Justice League: Gods and Monsters

Flashpoint paradox was the only DC animated l enjoyed in recent years, and especially JL War and Throne of Atlantis were particularly bland and boring.

l suggest anyone to watch the mini introduction chronicles first to get a sense of the new versions of the league members in this alternate universe (especially Superman - Bomb!!). And if you can spend the time to read the 3 (each) mini comic releases for each of these characters you will have a much satisfying experience of this story.

Especially l am amazed with Bekka (Wonderwoman of this universe) origin story and how much deeper Bekka as a character compared to mostly bland Diana. Probably her past on Apocalypse was the best sub-story l ever encountered in DC stories. (This is as much as l can say with out spoilers).

Definitely worth watching, especially if you were a fan of Batman Animated series from 90s. Story is much more darker than regular DC ones, but not pointlessly violent. Don't miss this threat as it does not happen nowadays often.

The characters portrayed in the Justice League are very different from the ones we are usually used to see. The back-story of the characters has been changed and even the real life names of the characters have been changed. This makes for an interesting and gripping plot. Its refreshing to see the characters out of their clichéd stories.

If you are willing to try something out of the comfort zone this is it. The supporting characters have a much different role to play. This storyline is well worth further exploitation. The ending is a platitude that you can expect from Justice League. But the movie is well written and made.

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.

In an alternate universe, the Justice League is a brutal force that maintains order on Earth. As a result of the Justice League's savage tactics, their unaccountability is ultimately challenged by the world's governments following the suspicious deaths of renowned scientists.

Admittedly, I was initially influenced by some of the negative reviews that lashed out at the concept of Justice League: Gods and Monsters; however, this DC Animated Film was surprisingly entertaining. Directed by, Sam Liu, the dark and violent atmosphere suited the overall theme of the movie. Although this is an alternate Justice League from the one I grew to love over the years, this is definitely an exciting addition to the Justice League Animated Movie Series.

7 Stars.

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.