the 6 years preceding it. Going in, even with Bruce Timm (a legend in American animation) returning, my hopes were not high. I had read the prequel comic series, and I found it entertaining but unnecessarily dark and feared that the movie would suffer from the same flaw. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. It exceeded all my expectations and then some.

The movie showcases an alternate DC universe, which has a darker Justice League who investigate the mystery of some missing scientists. The fallacy of many parallel earth stories are that they do a tacked-on comparison with the originals. Gods and Monsters does it in such a way that is to be applauded with neat hints to Ray Palmer's shrinking technology, the treaty between Apokolips and New Genesis which really gives us a feel to the new universe that is being created here. The story is really great, with focus being on this world's Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, and a last minute twist that no one could have predicted, yet is very faithful to the source material, a silent nod to some relatively recent comic series, such as "52" and "Prelude to Trinity War". The morals of these characters are not black-and-white, which makes it harder to root for them.

The characterization is top-notch, especially with Lex Luthor, Will Magnus and Batman (voiced by the amazing Michael C. Hall, famous for Dexter, who really steals the show). On that note, the voice acting in this one is brilliant, with the exception of Lex Luthor, who seemed a little off to me. The fight scenes are brutal and epic on a grand scale, however, the little moments, such as the revelation of Bekka's tragic past and Kirk's college flashbacks' are the real highlights of the movie. Even in the short span of 60 minutes, it makes you care deeply for these characters, despite their fallacies.

Overall, Gods and Monsters is a great alternate take on the DC Universe, which can be enjoyed by fans, especially since it is laden with easter eggs, and newcomers alike, because of it's accessibility. With great voice acting, excellent animation and a compelling story, it is a must watch for any Justice League fan.

To say that I've become disenfranchised by the DC Animated films would be a bit of an understatement. Ever since Justice League: War, they've just been a mess. There was the one bright spot of Assault on Arkham but otherwise they've just been dull action movies that don't do the characters justice. Thank goodness WB brought back Bruce Timm, who was one of the primary creative forces behind the Batman and Justice League animated series that kicked off DC animated projects being good in the first place. The result is the best DC animated film since New Frontier.

Gods and Monsters can be said to be the first true Elseworlds story that's been done in animation. Sure there's been some parallel world stuff (Crisis on Two Earths) and plenty of out of continuity stand alones (like the aforementioned New Frontier) but they've still kept the characters pretty close to the standard versions we all know. None have really tried to craft a completely new vision of what these characters are, and that's what this story does. It makes the wise choice of having different characters taking on the mantles of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman rather than actually trying to muck about with Clark, Bruce or Diana. Instead Superman is the son of Zod, Batman is Kirk Langstrom (better known as the Man-Bat in the main DC universe) and Wonder Woman is one of the New Gods (such as High Father and Darkseid.) Their backstories are explored just enough to give a good picture of these versions without ever bogging down the narrative itself.

Like any good Elseworlds story, this is an "all bets are off" take where any prior knowledge of the main DC universe can add some weight when characters like Victor Fries or Dr. Sivanna get name dropped, but nobody is exactly the same as their standard representation. All of the voice work is solid, and each of the primary characters (and even some of the secondary ones) are given the chance to stretch a little and show some dimension.

The action is also a huge step up from what we've gotten lately. Most of the DCAU films based on the New 52 continuity have had well done yet rather mundane action sequences. The problem is that those films are trying for a more realistic version of fights, which isn't what animation is good for. Animation is good for over the top stuff that couldn't be replicated by just two actors and a fight choreographer, and that over the top stuff is what we get here.

I don't think I can recommend this highly enough for anybody who has found the recent output of DC animated films to be sorely lacking. This is a return to form, it's a top notch story, it's a fun and engrossing new take on characters and it's the kind of thing I hope we see more of in the future.

Justice League: Gods and Monsters is a much welcomed return to the quality standard DC Animated established that was a bit lacking in the last few entries since Justice League War, Son of Batman and others. What makes it even more special is that it isn't based on any material but is a new, original take on the Justice League.

If you haven't seen the free-to-watch shorts, know that the almost all characters have little to none in common with their original, classic counterparts and only share the same handles and loosely the same function within the league. Superman is now the son of Zodd, Batman has no problems killing villains by sucking their blood Dracula-style and Wonder Woman has a completely different background. New faces, new abilities, new origins and relations etc. Considering how much was already done in Batman TAS, Superman TAS, Batman Beyond and Justice League, it's really refreshing to see Bruce Timm back doing new things while still maintaining the similar feel and quality the classic Justice League series are known for. While it's not quite on par with the best episodes of the Diniverse/Timmverse, it's definitely up there with the good ones.

A good portion of the fun is discovering familiar characters and see what has changed about them. You'll see familiar faces or just familiar outfits, notice what changed on the first sight and wonder what what else is new about that character and where they'll go with him. The good thing about it that they don't feel neither better nor worse, gimmicky or unnecessary, just different and effective in waking my curiosity and it makes the impression the makers had fun with it for the most part. It succeeds where Justice League War, another alternate universe JLA movie, failed.

The story tells the origin of each of the three Justice League members with a plot-line in the current time and is pretty much straight forward, but interesting enough and well paced. The downside of is that you have to be familiar with the DC universe to a degree, otherwise you'll be wondering about the function of a couple of characters with small screen time and won't care for their destinies as much.

The action is a bit lacking, but the focus is more on storytelling and characters anyways, so its a good trade off. A change here is now that the JL member are much more ruthless and have less remorse, which results in some bloody kills. It's a good thing that the writers have more freedom in that regard, however in this case it feels a bit forced and clumsy. It feels weird seeing them crush some goons with a huge and heavy door and seeing blood coming out underneath it. Perhaps I'm just too used to the DC Animated series, but it felt more out of place rather than adding anything to it. They got it right in a few scenes, but for the most part it felt just like a gimmick - violence just to show they can do it, without any meaningful impact or purpose.

Overall it is good, solid and refreshing fun. It's a good mix of old and new with very similar art-style to the series and is a great way to start things off. It has it's faults like a few characters being degraded to throwaways (Darkseid, Harley Quinn in the shorts...) or not being more subtle on certain things, but the rest makes easily up for it. There is much potential and hopefully we'll see more of it, maybe even in a form of a series just like in the old days. It's deserves a shot.

Writers seem to love alternate universe type shows which allow them the creative flexibility to play with the mindsets and motivations of our beloved character as well as kill characters off with impunity knowing that they will rise again once everything is "reset". These type shows have been executed with varying degrees of success. "The Flashpoint Paradox" is an example of doing this well. "Gods and Monsters" follows in its footsteps as an example of a well executed parallel universe movie.

The characters are fleshed out enough for us to become attached without going into so much "origin" as to affect the pacing of the episode or to ruin the opportunity for future exploration of the characters. The show is violent but the violence is not gratuitous as there is purpose to it in the movie. That being said I would not show this to very young children. The ultimate gauge of how well this type of shows succeeds is whether or not we want to return to this reality to see what happens next after the final credits roll. It can also be judged by how well it stacks up against the "normal" reality as in the TV show "Fringe" which created an alternate setup which became at times more engaging than the "normal" reality.

"Gods and Monsters" does this successfully and I hope we can revisit this alternate universe sometime in the future with subsequent installments. A few caveats: If you don't like liberties taken with your characters or your idea of an "alternate" universe is that Flash's lightning bolt is green instead of yellow, but that he is fundamentally the same character and/or will come around to being the same character you are used to then this is not the show for you. If you can let go of some of your preconceptions about the characters then you will find this an enjoyable excursion.

I was hesitant about what Gods and Monsters would bring to the table. I was hoping it put DC animated movies back on track after some mediocre entries like Throne of Atlantis. And I'm delighted to announce that DC is back. Gods and Monsters is another great entry in DC's animated film catalog that can stand alongside some of the greats like Under the Red Hood or Flashpoint Paradox.

The story has an interesting premise. We see three of the founding members of the Justice League in this Elseworld story where the Justice League is more brutal and morally gray which makes the government feel threatened. Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are center stage and each have a newer origin story which help flesh out the characters more. The origin stories blend nicely with the rest of the story and add certain emotion when necessary. Lastly, as usual, there is a threat that affects the entire world except this time the threat is framing the Justice League and causing it to be feared even more by the government than they already are. Along the way, there are some nice twists and turns which help the viewer stay engaged.

The voice acting is top notch and was a nice and refreshing change from the usual Kevin Conroy and Tim Daly. As much as I love them, it was great to hear some new voices.

Overall, this Elseworld story is a fantastic addition to the DC Animated Universe and is a clever spin on what could be a normal Justice League movie. The darker and grittier tone allowed the film to fully develop this newer Justice League to their full potential and just made the film more intriguing in general. Definitely check this one out.

"Someone once asked if I wanted to save the world or rule it. Today it's going to be hard to tell the difference"