Justice League: Gods and Monsters Review

Oh Bruce Timm art, how I missed thee...

Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation back again with a brand new review. Today, we will be taking a look at an animated movie I've been looking very forward to in the last few months: Justice League Gods and Monsters, an original story by Bruce Timm: The main man behind The DC Animated Universe (which includes The Batman, Superman, and Justice League animated series from back in the day along with other shows). Let's dive right in!

Synopsis: Justice League Gods and Monsters is a brand new take on the DC Universe starring completely different and much darker versions of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. When the Trinity is accused of the murders of some of the brightest minds in the DCU, they must track down the person that's framed them of these crimes, all the while dealing with a world that doesn't want them.

The Good:

As previously stated, Gods and Monsters is a completely brand new DC Universe and Bruce Timm takes full advantage of that fact with this radically different trinity. In this universe Superman is the son of Zod and was founded by Mexican immigrants, Batman's a vampire to put it shortly, and Wonder Woman is not an amazon but a New God. What I find very interesting is that while the characters are different, the core of what they stand for is still intact: they're still about Truth, Justice, Love, and Peace but the means of achieving those are different from normal. These new versions of old characters make for entertaining interactions and moments.

And because this is an alternate world with alternate takes on characters, the brutality and slightly crass language that have become a common thing in the DC animated movies nowadays fit better here in this movie than in the ones done previously before; and even with the darker tone, the movie manages to have this sense of hope and heroism to it.

Because of their violent tendencies, The Trinity in this movie are not approved of by the media, the government, or the common folk; and the movie dedicates time to delve into the motives of the new Trinity and if they want to protect the world or if they want to rule it. In my opinion, the writing team did a great job with blurring that line of justice and dictatorship (Best word I could come up with). 

Another enjoyable thing to note if you're familiar with your DC Lore are all he name drops and Easter Eggs that come in the movie. I couldn't catch all of them, but hearing a familiar DC character name in this movie was pretty cool and helped serve to build this new world.

And finally, if you've read my previous DC Animated movie reviews, then you know that I find the action to be great. Moving on.

The Bad: 

Honestly, out of the new Trinity, the least interesting one to me was Kirk Langstrom/Batman and that's a really bad thing considering that he's the biggest driving force of the movie's plot. Compared to Superman and Wonder Woman, who felt so radically different from their traditional counterparts, this Batman felt more like the same except now he sucks blood and his parents aren't dead...

As Far as I know...

I found the character himself to be very boring and its not supported by his voice acting. I get that this Batman is a cold emotionless vampire and Michael C. Hall played that part perfectly, but because he did play the part perfectly, Batman's constant monotone voice can get a little boring to listen to. It's like sitting in a lecture hall for history class and the teacher is the most boring guy and he's just reading off of a slideshow.

To add to the negatives, I wasn't a big fan of seeing these characters' origins. Don't get me wrong, I understand why it was done, and I found the origins themselves to be entertaining (Especially Wonder Woman's). My big issue with the origins stem from the fact that prior to this movie, there were three five minute shorts titled "Justice League Gods and Monsters Chronicles" and they served to be a prequel to the movie. Because of this, I found myself asking why couldn't the origins have been in the prequel shorts? The way they were done in the movie, it felt a little bit like pace breakers.  

And the final bad here is when the big villain of the movie is revealed, you're going to be disappointed by his weak motives. You might even be able to call who the villain is very early in the movie.

Conclusion: With the last year and a half seeing lackluster entries in the DC Animated film library, it's good to know that Bruce Timm still delivers. While having a couple of bumps in the road, Justice League Gods and Monsters manages to engage the viewer and keeps them so with its story, theme, and characters; and it leaves the door open for more stories to tell, The movie gets a stamp of approval from me; and if you crave more of this world and these characters, then check out the prequel shorts "Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles" that are on YouTube now and go read The Gods and Monsters comics that also tie in to the movie.

Til next time folks, I'm The Shaman of Animation and the sight of Darkseid smiling and happily clapping creeps me the F**K out.

Seriously, Look at this picture. This ain't right, it ain't right at all...

Take Care...