Justice League: The New Frontier
Here is What You Need To Know:
Oh I like this animated offering of Justice League a lot, a whole lot. Justice League: The New Frontier is set in the 1950s around the time of the end of the Korean War and deals with issues relating to McCarthyism and how they are paralleled in today’s America. All of this is wrapped up in a prehistoric entity that is dwelling within the earth unseen and begins to stir and take over the minds of the population. Slowly we see the heroes begin to coalesce to deal with this menace.
What makes The New Frontier such great fun is that so much of the story is unexpected. For example, we see Wonder Woman behaving in a rather unorthodox manner as she rescues a group of female political prisoners in the then named Indochina. She then stands by and does nothing as these women proceed to slaughter their one-time captors. That is pretty unexpected stuff.
We also learn that the heroes are being forced to sign oaths of loyalty to the government. Pretty interesting.
What Was Cool:
-The writers really didn’t hold back too much on some of the political commentary and they took a few of the superhero characters to places we haven’t seen before in film or television.
-It was great to see such a variety of the characters/heroes together on display at one time.
-There was a surprising amount of big name voice over work. Neil Patrick Harris (The Flash), Kyle MacLachlan (Superman), David Boreanaz (Green Lantern), Kyra Sedgwick (Lois Lane), Jeremy Sisto (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Miguel Ferrer (J’onn J’onzz/Martian Manhunter) and Brooke Shields as Carol Ferris. Keith David was especially outstanding as The Center.
-The setting of the 1950’s was different and helped draw one into the storyline.
-The animation was not the best you have ever seen, but was decent and the animators did a good job of capturing a different look for the 1950’s.
What Was Stupid:
-Most of what is in this film works. I just wish that Justice League: The New Frontier and other films echoing its messages had been released years ago.
The Film’s Real Genius or Geniuses:
-As always the real genius on this type of film are the animators, but the script by Stan Berkowitz and Darwyn Cooke is really well done. It should also be noted that the extensive voice-over work added much to the final product.
Story B+
Use of Science B
Acting A
Portrayal of Women A
Enjoyability Grade B+
Home Theater/HD Factor B+
Gut Check (Level of Studio Executive Guts) A (It would have been easy for the studio to chicken out on this script. Now, if only The Suits start making major releases that echo many of the messages found in The New Frontier.)
Overall Innovation B+ (The script is innovative, especially in this day and age.)
Overall Grade B+
A Little Fact About Cherie: I often thought of becoming an animator, but I didn’t have the “chops.”
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