DC has just released the latest of their popular DC Universe animated movies, and long-time fans are in for a treat. Or at least… enough of a taste to make it worth the effort.
Perhaps, even, enough for more to come. We can only hope.
Justice Society: World War II gives center stage – with the help of a bit of spit and polish – to one of the greatest super-teams to ever grace the inside of a comic mag. Providing them a showcase adventure smack dab in the middle of the most defining event of their era. Never mind that many of DC’s original mystery men and women never set foot in the western war arena, any opportunity we’re given to see Wonder Woman leading a team in a serious trouncing of regiments of murderous Nazis invading Normandy is the sort of creative liberty we can probably all get behind right now.
It’s certainly cathartic.
For that matter, watching these once-iconic powerhouse marvels of mythology and super-science throw down in full action glory is one of the most satisfying parts of this film. The only regret is that we don’t have more of them in the mix.
In my own opinion – (and I can’t be alone in this) – given the Justice Society’s rich history and its foundational role in the DCU as a whole, the team has deserved a full-fledged silver screen treatment for just a bit too long now. Heck, make it technicolor. I mean the potentials are enormous. (C’mon DC, it worked aces for Marvel with Captain America.)
Clearly producers Jim Krieg and Kimberly Moreau agree. So much so that we’re given a classically-styled cinematic nod right at the outset of this grand historical effort – one that has so much potential, but unfortunately goes nowhere else real fast. Too much of this project has that feeling I’m afraid, which feels honestly like a few too many over-wrought demands of the modern media biz.
Apparently, it took the success of the first Wonder Woman film (and yes, that one’s set in the first World War, not the second), to even convince the higher ups in DC to take Krieg’s pet Golden Age project seriously, and give the Justice Society a shot in modern-media big time.
Unfortunately, they were only given the nod for one animated feature-length film – not the full feature film or multi-episode animated series a project like this really needs to fully flesh out a more satisfying roster.
Don’t get me wrong. Any chance to see Carter Hall as Hawkman, Dinah Drake as Black Canary, Rex Tyler’s Hourman, Jay Garrick’s winged Flash helmet, and a classic-era, sword-brandishing Princess of Themyscira in action, is one we should all appreciate. Particularly as most of these characters simply haven’t received the sort of on-screen historical recognition they deserve. But it’s hard not to feel a little let down that there isn’t just a bit more of the team in play, especially when the next-generational team is simultaneously getting so much play right now over in CW’s Stargirl.
Maybe with enough fanbase noise, a larger, and even more historically continuous project can still happen. As it is, we’re lucky enough to get this team of five heroes. OK six, if you count Steve Trevor (which you should). Seven, if you count the slightly desperate modernizing presence of Barry Allen’s silver-age Flash (?). Along with… a few other familiar guest stars along the way.
The reason for so many muddled production choices are all a bit painfully clear. But if you can get past those distractions and settle in, you’re likely to enjoy the script and the storyline for what it is. And what it is, is a rousing Elseworld’s-style, Earth-2 adventure of a bygone era, that brings the DCU that much closer to the embrace of R-rated super-heroic realism that is currently on the rise. You could do worse than World War II after all.
The voice acting is a solid mix of established talent, with Matt Bomer doing a rather excellent turn as Barry Allen, and Stana Katic pulling off perhaps an even better job at Gal Gadot’s Princess Diana than Gadot has herself. The script has plenty of unexpected twists, moments of charm and comedy, and a surprising amount of pathos, giving one the impression that the authors really should have been given more room to play to the classic cinematic style of the times – not to mention, a little more time in general.
But it’s enough outside of our expectations that we get quite a few satisfying bits to savor. Like more power voltage then I’ve ever seen coming off of Black Canary (and more than Dinah Drake ever had herself). Or a sequence of Atlantean aggression that seems eager takes a page directly from the mighty Marvel tradition, for this untold 1940’s outing.
I have to say that the animation template is an odd, unfortunate mix of 2- and 3- dimensional elements, which manage to hold together well enough for the action sequences, but otherwise gives one the idea of blocky, animated colorform characters, with just enough hints of Jackson Guice in the details to make them at least interesting (though, sadly, not nearly enough so). An interesting effort, I’ll give them that, but one that needs more refinement.
At least it carries through. And the backgrounds do have a lot more to offer. Sometimes quite a bit.
All around it’s worth your time. And by taking the route of setting things in an alternate reality/timeline, the die has been cast to see what sort of appeal these characters and this era may still hold for a modern audience.
Extras include the DC Showcase short, Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth! based on the Jack Kirby creation; a roundtable discussion on storytelling; two older DC featurettes; a look at the upcoming Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One; and two classic episodes of Justice League.
So take that cue, ladies and gents. Let’s make sure DC understands the true potentials of reviving more of Comic’s Golden Age for screens big and small. As we all, surely, deserve to see done right, and all the way.
As only DC themselves can truly manage to do it.
* * * * *
Produced by Jim Krieg, Kimberly S. Moreau
Written by Meghan Fitzmartin, Jeremy Adams
Based on Justice Society of America by Gardner Fox, Everett E. Hibbard, Sheldon Mayer
Directed by Jeff Wamester
Starring Stana Katic, Matt Bomer, Elysia Rotaru, Chris Diamantopoulos,
Omid Abtahi, Matthew Mercer, Armen Taylor, Liam McIntyre
Justice Society: World War II is now available On Demand and Digital HD
and will be available on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD on Tuesday, May 11th
