Justice League: War

I got to see Justice League: War today. It's a pretty good movie overall. I would recommend it to DC fans (might not do as much for you if you're not into superheroes though). That said, there were a lot of little things that felt different than I was used to.

Superman felt more threatening. Honestly of all the heroes there I didn't get the vibe that any of them would actually kill except Superman. He had this... Sinister air about him. Like if pushed too far he'd hurl you into the sun and there'd be no evidence to connect him to your murder, but he'd whisper to you that he was going to do it before he actually did, that way he could feed off of your fear. He also seemed slightly less intelligent and more impulsive than what I typically see in his animated self. Green Lantern was funnier than I'm used to. I always thought Flash was the team's comedian, but Lantern was definitely the punniest on this team. Flash felt overall like the least useful member of the team. He got his licks in here and there, but compared to what the other guys were bringing to the battle (and the plot) Flash really felt like the one with the least presence overall. Wonder Woman was more... I don't know what the phrase would be... Culturally handicapped than normal? Like Earth things and human behavior were more foreign to her. She was kind of like a less friendly Starfire from the Teen Titans cartoons. Cyborg I suppose wasn't super different, it's just that this is the first time I've seen an animated cyborg before he has any robotic parts. So in that way the fact that he spends a lot of the movie coming to grips with being Cyborg rather than politely spewing technobabble (as in certain animated films I've seen) or energetically spewing technobabble laced with ebonics (as in certain animated shows I've seen) makes sense since this is all so new to this version of the character.

Captain Marvel/Shazam was also a bit different than what I've seen. Okay, maybe not, Shazam wasn't that different. He's still an excited kid in an adult's body who inevitably will use his transform lightning bolt for a purpose other than transforming. Billy Batson, on the other hand, is rather different. Typically when I see Billy he's an optimistic kid, or perhaps a little depressed, but he's always got that urge to do good. He's a moral individual. This movie's version of Billy is a very angry and spiteful loner. It's not necessarily a better or worse idea, it makes sense when you really take in the kind of day to day life this kid would be living, but it's definitely different than what I'm used to. It doesn't really seem like something he grows out of either. By the later stages of the movie Billy Batson is still kind of a loner like he was from his first onscreen appearance and Shazam is still super excited to be around the team like he was from his first onscreen appearance. Also at one point Shazam introduces himself as Shazam and there's no lightning or anything. I always thought it was mandatory that if that word came out of his mouth whether he screamed it, whispered it, or sung it it didn't matter, it would cause the bolt. In Flashpoint that's how it is (though, technically I guess that's alternate universe stuff, but still). Batman was Batman.

Overall though it definitely was entertaining. Not for the PG crowd though. There was some murder, eye gouging, and blood, but mostly I'm referring to the swearing. It didn't bother me personally, I'm a big boy and I've heard worse, but there was A LOT of swearing in this movie. In fact if I remember right it was ALL done by the heroes. There's not censoring yourself and then there's going out of your way to jam profanity in anywhere you can and this really felt like a case of the latter. It actually got pretty funny, especially considering that like a third of all the profanity in the movie is Superman.