Verdict
Summary
The animation style was very different from the previous DC Animated movies, and the animations felt very boxy, cheap, and robotic, but I suspect the filmmakers were trying to appeal to the eyes of the fans of RWBY much more than to fans of the DC Animated films. As such, the movie (which is billed as “Part One”) is strange, juvenile, but still somewhat appealing for fans of the DC characters, and after trying to orient myself with the new group of characters I eventually started to get into the groove of things.
Plot:
The Justice League wake up as teenagers with limited memories in a place called Remnant where there’s another group of heroes with powers.
Review:
The Justice League – Superman, Batman, Flash, Cyborg, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Vixen – all wake up as teenagers in a place called Remnant which is ravaged by wild skeletal beasts, and they’ve all been separated without any explanation or reason as to why and how they got there. Each one is limited to just one of their powers (Superman only has laser eyes at first, for example), but Batman finds himself with bat wings for the first time ever. Also on Remnant are a group of powerful teenagers called the Huntsmen, a team of cute girls and boys who each have their own power, but these kids are native to Remnant so they have an advantage. With both teams working together, they fight off the Grimm beasts (which are inexplicably digitized in their threat forms), but when Green Lantern (an angst-ridden emo girl) realizes that her power gives her the ability to see the real form of Remnant as it’s presented to all of them is actually a fake hologram-type place, the two teams must work together to find out who or what is behind this predicament. Neither group is where they should be, and with limited powers on both sides, they use their powers together to form a complete unit against their unseen enemy.
Full disclosure: I had never heard of RWBY, a popular anime series, before watching this 80-minute feature, and so I was woefully behind trying to catch up on all the characters and mythos that this movie tries to recap in very quick scenes. I’m very up to date, however, on all the DC Animated movies, but this one was extremely different than all the others that have come before. The new Justice League presentation was foreign to me, and the team was made to resemble teenagers, and their appearance was altered to reflect that, and so the experience of watching this film was a struggle for me. The animation style was very different from the previous DC Animated movies, and the animations felt very boxy, cheap, and robotic, but I suspect the filmmakers were trying to appeal to the eyes of the fans of RWBY much more than to fans of the DC Animated films. As such, the movie (which is billed as “Part One”) is strange, juvenile, but still somewhat appealing for fans of the DC characters, and after trying to orient myself with the new group of characters I eventually started to get into the groove of things. It’s more or less one of the Teen Titans-type of adventures, and while it has some appeal for the seasoned fans of the DC characters, I suspect that the real audience for this is from team RWBY. There’s very little heart and soul to the proceedings, but there’s action aplenty. From director Kerry Shawcross.
Warner Brothers is releasing this title on April 25th in a 4K Ultra HD / Blu-ray / Digital Code combo pack, and special features include “Justice Comes to Remnant,” You Look … Different,” “The Design of Justice League x RWBY,” and two bonus cartoons.
