Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE DOOM

Justice League Doom is a direct-to-DVD movie loosely based on the comic, JLA: Tower of Babel. The story is about the Legion of Doom stealing Batman’s contingencies plans to take down the League. Can Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Cyborg stop them? Of Course, I’m not going to spoil that, but we can talk about everything else!

Justice League Doom feels like a spiritual successor to Justice League the animated series. That could be because it has the same voice cast, or the same voice director, or the fact that the same people produce it. It feels like an adventure that took place before Justice League Unlimited. That mostly plays in its favor, but it can also be a weakness. The movie assumes that you know who Bane is, or who Mirror Master is, so they never take time to develop the characters. It’s okay for a veteran DC fan but to your average viewer? Not so much. That same leap of faith works oppositely. Already assuming that your audience knows the Justice League allows you to get right to the good stuff. We don’t need to see the Wayne’s murdered or Krypton destroyed. The creative team behind the film required to find the line between trusting their audience and explaining what’s going on.

Aside from a few missteps here and there, Doom manages to make the most of its 116-minute runtime. Vandal Savage (Phil Morris) is a formidable foe for the Justice League. The Legion of Doom works very well in this. Bane (Carlos Alazraqui), Star Sapphire (Olivia d’Abo), Mirror Master (Alexis Denisof), Cheetah (Claudia Black), and Ma’alefa’ak (Carl Lumbly) all have their moments to shine. The film mainly focuses on the Legion of Doom. The Justice League surprisingly gets very little screentime. It works, and I like seeing things from a different point of view. If the creative team made this with hardcore DC fans in mind, I would say they succeeded in giving them something new. We’ve seen Kevin Conroy as Batman, Tim Daly as Superman, and Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman many times before. Putting slightly more focus on the villains was a smart move.

Justice League Doom is a solid hour of fun. Sometimes a casual fan might get lost, but they’ll be able to catch on pretty quickly. The characters are great, and the animation is excellent. It might have benefited to a slightly longer runtime, but it’s still a great watch.