Justice League: Doom

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.

Another banger from Lauren Montgomery, we should just let her direct the live actions (sorry Zack Snyder, nothing against you) but this woman (despite some misses) has incredible talent directing these live animation movies. Sam Liu too. But with that said, let's get straight into the movie.

"Justice League: Doom" delves into what happens when the enemy knows the Justice League's weaknesses and how would they deal with it. Straight from the bat from the plot alone, this sounded entertaining and it actually was. Every member got a chance to shine in the spotlight, especially the new member, Cyborg. The main villain and some of the lower villains were pretty lame though, but that did not take away from the movie. I did miss the Joker in this though, would've taken it a few ratings higher. Once again, it's great to see Kevin Conroy as Batman and Tim Daly as Superman.

'Tower of Babel' was one of the earliest JLA story arcs I'd read and as such I was especially interested in how this story would translate to animation. The premise of the story is both simple and yet intriguing- Batman has secretly devised stratagems to neutralize his fellow Justice League members in case any of them turned rogue. When his files are stolen however and used against his teammates, the League is forced to confront the fact that the architect of their near-destruction is in fact one of their own...It's a compelling story which has serious ethical dimensions to it as well (not to mention some great action and character moments!)

While 'JL:Doom' is a loose adaptation, it remains faithful to the spirit of the story. Replacing Ras al Ghul with Vandal Savage, as the main villain, was a great move IMO, as I think Ras works much better as a purely Batman villain. The Legion of Doom was a great nod to the old Superfriends cartoons (kudos to them for including an arch-nemesis to Martian Manhunter, who normally gets left it in this particular area!) I was also glad they found a way to include Cyborg without making it seem contrived or making him feel like a token minority character! The other characterisations were all great (Flash came across far too much like Wally West, than like Barry Allen...but I guess than can be excused given that the voice actor is the one who played Wally in JLU). If there is one gripe I had, its that I felt there could have been more discussion of the ethical implications of Batman's actions among the League, but I guess that wouldn't have fit within the alloted run- time...

On the whole, a great addition to the animated DTV's stable...looking forward to the next one!

I do consider Crisis on Two Earths, despite its flaws, better as a Justice League movie. Justice League: Doom was still good though. I did think the ending was not gripping enough and ended far too abruptly, the villains were under-characterised in terms of depth and such and the plans didn't really ring true and could easily have been done differently. The story is also rather standard and rather uneven, the parts with Batman and Superman were fine but again the villains' plans and the ending needed more development. With a longer length and more time to breathe these problems could have been rectified. On the plus side, apart from the non-threatening character design of Metallo, the animation is very good, detailed and colourful and with fluidity. There is also an atmospherically haunting score, good pairings between the characters, compelling and well-choreographed action and sharp writing. The best asset was the voice acting, Kevin Conroy IS Batman, and Nathan Fillion, Susan Eisenberg and Tim Daly are just as top notch. All in all, Justice League: Doom may not be perfect and there are better animated superhero movies out there, but it is still worth seeing. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Justice League: Doom has one of the best storylines of any DC animated movie I've seen thus far and that makes it stand out from the rest.

It tells the story of a congregation of super villians who mastermind a plan to steal Batmans files on the Justice League in order to pick them off. Those files being the secret ones he holds on each members weaknesses and his plans to take them down should they turn bad.

With the excellent Kevin Conroy as Batman, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern and the sultry voice of Claudia Black as Cheetah the cast is top notch.

The story plays out well though the finale returns to the usual tropes. This could have benefitted from additional time, perhaps even up to another 30 minutes.

Regardless this is a good effort though I still think the DC animated movies should become a "Universe" like the live action and retain a bit of consistency.

The Good:

Fantastic voice talent

Excellent plot

The Bad:

Why does Bane look so weird in these things?

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Explosions kill but leave no marks, even when it's practically going off in a persons face

I still can't take the name Legion Of Doom seriously

I agree with Batman