I don't even need 6 words this time, I can do a review in 5:
This movie is f*cking awesome.
The story is based on the Justice League: Origin graphic novel by Johns and Lee, and the opening follows the book closely with the entertaining first meeting of Batman and Green Lantern, who then go to Superman looking for answers on the alien device planted by a Parademon. From there, the story strays a bit from the book (but not much) as we meet Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Flash and Shazam (instead of Aquaman). Eventually the team comes together while fighting Parademons and rushing to the aid of the President, just in time for the arrival of Darkseid. A battle ensues that eventually splits up the team, and the race is on to save Earth and retrieve one of their own from Apokolips.
The writing in this movie is absolutely stellar for an animated feature. The movie certainly follows the book, but improvements are made whenever possible. Even where the book and film stories do overlap, I still found myself enjoying the movie version more. Without giving anything away, the way in which The Flash, Cyborg and Shazam tie into this story is executed much better here than in the comic and it all feels incredibly natural. All of the characters are written exactly how you would expect, to the point that it is obvious that there was a nice deal of effort put into it. Bruce is truly the detective, Barry the police scientist, Diana the regal warrior, Victor the varsity athlete, etc. We don't get a Shazam origin, but we do meet Billy Batson right away who forms a unique, and genuinely enjoyable, friendship with Cyborg. Billy also keeps his immature attitude when transformed into Shazam, and it really cements his differences with Superman in a great way. Speaking of Superman, the relationship developent between him and Wonder Woman is just too good and the resulting consequences it has for Hal, Billy, and even Steve Trevor is just great stuff. The characterization is outstanding.
There is a sprinkle of comedy to keep things light throughout JL:W that actually works quite well. This definitely isn't Agents of SHIELD, no barrage of punch-lines written into every character's dialogue to keep the scenes from getting boring. JL: War made me chuckle through the sarcastic Hal Jordan (voiced by the excellently casted Justin Kirk from TV's 'Weeds') where his jokes just seem to come off as a natural extension of his character. There is also a laugh or two that stems from Shazam/Billy's well-written naivety.
Typically, cartoon action sequences tend to get really dry really fast, but JL: War nails the fight scenes. Definitely not limited to just green will-spheres, get ready for Wonder Woman chopping Parademon heads' off and ripping out Apokoliptian eyeballs. And while the overall story has literally been presented to us already in comic book format, I still found myself completely compelled and waiting for what was coming next.
The movie definitely has some amazing stuff going for it, but it isn't flawless. The animation may have some slightly sloppy moments when things are moving quickly (it's still great though). I did really enjoy Wonder Woman's introduction, but was disappointed by the way they marginlized an anti-war rally (although I was grinning at the joke by the end of the scene). The biggest flaws for me were when the League actually all comes together in battle with the Parademons, it seems to be a bit of a stretch that they would all end up in the same place (especially after they had just been split up) which also coincidentally is the exact spot that Darkseid appears. It also seems like for an attack that is happening on a global scale, the rest of the world is pretty easily ignored. There is also a painful moment at the end as Cyborg has a cheesy task dragged out just to add tension to the final battle. These compaints are minor.
I did love the after credits scene that teases another installment (spoiler!): Panning across an ocean of dead sea life, the camera comes to a furious Ocean Master vowing revenge for the death of their Atlantean King. Looks like a Throne of Atlantis adaptation is on it's way.
This movie impressed me for a solid 75-ish minutes and there isn't a person on this website who I can imagine not enjoying it. Justice League: War is an awesome sequel to Justice League: Flashpoint and does nothing but make me hope for further continuation of this New-52-DCAU. This is one of the best CBMs (not just animated) out there, hands down.
8/10
Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United 1/10
Batman & Mr. Freeze 3/10
Doctor Strange - Sorcerer Supreme 4/10
Invincible Iron Man, The 4/10
Green Lantern - Emerald Knights 5/10
Justice League - Doom 5/10
Planet Hulk 5/10
Green Lantern - First Flight 6/10
Hulk vs. 6/10
Justice League - Crisis On 2 Earths 6/10
Superman - Doomsday 6/10
Thor - Tales of Asgard 6/10
Batman - Mask Of The Phantasm 7/10
Batman Begins 1.5 - Gotham Knight 7/10
Justice League - The Flashpoint Paradox 8/10
Thanks for reading!
Nibs