Liga da Justiça: A Legião do Mal

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.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are finally seeing actual story and art continuity in the DC animated movies! Yes SUPERMAN/BATMAN: APOCALYPSE was the follow-up to SUPERMAN/BATMAN: PUBLIC ENEMIES, but they looked so different that you would think they were unrelated. JUSTICE LEAGUE: DOOM feels and looks like an actual "episode 2" following "JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS". Same writer, same voices, same art style, same music, same character we used to know and love. Loved by all, except their enemies.

The enemies of the Justice League, led by the immortal Vandal Savage have formulated a clandestine plan to eliminate the superheroes. One by one, they manage to turn the heroes' strengths against themselves, prey on their physical and psychological weaknesses, and effectively put them out of commission. Even worse is the revelation that this plan was initially concocted by one of the League's own members. It does not stop here however. Vandal Savage, convinced that humanity is its own virus, intends to wipe out half the population of earth and return the world to a new stone age. He and his allies would then rule the survivors and bring order to the planet. But nobody counted on the last minute intervention by Cyborg, an up and coming superhero most would remember as one of the Teen Titans.

Loosely adapted from Mark Waid's "JLA: Tower of Babel" story arc, JUSTICE LEAGUE: DOOM really gets into the minds of our favorite heroes. In its short run time, we get to experience our heroes' insecurities, weaknesses, fears, but also get to see how they overcome those limitations individually and as a team. That is what separates heroes from just people with superpowers! Voice acting is awesome as usual and as always it is a treat to hear most of the cast of the Justice League animated series in their respective roles again. So memorable are the performances of Kevin Conroy, Tim Daley, Susan Eisenberg, Carl Lumbly and Michael rosenbaum that whenever most people open a comic book, it is their voices they hear as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and Flash respectively. Nathan Fillon reprises his Green Lantern role from Emerald Knights, another refreshing attempt at a continuity nod. One funny thing though, Tim Daley's voice seems to have deepened to the level of Kevin Conroy's 90s era Batman voice.

Snappy, naturally flowing dialogue complements the terrific cast chemistry. With a brisk pace that never lets up on the tension, Justice League: Doom could have been a near perfect score. Something HAS to ruin that and sadly in this case, it is the art and animation.

Animation is a little bit disappointing, looking more like a high budget TV series than a movie standard. Aside from a few outstanding scenes, particularly the battle sequences, the animation is nowhere near the fluidity of, say, Batman Year One or All Star Superman. The Japanese anime-ish style is strongest now more thanks to Telecom Animation Film, a Japanese anime company who's credits include BRAVE STORY, TIDE LINE BLUE and, believe it or not, later episodes of INUYASHA.

Not that its bad, in fact it is good. The characters look really hot but sometimes you get anime-styled facial expressions creeping in and that just looks..........weird. Designs aside, the level of detail in the artwork is just one big let down. Other than tights, there is no reason why civilian clothing or even capes have no folds in them at all. Even worse is how weapons and cybernetics are drawn. Many of Cyborg's robot parts, particularly his face plating, looks like face paint.

One gets the feeling that most time and effort went into this year's BATMAN YEAR ONE and JUSTICE LEAGUE: DOOM was produced merely as a "side project" since they had Dwayne McDuffie's exceptional script lying around. No point of it going to waste. Anyhow, should Warner Premiere decide to create an entire Justice League movie series, pumping just a bit more money and effort into the animation production would help things a lot. They already have top notch writing and acting talent, veteran producers and directors who respect the DC comics. No point mucking things up with mediocre technicalities.

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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

Justice League: Doom, could as well be tagged Justice League: Contingency plan, because literally that was what it was all about.

What justice league is complete without the Bat, being totally involved? This wasn't an exception as it was all based on the contingency plan of the Bat falling into the wrong hands.

Mark Waid-penned JLA story arc, "JLA: Tower of Babel" where the Legion of Doom is formed to eliminate the Justice League using protocols created by Batman to take down the group should any member ever go rogue.

The movie was adapted and written by Dwayne McDuffie whose notably works include Ben 10, Static Shock, writing and producing the animated series Justice League Unlimited. Dwayne wrote this adaptation shortly before his death in February 2011 at age 48.

Directed by Lauren Montgomery, who also directed the animated version of Wonder woman, Green Lantern: First Flight, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.

Lauren took the Dwayne adaptation of tower of Babel, and brought about JL: Doom, which I have to add is one of the best, Direct to DVD movies DC has released (behind Superman and Batman: Public Enemies of course).

But what else can I add without spoiling the movie for you, let's see…..

Voice acting:

The voice actors were from the old series (Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited and Green Lantern: Emerald Knights) all reprising their roles, from Tim Daly as Superman, Kevin Conroy as Batman, Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman but to say a few, this made you feel at home and comfortable. By DC using former voice actors you don't feel alienated by any of the characters.

I believe DC went all the way to make sure the movie was perfect.

Phil Morris played the voice acting for the villain Vandal Savage, who was tired of the world and her ways and decided to end it all, and be the ruler of what is remaining. Wonder when villains will try something else other than take over the world. But no matter how much they try, it never gets old to see the Bat and Sup, take them down.

Animation:

The animation and art style is, exquisite and you get to enjoy it.

All in all in this short review, all I can say is buy and watch this whether you are a fan of the DC comics or not, a fan of cartoons or not, this is a movie made for everyone. it gets my 7.

I'm not a massive fan of comic books but I have found myself reading more of those considered "classics" as I have had more access to them than before and it has made me more interested in the genre. This has also led to occasionally checking out some of the animated films featuring the characters and brought me to this film. I don't think I've read much featuring the Justice League together as an entity and when I started watching I was a little bit put off that it included characters that I didn't particularly care for (mostly, in fairness, because I've never given them much of a chance, don't know them or have decided that based on rubbish film versions of them).

Once it got going though the film was actually pretty enjoyable. It spread the load across all the characters, giving each enough action and time to fill but not too much to overload anyone or make any of them stand out as the lead. The plot is relatively straightforward but it does produce plenty of events and action and I found it pretty entertaining for what it was. The animation is colorful and accessible – personally I prefer it darker and with more menace, but again it worked for what it was. The voice cast are strong throughout – Conroy as ever but I really enjoyed Fillion, Lumby, Rosenbaum, Black, Blackthorne and many others in there, not only are they good nods to other things but they are good here.

This is still an animated superhero film though and as such it is bright, full of action and fairly simple in terms of plotting and delivery; it does work though and I found it entertaining and enjoyable throughout the short running time.