DC Animated Universe Films
 

So I didn't see a thread for the new Justice League: Throne of Atlantis film that came out today and figured rather than start a thread just for that release I'd do one for all the films coming this year.

Justice League: Throne of Atlantis
Release Date: January 27th, 2015
Synopsis: Also coming this year:

Batman vs. Robin
Release Date: TBD
Full synopsis is unavailable for this film yet. So far its known that it will be a sequel to Son of Batman and takes place in the shared universe that's been established since Justice League: War. The Court of the Owls is set to appear, but the film isn't based on the comic storyline.

Justice League: Gods and Monsters
Release Date: Spring 2015
Synopsis for this one isn't available. Its a new story written for the DCAU, there's also a three-part series called Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles which is produced by Bruce Timm and will be available on Machinima.

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You might want to spoilerize that huge cover image

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I enjoyed Throne of Atlantis, even if the story feels rushed in parts (the culprit being the short runtime they are allowed). I've yet to see Son of Batman. How was that?

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I didn't love Son of Batman. I should watch it again but the first time I was really disappointed in it. I absolutely hate Jason O'Mara as the voice of Batman/Bruce. Why DC insists on continuing to use him I have no clue as there's nothing distinctive about his voice and there are far better voice actors who could fill the part. I'm a Conroy fan but even if they insist on not using him (which honestly I don't understand their reasoning for not using him as long as they can) there's guys like Bruce Greenwood or Roger Craig Smith who were both good at voicing the character.

I actually haven't watched Throne of Atlantis yet. I'll pick it up after work tomorrow most likely. The story sounds like it has potential but I've read a lot of mixed reviews on it. I wasn't crazy about Justice League: War either which the new film is a sequel to.

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I actually like Jason O'Mara as Batman but I'd trade him for Bruce Greenwood in a heartbeat.

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I've been pretty unhappy with some of their voice casting choices as well. My impression is they like casting at least one known actor without much voice acting experience for each movie. Unfortunately, it sometimes shows.

While it is aimed at slightly younger audiences, I am looking forward to LEGO: Justice League vs. Bizarro League. The LEGO Batman movie was pretty funny for a DC fan, especially for a direct-to-video movie.

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Yeah Lego Batman was actually great. I actually really liked Will Arnett as Batman. Granted it wasn't the most serious take on the character but he did a good job. The voice casts have actually been one of my main complaints with the past few films. I especially dislike O'Mara though.

Edit: I got confused, Arnett only voiced Batman in The Lego Movie.

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Got the Throne of Atlantis steelbook from Target last night, but I haven't seen War. Wanted to get it before they were gone.

How closely does it folllow War? Should I pick that up watch it first?

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The events of War lead into Throne of Atlantis, but it's not necessary to watch beforehand.

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Depends. Like TheMovieman said, but you could watch War first, but not required.

Jealous of your steelbook as I ordered it as well but haven't received it yet!

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Gotta admit that I wasn't crazy about Throne of Atlantis. As contradictory as this might sound, I'd say it's a better movie than War yet I wasn't into it nearly as much. It tries to do too much and suffers from such scattered focus and overly rushed execution that nothing works particularly well. War didn't aim higher than straightahead popcorn action but did it really well; Throne of Atlantis is much more ambitious but misses the mark.

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It's the damn runtime. There's a lot going on in the movie beyond just Arthur Curry. We get some good setup, little to no development, and then everything is resolved. I know DC is only doing Batman movies but I feel that Superman, Wonder Woman, and Cyborg need several standalone adventures (as well as a teamup movie with just Superman and Wonder Woman) to develop these characters properly.

If DC is unwilling to do this, they need to lift the 75 minutes runtime cap and allow these movies to get closer to 2 hours in length.

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That's a shame. For a while these DCAU films were really turning out great, but it seems like lately there's been quite a few misses (Son of Batman, War, and now Throne of Atlantis). I'll still pick this one up and give it a shot but I'm less excited about it reading the reviews thus far. I thought the shared universe might make these films stronger but maybe it was better just having them as stand alone films. Either that or they need someone stronger working on these films if they want to tie them all together. I wish Bruce Timm was still more involved.

I think the run time works fine for some of the films. There have clearly been instances though where they could have made the films longer but overall I don't mind it. In fact I think for some of the films it actually is beneficial. The Dark Knight Returns for example I actually think worked a lot better as two parts even though it is based on one story.

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Justice League: Throne of Atlantis isn't a bad movie, Mike86. I had a great time with it. However, there is an empty feeling once it's all over and a lot of events feel rushed. For instance, there are three romantic subplots in the movie. All three are resolved with little in the way of any real development. These characters hook up (or stay together) at the end for no other reason than the script says they're together at the end. There are other issues like that throughout (like the fact that the League isn't really a team but they are at the end of the movie because - reasons). And they are more obvious here than they were in Justice League: War because Justice League: Throne of Atlantis takes it's time setting them up only to suddenly brush them aside with a quick "and they lived happily ever after" type resolution.

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It's hard to pull off a convincing team adventure in 70-some minutes. The length of each feature is fixed in stone, they would have to break a story into multiple films for lengthier arcs. They only tried it with Batman since he's their best seller.

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I think if they could push the limit to 90 minutes that would work a bit better. It isn't a lot more time but I feel like for most of these animated films you could tell a pretty decent story in an hour and a half. I feel like some of the Justice League films worked fine at the 75 minute length though. Doom and The Flashpoint Paradox for instance both told their stories well in that span of time. I think Timm being involved was a major reason why a lot of the DCAU films were as good as they were. The quality has been declining slowly since he left in my opinion.

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Yeah, the changing of the guard from Bruce Timm to James Tucker might have a lot to do with it.

The other movies were written by folks like Dwayne McDuffie, Judd Winick, Stan Berkowitz, and James Krieg. These guys have a background in writing for one-and-done TV animation and/or in comics before decompression was so much of a thing. They have a great deal of experience telling complete stories in a short amount of time.

Heath Corson has written three of the four post-Flashpoint movies: War, Assault on Arkham, and Throne of Atlantis. He's a relative newcomer with an all-but-non-existent list of credits before landing the gig with DC animation. I'm not saying that makes him a bad choice; compare War with the 13-year-old's-Hot-Topic-mallrat-concept-of-cool Justice League arc it's based on, and Corson's some kind of miracle worker. I absolutely think his comparative lack of experience in painting a huge story on a tiny canvas shows in Throne of Atlantis, and character work doesn't appear to be his strong suit either. I'm not sure if Tucker has the same storytelling knack that Timm has, or if the whole New 52 thing is keeping him from doing everything he'd want. I've spent so much of my life loving DC's comics, but the New 52 is pretty toxic. (Maybe it's gotten better over the past couple of years, but the line as a whole was so joyless and asshole-ish and everything that made me want to stop reading new, mainstream comics in 1992 that I just had to give up. The Batgirl relaunch looks pretty fantastic, though...)

J.M. DeMatteis is writing Batman vs. Robin, so I'm hopeful for good things there.

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Hated the Son of Batman after the first viewing.

The part that turned me off is when several of the characters were surrounded my bad guys with guys shooting down on the good guys (once or twice during the movie) and no one gets hit.
-I rolled my eyes and and said to those watching it with me, "Come on, can't the writers not treat us like "little Kids"".

2nd/3rd...viewings I enjoyed much better, I just had to look past the 200 bullets missing people.

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I really like what DC wants to do with their animated movies, just hope they can pull it off.

Going after original stories may be the way to go, so there is not a glut of stuff to cram into the story. They can now write a story that fits into their timeframe, not a story that covered 5 (or more) different issues of a comic.

Justice League: Gods and Monsters - Hope this one sets the new standard for the films.

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Its no question to me that's a big part of the reason why the quality has dipped. I've enjoyed The Flashpoint Paradox and Assault on Arkham since he left. Other than that I can really take or leave the other films. It sucks because I really enjoy the DCAU in general and the films up to Timm leaving were mostly great (I didn't care for Justice League: The New Frontier or Green Lantern: Emerald Knights).

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Anyone else pick up the steelbook Throne of Atlantis at Target and not have the UV code included? I only see a survey insert.

Just wondering if I'm not seeing the code or if it wasn't included?

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Most steelbook copies did not have the UV code sheet. You need to contact Flixster's customer service and show them a picture of your receipt to get your UV copy.

I sat down and watched Throne of Atlantis tonight. I liked it as a zippy origin for Aquaman, though I did think the script probably needed another 20 minutes to flesh out a few unseen moments. Mera and Aquaman practically start dating without saying a word to each other.

I also get the feeling there is some kind of mandate to include Cyborg in several scenes to introduce him beyond the others.

I haven't been a big fan of how they are using Superman in these New 52 animated movies. He has become the dumb muscle for the Justice League. They are using his heat vision more in battles, which is a good thing.

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I did like that they used his super speed during the investigation scene between him and Batman. He needs more moments like that.

How young is Clark supposed to be in the New 52?

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I think mid-20s.

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Did you successfully do this for Throne of Atlantis?

Just seems odd to me that Flixter would handle a problem that is obviously not their fault.

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Flixster is wholly owned by Warner Bros. You can send the problem to WB's customer support, but they will direct it to Flixster.

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Thank you for the reply.

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Didn't know that. Thanks.

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I miss the animated shorts. I wish they could lure Paul Dini back for those (if not have him and Timm collaborate on a full blown feature).

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kDqi_8tcxtY?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

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Those won't be coming back because WB decided they weren't cost effective. I miss them too though.

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The shorts were pretty good and DC has a lot of characters that probably work better in that format than a full-length feature. As robin2099 said, they aren't coming back unless there is a shift in management. I think they were meant to be a training ground for talent to help ease the transition when Timm left.

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James Tucker, the executive producer of these movies, said in the extras on Throne of Atlantis that he's lobbying hard to get the shorts back.

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Truthfully I don't care too much about the shorts. I'd rather the films be allowed a longer running time.

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So this isn't coming in 2015 and will be out next year instead but I figured it was worth posting anyways..

http://www.superherohype.com/news/33...-and-burt-ward

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Trailer for Justice League: Gods & Monsters. Not at all what I was expecting.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NHXTUKACXGU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

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Wow. That looks pretty boring.

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I am actually pretty excited about this announcement. I really wish the licensing had been settled sooner, the original actors aren't getting any younger and many have already passed on.

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More of the usual gratuitous swearing, I see. Isn't this the one that Bruce Timm is coming back for? It looks like some sort of alternate universe version of the League, what comic is it based on?

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I'll probably get Justice League: Gods and Monsters but yeah I'm not even sure what that's supposed to be based on. I don't think it looks terrible but no familiar characters seems like an odd choice. I trust these animated films a bit more though since the DCAU is vast enough at this point (even though not everything is tied together) that I feel like they can try new things.

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Gratuitous swearing? :hscratch: