Justice League: The New Frontier Movie Review

As I promised the other day, I've prepared a Justice League: The New Frontier advanced review for the upcoming straight-to-DVD animated movie. I'll get it out of the way right now - this is the best comic book movie I have ever seen. Almost completely faithful to the source material, excellent animation quality and great voice work. The only complaint is it ended.

A note before you go on, if you haven't read DC: The New Frontier, shame on you and you'll find some vague spoilers along the way. If you have read it, the movie is the book. This isn't the Spider-Man or Dark Knight Returns movies that barely resemble their comic stories, so feel free to dive right in as there's not really anything I can spoil for you except telling the one or two things they had to cut.

So, hit the jump and enjoy the review!

Justice League: The New Frontier, due out February 26, is based on the critically acclaimed DC: The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke (2004). The movie, much like the book, follows an alternate take on DC's history, beginning in the 1950's where heroes, such as the original JSA, are forced to register, quit or be hunted down and ending shortly after the Korean War with the birth of a new and brighter era for super heroes and the world.

Throughout the story, we are treated to seemingly random appearances of numerous mainstays in the regular DCU, such as Batman, Flash, Superman and Wonder Woman, all while following the exploits of a young fighter pilot in the Korean War named Hal Jordan. All of these events add pieces to the puzzle as the ominous Center, a primordial creature of immense powers in the form of a floating island, decides that humanity has grown too reckless and dangerous with their lust for power, based on flashes of nuclear bombs and the numerous wars we've waged, and it has decided to cleanse the Earth of us.

With so many heavy hitters present and accounted for, you would assume this movie falls into the traditional Superman saves the day routine, but the focus is almost completely on characters like Martian Manhunter, Flash and Hal Jordan, who is probably the closest to a main character this movie has. In fact, Superman and Wonder Woman are both taken out at the outset of the final battle with the Center, seemingly dashing all hopes the heroes had of vitory.

Alright, enough with the vague story details, is the film any good and how does it compare to the comic book? I've read, and absolutely love, the comic book and, after seeing this film, I believe the movie is the best comic book adaptation of any comic I have ever seen.

I was as gitty as a school girl watching this, as the animation was beautiful and they nailed the art style that the comic used, as you can see from the screen captures. I am so thankful they didn't just rehash the Bruce Timm style 'blocky square' style that all the other DC animated movies, such as Superman Doomsday, and cartoons have used. It really makes the difference and the style and tone of the film would have been completely off if they went another way.

As far as content goes, they did an amazing job fitting so much of the story into this relatively short film, which was about 90 minutes if I recall correctly. It's not a comic book though, so things did have to be cut or changed slightly. I can safely say that no one, with the exception of Rick Flagg and the Losers fans, all 3 of you (I kid, I kid), will be more than happy with this film.

The only major change I can think of was the complete exclusion of the opening parts of issue one where we are introduced to Rick Flagg's trip to Dinosaur Island and the forced "retirement" of all the heroes in the 50's. However, these instances are touched on, in passing, in the opening narration of the film and various background newscasts and newsclippings and Rick Flagg does show up and plays his regular part later in the film.

The only really odd change was how King Faraday died in the movie compared to the comic. It was a senseless change and I don't really know why they thought it would be better to have him die differently in the movie. It's a small thing and accomplished the same goal, but I don't see the need for that particular change.

Obviously, there were other minor changes as well, such as the John Henry Irons segment, which is only seen in a brief cameo, the Challengers of the Unknown were completely left out and only Hal and Ace, there was a third in the comic, went into the Center at the end, and the lack of the magic character's cameo, by which I mean the one with Billy sitting on the magic carpet eating icecream.

Only other thing to talk about is the voice acting, I suppose. On the whole, it was great. Some voices were excellent, like Lucy Lawless as Wonder Woman, while others managed to get the job done, like Hal Jordan's voice actor, and others still were underwhelming, such as the Martian Manhunter's, which, compared to the JLA version, was inadequate. I think it might just be the fact I was so used to the JLA version, but this voice didn't seem to resonate as well with me in regards to the lone alien survivor of his race and the distant emotions he typically shows. It's more nitpicking than anything though and I think everyone will enjoy the voice work on this film.


Verdict - Must See. Did I mention this film was amazing and the best comic book film I've ever had the pleasure of watching? Faithful almost to the extreme, it's a film I was wishing I could watch again as soon as it was over.

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