Justice League: Gods and Monsters Movie Review

Brave New World

Well the time has finally come. For months, DC has been promoting the world of Justice League: Gods and Monsters for the past few months and for the most part it has been a pretty well received.
The first bout was with the Machinima shorts, each showing off the members in action. While I liked Batman's and blown away by Superman's, I wasn't much a fan of Wonder Woman's Short. In comparison to the other two, this Wonder Woman didn't seem to far fetched and new to me. Granted the killing may be a a little unusual from the norm, but its nothing we haven't seen before.
Wonder Woman became a much more interesting in the second bout of publicity. I am of course referring to the daily digital comics. These not only helped flesh out the characters and backgrounds, but also the world. Personally I loved the Wonder Woman story more than the Superman and Batman stories, but all were fantastic nonetheless.
However you readers don't want to hear me ramble on and on about the build up; You want to hear my opinion on the finale to this tale. Lets dive on in!
Characters
To those who haven't figured it out, this story's main characters are the Justice League, consisting of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. However this isn't your son of El, Amazon and Orphan you and your parents know. These heroes have different backgrounds and upbringings. Superman is the son of Zod and raised by migrant workers. Wonder Woman is Bekka, the New God who was married to Orion. Then theres Batman, who is a vampire who works with his friend Dr.Magnus to find a cure.

The great part about this series is that its an elseworld story, so it gives another fantastic look into new possibilities. These characters, while dark, are a great example of why its good to adventure far from the norm. My favorite league member actually turned out to be Wonder Woman(voiced by Tamara Taylor) of all people. She is a brute to be sure, but when you see all of her backstory through the comics and now her actual origin in this film, you actually can make sense to the violence and of the "activities" she has gotten into. Batman(voiced by Michael C. Hall) provides the emotional center of the movie, as we see him not only struggle to control his vampiric urges, but to protect his friends from the mysterious villain, who I won't mention here. Sadly that leaves me to say that the least interesting character was Superman(voice by Benjamin Bratt). There was no real arc to his character, and most of the son of Zod's interesting background was already fleshed out in the comics and short, so it brings nothing interesting to the table. That being said all the voice actors did a phenominal job portraying the characters, but from a DC animated movie, I had no doubts.

Content
As I said before, I love the multiverse, so stories out of the norm already appeal to me greatly. Now add that to the mind of Bruce Timm and not only do you get an interesting set up, but you get in my opinion one of the best stories for a DC animated movie in a while. Most of which is due to the fact that its a whole new world to us. The story is original, and puts us on a roller coaster ride of a mystery as you try and piece it together. It'll have you on the edge of your seat as you try and figure out the who, the what, and the why as the league is pushed into a corner. When you find out who the villain is, it'll make you slap your forehead, making you wonder 'how didn't I realize it sooner'.
Surprisingly I have to say that the violence in this was actually a lot more tame than expected. Don't get me wrong, there is some dark and violent things in this movie, but the darkest stuff is either half second or off screen. Its not like Zoom's death in the Flashpoint Paradox where we get the blood trickle and we see through the bullet hole, but it still can get dark.
If theres a reason to feel the darker side of things, its mainly because this world feels like the DC animated universe. Its the art style most people who grew up watching Batman the animated series and the Justice League cartoon would recognize, except a whole lot more polish. Thanks to that art style, it makes this world feel nostalgic and new at the same time.

Final Verdict
This is what the DC Animated Movies needed for a while now. It needed something fresh and new, and while this could have been a disaster, it turned out to be an amazing thrill ride. I want to see more of this world, especially with these characters. The plot is amazing and will keep you guessing till the end, with relatable characters to boot. Hopefully there will not only be a sequel for these characters soon, but the second season of shorts to kick just as much ass as the first.

9/10

That's it for my review of Justice League: Gods and Monsters! What did you think of the film? Leave a comment and I'll see you next time!