August 4th - JUSTICE LEAGUE: THRONE OF ATLANTIS (2015) This is a DC Animated Universe movie, the second in a series after the "New 52" reboot of not only the animated universes and also the DC comic books. "The New 52" was something done by DC Comics in 2011 that, long story short, restarted the entire 75-year history of the books and gave every character new origins (some more different than others; they tried making Superman more hardcore whereas Batman and Green Lantern, their best selling titles at the time, pretty much stayed the same). And the Animated universe got the same treatment. This movie is the 2nd in a series, after "Justice League: War", which was where the Justice League was formed with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash and newcomers Cyborg and Shazam replacing Aquaman and Martian Manhunter Jonn J'onzz. The series, like the comics, tried to be more adult, with the occasional "shit", lots of blood splatters and even a beheading or two (which really started with the animated "Flashpoint Paradox"; be warned about watching that with the kiddies around). One weird thing is that eventhough this is a series, probably half of the characters' voices were recast, the most notable being Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, replacing Justin Kirk, although really it's a re-cast, as Fillion played GL in three previous (unrelated) JL movies...confused yet? This film is the backdrop for the origin and rebooting of Aquaman, one of the more famous JLers, but probably not for the best reasons. Aquaman has always been the butt of jokes when it comes to super heroes, most notably on the TV series "The Big Bang Theory", and, as seen by trailers for the big upcoming Justice League live-action feature film, DC and Warner Bros are trying their best to change that image by casting badass Jason Mamoa as the King of the Seven Seas. But what about this movie, the reason we're here in the first place? The movie starts with Aquaman mourning his dead father, cause no good superhero can exist without a dead parent and/or daddy issues. Plus the movie goes into Superman and Wonder Woman's relationship, as one of the biggest things about the New 52 was making the two most powerful heroes a power couple. One weird thing right off the bat is that they cast George Newburn as Steve Trevor, and Newburn was the voice of Superman in the all-time great Justice League Unlimited tv series, so that was hard to get used to, although it passes as Trevor isn't exactly a major character. Another overused trope for the past few years is the reluctant hero, best example being the Henry Cavill Superman from "Man of Steel" and that other 'v' movie-that-shall-not-be-named, where sure he's the most powerful being on the planet, but mopes about asking "I dunno, do I really wanna be Super?". That's what's so great about Gal Godot's Wonder Woman...she knows she is special and knows she is the one to save people...but that's another digression...what about this film? Random notes...whomever played Aquaman, his line delivery was annoying...also the writers use terms like "terrorism" and "living under a cloud of fear" is trying to make this timely...Mera is awesome...But this darker, more adult version of the DC Universe, much like the new 52 comics, turned me off, which is kind of why it's taken me two years to watch this movie. There are little details that just bug me, like adding Cyborg and Shazam to the League (Cyborg is a Teen Titan, people!) replacing Jonzz and Aquaman, and while I like the idea of making Aquaman a better character, making him brooding and a killer isn't how I'd do it. Anyone see the cartoon series "Batman: Brave and the Bold"? THAT is the best version of Aquaman! It's so good it's OUTRAGEOUS! Geoff Johns grew up reading about Barry Allen as the Flash and Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, and so did I, reading George Perez' Justice League of America. But as I grew up, and saw different versions, like the BWAHAHAH JLI, Grant Morrison's JLA, and later Bruce Timm and Dwayne McDuffie's JLU tv series (even the prior series, "Justice League" and it's Aquaman story "The Enemy Below", while not as good as JLU stuff but it's still better than this), I have my own favourite version of the League. And that includes John Stewart as Green Lantern! And when you get right down to it, MERA is such a better character than Aquaman...make her Aquawoman and be done with it...what was I saying? Oh right, this film...the big fight at the end is Orm aka Ocean Master and his army invading the streets of Metropolis and the Justice League having to fight them off...which was the EXACT same finale to the last "JL:War" movie, with it being Darkseid's army there. That's just lazy storytelling. And these versions of the characters just aren't as interesting, which is kind of why, six years later, the New 52 is all but forgotten and the DCU is being rebooted yet again (or is it re-started?). But what about this film? There are a few cool bits, like John Henry Irons' cameo, and Lois Lane interrupting Clark and Diana's date, Black Manta's fate and what Aquaman says right after that, Fillion's few good one-liners...but the outright carnage of this film, with Wonder Woman and Mera both more interested in beheading Atleantean soldiers than anything...at least in the last film they were beheading aliens and usually in missions they beat up robots...the violence against PEOPLE somehow seems worse. And maybe it's just semantics but that did bother me. And they seemed to be setting up a "Justice League vs. Injustice Society or Legion of Doom" movie, with Lex Luthor approaching Ocean Master at the end, but that never happened. They used much of the same cast in the next Justice League movie, JL vs. Teen Titans, but whether or not that was a sequel to this...I'll have to watch it and find out... *Smokers Report: Heck no! These animated films can say "shit", behead people and have blood splatters everywhere, but no smoking! (and that's good, imho, just to be clear...)