Review – Justice League: The New Frontier
- Ethan Cole
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Around the time of the red scare, the commies were apparently everywhere to mess things up, so much so that the government is afraid – to the point even their ‘heroes’ cant be trusted, with the exception of Superman. A new threat arises: known only as ‘The Center’ – an ominous and unseen force of evolutionary proportions. Through a series of events that eventually dovetail – the ‘heroes’ band together invoking hope and justice.
This isn’t technically a “Justice League” film in the sense that they’re not a league yet, but utilizing the characters that make up the league – though not to the extent of the comic, only so many can be fit into 74 minutes, and to their credit it’s impressive how many are here.
Plot wise, there isn’t a strong through narrative – with the typical villain that must be stopped – but rather operating within the realm of the conceptual unseen but ever present force. It works to some degree, but there’s not quite a strong enough sense of risk present or urgency in regards to the impending doom that one would expect from superhero material (although there is one villain; Captain Cold, courtesy of the Flash’s rogues gallery). It is all in line with the era and the style of cinema that it invokes, possessing the degree of innocence – where modern concepts would seem out of place and work to its detriment, in light of this; it’s excellent.
This is an interesting project to bring to life in an animated form – with an excellent opening reminiscent of old film style wipes and transitions yet brought to form with a contemporary flourish. The opening titles too, are uniquely stylized; capturing the feel of the era and visually conveying a mini-story vignette of its own.
The art style embodies a purity reflective of the material, as such, it’s impressive that the vibe of the time period was captured with a blend of contemporary touches without crossing the line into parody or being overtly cheesy. In effect, there is a certain truth and purity that resonates through the picture. This is echoed in the use of colors which are vibrant in addition to a range of lighting and color palettes; utilizing different schemes depending on the scene – and at times is reminiscent of the Technicolor look. Some scenes in particular feature a fantastic use of shadow evoking a classy noire ambience.
The animation is smooth and more physical than previous projects, as well as featuring great use of slow motion which was unexpected, yet incredibly effective; making for some a cool character reveal and enhancing action. Augmenting this are some subtle (almost throwaway) touches, such as the movement of Lois’ and Superman’s hair and cars whizzing by outside of windows – making the world seem alive. Differing from previous projects is the use of jagged-edges and motion lines during action sequences, which in itself is different using less cuts and no flash-frames on impacts.
The audio is great, coupled with a brilliant soundtrack featuring a good variety of styles and a particular great use of noire flourishes. At times though, some cues can be a little over to top. The voice work is solid from the principle cast to the extras, with the exception of the awkwardly reproduced Vietnamese walla.
The Hal Jordan/Rick Flagg dynamic isn’t as strong as it should be given the time restrictions, which weakens the drama later to a certain degree, but the pay off is still great. The sequence may play differently for some of the kids and some folk in today’s world, but there is great drama here in so far as both characters are in the right – and further augmented by the voice actors. David Boreanaz is outstanding as Hal Jordan, who has the strongest character arc; playing through a majority of the greater story. A weight and energy is present in the delivery informing the depth of the character and his will.
J’onn J’onzz, similarly with Hal undergoes an interesting journey, one that’s more evident throughout the picture than others. The animation and character design is great in the forms he chooses (when not in ‘costume’) imbued with a melancholy and an initial naivety.
MacLachlan’s rendition of Superman is excellent, possessing the right energy and strength not only of the era, but effectively capturing the aura of Superman, it’s some damn fine casting. However, it’s annoying, but acceptable given the time constraints, that still, Superman gets taken out of the equation too quickly and too easily. It’s something that works for the story but it’s an old gimmick.
From an animation standpoint The Flash is excellent, perhaps the best incarnation of the character to date, from the suit in the ring animation to the actual techniques utilized to convey his speed and powers (though he does appear to move a bit too slowly in the final section). Neil Patrick Harris brings and innocence to the character in addition to the humor.
Jeremy Sisto’s Batman can take some adjustment for those who’re used to Kevin Conroy. But all is good – especially during his confrontation with Martian Manhunter. Batman’s one of the few character to change his costume – essentially lightening up with the introduction of Robin. There’s a nice technology element with Batman using a “Bat-microfiche” (or microfilm).
It seems there may also have been a point where Wonder Woman was to undergo a costume change but was scrapped – sticking with her Amazonian battle dress as opposed to her starred swimsuit styled bottom. It’s amusing to see Wonder Woman taller than Superman – which does well to communicate her status; empowered with the energy of Lucy Lawless.
Lois Lane similarly with Carol Ferris has a small yet important part to play – not your typical ‘damsels in distress’, although some suspension of disbelief is required for Lois and her almost “oh the humanity” style breakdown.
The 74 minute runtime is peculiar – although amounting to the standard 3-episode arc TV show – in the case of a ‘direct to DVD/Blu-ray’ and in particular these projects, it’s far too short a duration to effectively service the material. As such it’s at detriment to the material as more time is needed to flesh things out and fully develop some of the characters and their relationships, especially that of Hal Jordan and Rick Flagg; and J’onn J’onzz and King Faraday. Aside from this, there is still a sense of something missing.
At its core; capturing innocence and hope – it should serve as inspirational to most, particularly the Kennedy speech during the end montage; ought to be a moving moment for some. However, it does seems somewhat rushed as far as the visuals are concerned – requiring a grander scale and more unique than the standard animated model in a static shot, particularly since it needs to blend with this speech.
An extended cut is warranted for this project – as some elements could use fleshing out. In the mean time, I’ll be picking up the graphic novel. Though if you’ve read the graphic novel, chances are you’d probably get more mileage out of this – in so far as the greater narrative is concerned
Rating: 8.0/10
Cumjackulation Rating: 7.9/10
(ratings explained)