Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015)

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Okay, I have to admit I really hated the Chronicle shorts because of how much overkill and brutal they were. Plus I couldn't stand the universe changes which also confused me. But this movie answered most of my questions.In this version, we see that Jor-el couldn't give his DNA simple to baby Ke-ll when he was getting sent off to earth but General Zod gave his instead and he turned out to be his son. Kirk Langstorm takes the Man-Bat formula and becomes Vampire and from there he becomes Batman. Wonder Women for some reason is Ares daughter. The movie is also very brutal in a way because a lot of innocent scientists get murdered by Will Magnus's droids to frame the JL.What doesn't make sense is like why was Will Magnus evil and why did he make a robotic version of Tina (Kirk's love interest who he kills by smashing her head through a table).Overall it was an awesome movie and good voice cast.

They are icons of the comic book world. They are the DC Trinity: Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. They are also the heart of the Justice League which helps to fight crime and defend against threats in the DC universe. But imagine they weren't the characters that we've come to know and love so well over the last few decades and instead were, say, the son of a corrupt and power hungry Kryptonian General Zod or a scientist turned into a vampire like creature or was Bekka instead of the Amazon Princess Diana. That premise, and the consequences of it, is the basis for Justice League: Gods And Monsters that was released last summer as part of the ongoing range of DC Universe Animated Original Movies. Does it live up to its premise?The premise is certainly an interesting one that readers of DC 's Elseworld range of stories will recognize as a classic "what if?" straight out of that line. Turning Superman into the son of General Zod who instead crashes in Mexico to be raised by Mexican migrants is an inspired move and which gives this incarnation of the character quite a different feel from the Clark Kent character. Batman and Wonder Woman's characters here are inversions of existing DC characters such as Man-Bat and Bekka. Indeed much of the film centers on the inversion of many DC characters whom fans will likely recognize such as Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Ray Palmer, Victor Stone and Will Magnus but that won't alienate newer viewers as well and makes Gods And Monsters perhaps the most original release that the range has given us in sometime.Though what it does with the premise is perhaps less original. One of the things I have taken away from the range in the last couple of years has been the emphasis on action sequences over good storytelling, particularly in Justice League: War and the films based on The New 52 comics, something which began to happen once Bruce Timm walked away from the range. With Timm returning, one had hoped that the emphasis might shift back. Sadly it doesn't quite make it with the result being that the intriguing premise is largely boiled down into a series of fairly stale action sequences that seem to have been recycled from a number of previous DC animated projects. Which is a shame really.Even more so due to a good voice cast. DC's animated efforts from Batman: The Animated Series onwards have always featured strong voice acting and this film is no exception. The three leads are all well cast for their particular takes on the role from Michael C. Hall as Batman, Benjamin Bratt as Superman, Tamara Taylor as Wonder Woman with Hall and Taylor in particular being inspired choices. The supporting cast is strong as well including an underused Jason Isaacs as Lex Luthor, Paget Brewster as Lois Lane, and C. Thomas Howell as Will Magnus. As with many of the recent films, it's a shame that they couldn't be put to use in a better overall work.At the end of the day, Gods And Monsters can be summed up like this: an interesting premise with a less than worthy execution. Despite an interesting premise that hearkens back to some of DC's best Elseworlds tales and inspired casting, the film comes across as little more than yet another excuse for a DC animated film with more action sequences than plot. It's a trend that, with the exception of the announced adaptation of The Killing Joke, looks firmly set to continue.

To say that I've become disenfranchised by the DC Animated films would be a bit of an understatement. Ever since Justice League: War, they've just been a mess. There was the one bright spot of Assault on Arkham but otherwise they've just been dull action movies that don't do the characters justice. Thank goodness WB brought back Bruce Timm, who was one of the primary creative forces behind the Batman and Justice League animated series that kicked off DC animated projects being good in the first place. The result is the best DC animated film since New Frontier.Gods and Monsters can be said to be the first true Elseworlds story that's been done in animation. Sure there's been some parallel world stuff (Crisis on Two Earths) and plenty of out of continuity stand alones (like the aforementioned New Frontier) but they've still kept the characters pretty close to the standard versions we all know. None have really tried to craft a completely new vision of what these characters are, and that's what this story does. It makes the wise choice of having different characters taking on the mantles of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman rather than actually trying to muck about with Clark, Bruce or Diana. Instead Superman is the son of Zod, Batman is Kirk Langstrom (better known as the Man-Bat in the main DC universe) and Wonder Woman is one of the New Gods (such as High Father and Darkseid.) Their backstories are explored just enough to give a good picture of these versions without ever bogging down the narrative itself.Like any good Elseworlds story, this is an "all bets are off" take where any prior knowledge of the main DC universe can add some weight when characters like Victor Fries or Dr. Sivanna get name dropped, but nobody is exactly the same as their standard representation. All of the voice work is solid, and each of the primary characters (and even some of the secondary ones) are given the chance to stretch a little and show some dimension.The action is also a huge step up from what we've gotten lately. Most of the DCAU films based on the New 52 continuity have had well done yet rather mundane action sequences. The problem is that those films are trying for a more realistic version of fights, which isn't what animation is good for. Animation is good for over the top stuff that couldn't be replicated by just two actors and a fight choreographer, and that over the top stuff is what we get here.I don't think I can recommend this highly enough for anybody who has found the recent output of DC animated films to be sorely lacking. This is a return to form, it's a top notch story, it's a fun and engrossing new take on characters and it's the kind of thing I hope we see more of in the future.

DC's animated movies in the recent years has been pretty bad starting from Justice League: War and onward. Assault on Arkham was the only one that was decent in my opinion. Justice League: Gods and Monsters is a return to form for the DC animated movies with it's interesting story, great action sequences, and interesting alternate take on the DC Universe.A lot of the negative reviews for this movie was written due to this alternate universe not feeling like the original DC Universe. When they first released the different character looks and change of identity, I too was hesitant being a huge DC Comics fan. But I decided to keep an open mind and go with what they are doing and I have to say, after seeing the movie, it has left me wanting more of this universe, especially Wonder Woman's side of history as I found it to be very interesting being a huge fan of the Fourth World and New Gods story line.The story itself is very dark, much darker than most of the movies that DC has done. The movie isn't pointlessly violent but uses it's violence to really help the viewer immerse into it's worldI really liked the look of the old Animated DC TV series but done with modern technology so everything looks sharper and smoother. I did find at times, a few parts of the movie did not look as sharp as majority of the movie but it's so small, it won't disrupt the viewing experience.This film is a great entry into DC's long list of Animated Movies and should not be missed by any DC fan. Even if you aren't a DC fan, this will be worth your time as animated movies like this do not happen often. (It is good to watch the 3 mini filmy trailers before watching this movie as it will help you understand the world better.)