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While DC has shown their ups and downs throughout their live-action movies, they have always seemed to knock it out of the park when it comes to their direct-to-DVD animated films. Their most recent outing is Justice League vs. The Fatal Five, which released March 29th of this year. Today, I am here to review the movie. Note that I do my reviews a little different than most. That is, I like to organize my reviews into 4 sections (The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, and The Overall) and then I give it a score ranging from 1 to 5! Let’s get into it.
The Good
DC once again returns some iconic roles back to this movie, with the all-time great Kevin Conroy reprising his role as the Caped Crusader and George Newbern as the Man of Steel. Although, that’s not to say that the rest of the cast wasn’t as great. Each character felt well fleshed out, and each got a moment to shine. While the Fatal Five is a classic villain group and have some iconic stories, the new twist in adding a brand new character into the mix is awesome! Jessica Cruz (voiced by Doom Patrol‘s Diane Guerrero) is such a cool addition to the League and to the DC animated story. I love the character in the comics, and to see her get her role done right is really cool. For those who don’t know, Jessica Cruz is one of the newest Green Lanterns, and in the comics, has been a main one for almost the last five years. She really steals the show while giving great action moments and still exhibiting a side of vulnerability and very human-like traits that make you want to root for her. The animation is fantastic, using an old style with modern, bright visuals, and color pallet to make each scene pop. The humor is quite witty and, the story as a whole is well thought out with some fun twists and turns!
The Bad
THE PACING IS SO SPORADIC. At one moment, the film is moving at a nice pace with everything in balance and order. The next moment, everything kicks into high gear, and the plot starts to move a lot faster than it should. It’s just kind of confusing; while this is just a personal observation, that is my biggest complaint. Who knows, maybe you might watch the movie and enjoy the on-and-off pacing of the film! Other than that, there are some minor changes I would like to have seen made but other than that, it is overall solid.
The Ugly
There is nothing too ugly about this film.
Overall
DC knocks it out of the park once again with another great animated film. I don’t know what they put in the secret sauce over at DC Animation, but they have found a winning key to success. Leave the pacing issue aside, and the plot is well-handled overall and each character has a great moment to shine, while the introduction of Jessica Cruz into the DC Animated Universe is a whole lot of fun and adds a new element for the writers to play with!
OVERALL SCORE: 4/5
Let me know what you think of DC’s latest animation project, and for all things cinema, you are in the right place!
-@Indianparker
