As a big fan of DC Comics and it's characters I always look forward to any new movies, toons, or comics that might offer me something new. Having not heard of Darwin Cook's graphic series, New Frontier aside from seeing the action figures at the comic shop I was anxious to see this new take on the Justice League series. I grew up loving the Justice League comics and TV shows as a kid. Loved the tension between Batman and Superman in the league. To me the best incarnation of the JLA was not too long ago on the Cartoon network's Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. It really had a cool edge to it, that the old Super Friends show did not. Don't get me wrong I'm not knocking the old Super Friends show, but it was for kiddos and once you got into the comics you realize how much they really missed on that old show. Cutting to the chase, several years ago, Darwin Cook wrote this version of the JLA that takes place in the 50's/60's that shows our heroes dealing with the issues of the day ala JFK, MLK and other relevant social issues. It's a more realistic world and the violence that happens is not fantastic it's real. Which brings us to the DC Direct to DVD movie...In the first scene, Hal Jordon (AKA Green Lantern) is shot down by a communist jet and lands in an enemy trench, he struggles with a commie, until finally shooting him in the head with blood splattered on his face after he pulls the trigger. Like I said this is not Super Friends.
The animation is stripped down and very 50/60's style. It is stylized but in a good way. The characters seem fresh this time around. Many of their origins are shown here, like Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern. A lot of this movie takes place around the time of the Space Race, so The Green Lantern is more or less the main character of this one. However he does not become the Lantern till almost the end of the movie. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Flash are the main characters. They recently disbanded the Justice Society because of disagreements on how to handle situations. This disagreement is somewhat of an analogy for the situation that America is in with racism and communism trials. Its a really brilliant idea, and one can only hope that the current in production live action Justice League can muster a tenth of this story's significance.
Reading comics and especially The Justice League made you feel as kid that if you work as a team with others you can make a difference in the world no matter how large the problems may be. It gave me hope as a kid. And this film represents that hope once again that we need heroes, we need hope. The animation and voice work here is really good. I missed some of the voices from the recently canceled JLA Unlimited, but the new voices are still very good, just takes getting used to. There are also several documentaries on the disc including a long one chronicling the history of every era of the JL in the comics. There is also a great documentary on the evolution of the Legion of Doom.
So if you love Superman, Batman, or any of the Justice League heroes check this movie out. It's rated PG-13 and it means it. To see the official website click HERE. The trailer is down below, and a great review can be found HERE.
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