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Justice
League: The New Frontier
(2008)
Writer/artist Darwyn Cooke's award-winning comic book miniseries "DC:
The New Frontier" is adapted into a quality direct-to-DVD animated
film that's superior to many of the live action superhero films
released in recent years because it gets what superheroes are about on
a mythic level.
As the plot is described on the DVD cover: "With Cold War paranoia
putting Superman (Kyle MacLachlan), Batman (Jeremy
Sisto) and Wonder Woman (Lucy Lawless) under government
suspicion, only the gravest threat imaginable can force these
heroes—along with an army of newcomers including the Flash (Neil Patrick
Harris), Green Lantern (David Boreanaz) and
Martian Manhunter (Miguel Ferrer)—to unite."
Cooke's comic book miniseries is a complex tale told across more than four-hundred
pages filled with multiple subplots, some of which aren't strictly
necessary to the main story, but the screenplay by Stan Berkowitz (a
former staff writer for the Justice League/Justice League Unlimited
animated television show) successfully pares the story down to its
essential elements without losing its epic feel, while building it
around the character of Green Lantern. The pacing could be better in
some instances, but overall the story works quite well in animated form.
Veteran producer Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series,
Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League/Justice League
Unlimited) and first time director Dave Bullock (a storyboard artist
for Timm's previous productions) deliver good animation that captures
the nuances of Cooke's art while also accurately reflecting the Silver
Age influences on his story. The production justifiably earns its
PG-13 rating, as there are a couple of instances of vivid violence and
disturbing imagery, as well as an overall tone suited to an older
audience.
The closing montage set to John F. Kennedy's presidential nomination
acceptance speech (the source of the phrase "the new frontier")
perfectly captures the spirit of hope and scientific progress from
that period in American history that was also so much a part of the
Silver Age of comics, but earlier in the film the realities of
McCarthyism, Cold War paranoia, and civil rights struggles are touched
upon as well (the last when a news report mentions that a black
superhero who fights against the KKK has been killed by an angry mob).
The score by Kevin Manthei (Invader ZIM") has an appropriately
heroic dimension to it, although the theme isn't as immediately
memorable as the one Lolita Ritmanis composed for the Justice League
show.
Voice director Andrea Romano, another veteran of Justice
League/Justice League Unlimited, is up to her usual high standard of
coaching voice performances out of her cast that are just right for
their characters. Boreanaz finds the right balance of idealism and
angst as emotionally damaged Korean War veteran Hal Jordan, soon to
receive the awesome power and responsibility of being a Green Lantern.
MacLachlan plays up the earnestness of Superman without sounding
corny, Sisto's deep voice helps to make him a compelling presence as
Batman, Lawless is perfect as a different warrior princess than the
one she's most famous for portraying, Harris captures the insecurity
of the Flash when the fate of the world is literally in his hands, and
Ferrer is convincing as an alien trapped on Earth trying to find a way
to fit into human society.
The supporting cast is equally up to the task, including Brooke
Shields as Carol Ferris (Hal's boss and love interest), Kyra Sedgwick
as Lois Lane, Phil Morris as government agent King Faraday, Keith
David as the Centre (the global menace in the story), John Heard as
Hal's pilot friend Ace Morgan, Vicki Lewis as Iris West (the Flash's
love interest), Jim Meskimen as Detective Slam Bradley (a character
who shares the same creators as Superman), Alan Ritchson as Aquaman (a
role he previously played in the live action Smallville television
show), Lex Lang as Rick Flag, and Joe Mantegna as a sleazy Vegas
crooner who hits on Iris West.
By adapting Cooke's miniseries and doing it well, Justice League:
The New Frontier continues the tradition of excellence in superhero
animation that Warner Bros. Animation began when Batman: The Animated
Series debuted on television in 1992.
-Danielle
Ní Dhighe
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All contents ©
2004-2007 Thoughtsonfilm.com |
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Director:
Dave
Bullock
Writer: Stan
Berkowitz, Darwyn Cooke
Starring: David
Boreanaz, Jeremy Sisto, Lucy Lawless, Kyle MacLachlan, Neil Patrick
Harris, Miguel Ferrer
Distributor: Warner
Bros. Animation
Runtime: 75
min
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: February
26, 2008 (DVD)
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