Justice Society: World War II

 Hey all and welcome back to the blog. Today is Memorial Day and we are staying away from the typical Indie films and gore fest horror flicks. I thought we'd make our way back to Warner Brothers and enjoy an animated film. With the fate of the world in the balance, a traveler will be witness to these events and help where he can. This is Justice Society World War II. 

 

The pilot and the princess.

 

 

 

 

 

With something as simple as a picnic out of town, Barry Allen a.k.a.the scarlet speedster, The Flash (Matt Bomer of Tru Calling, Traveler, Chuck, Superman: Unbound, White Collar, Will & Grace and Doom Patrol) is on a date with his long-time girlfriend Iris West (Ashleigh LaThrop of Sirens, Fifty Shades Darker, Fifty Shades Freed, The 100, The Kominsky Method and Utopia). Barry is nervous and still not exactly how to balance being a hero, a forensic officer and boyfriend.

Granted I could slap Barry for choosing Metropolis for a picnic in the park. METROPOLIS?!!! What's a matter, Barry? Gotham at midnight was already taken? Iris makes her point, stresses her love and want of growth with Barry but isn't certain if he wants the same thing. An explosion occurs and Barry runs into action, teaming up with Superman (Darren Criss of Glee, American Horror Story, Supergirl, The Flash, Transformers: Robots in Disguise, American Crime Story, Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Midway and Superman: Man of Tomorrow)against the cybernetic organism known as Brainiac.

With a series of McGuffin events tied together, Barry gets chucked into the speed force, transporting him into another place and time. Clad in his suit and getting bounced about, Flash lands in front of all people during civilians being shot at by Nazis..? Confused but being the good man he is, Flash proceeds to take the soldiers down, leaving them unconscious when he is violently grabbed and slammed against the wall by the Amazon princess herself, Wonder Woman (Stana Katic of ER, 24, Quantum of Solace, The Spirit, Castle, Batman: Arkham City and Absentia). A military outfit of special forces and metahumans code-named Justice Society with archelogist/reincarnated warrior prince, Hawkman (Omid Abtahi of My Own Worst Enemy, Brothers, Last Resort, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, DuckTales, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, The Mandalorian and American Gods), the martial artist with a sonic cry, Black Canary (Elysia Rotaru of iZombie, Supernatural, Countdown, Arrow, Reapers, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Residue, Lone Echo, Dead Again in Tombstone and The Age of Adulting) 

Flying the not so friendly skies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The chemist/physicist and speedster Jay Garrick/Flash (Armen Taylor of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Rage 2, One Punch Man, Crystar, Call of Duty: Mobile, Wicked Woods: A Descendants Halloween Story, Kingdom Under Fire II, Asgard's Wrath, Super Wings!, Darksiders Genesis, Yakuza: Like a Dragon and The Seven Deadly Sins), chemist/physicist and strong man Hourman (Matthew Mercer of Resident Evil: Damnation, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Fallout 4, Overwatch, Attack on Titan, Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045, The Last of Us: Part II and Blood of Zeus) and USAF Colonel and liason for the team, Steven Trevor (Chris Diamantopoulos of Family Guy, Skylanders Academy, Voltron: Legendary Defender, Go Away, Unicorn!, Disney Mickey Mouse, Silicon Valley, Harley Quinn, Dirty Diana and American Dad!).

 

TOO MUCH COFFEE!! Gotta pee, gotta pee, gotta pee!

 

 

 

 

 

The overseas combat stretches around the world (as the name World War would indicate) and our service men are hard at work. Their war correspondent dubbed Shakespeare tabulates their stories but has to keep the team out of the headlines as they're a secret weapon against the Axis powers. With Hitler's forces encroaching throughout the world, trying to claim religious artifacts for further the Reich, our heroes must work together, putting aside their differences and join in this struggle as one.

With Trevor being smitten by the Amazon princess, there is also a bit of sexual tension between the Canary and the Egyptian war prince. Hourman and Jay have common ground as scientists. Barry also connects to both scientist heroes. With all that is going on, the Alantians are also throwing in their weight to the surface world. With a few examples similar to Barry's time, he notices this isn't simply the past but a different world. An Earth-2 if you will.

 

AMAZON FURY!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can the heroes stop the awaiting onslaught? Can good triumph over evil?

This story gives credit to DC comics writing as far back as the early 60s when the JSA (Justice Society of America) and the JLA (Justice League of America) were establishing timelines and continuity. These stories are older than I am and this film tips its hat to, really projecting the Golden and Silver Age of DC Comics. Did I enjoy it? Yes, very much. Was there anything to complain about? A few things but not enough to give credence too. I know, me not complaining about a flick is almost unheard of. Young and old will enjoy the action-packed film and have a good time with it as well.

 

Another budget meeting.

 

Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Howdy Rotten Readers! Word shopping a fan based term. So after sitting through a public domain horror film I was asked to do something more mainstream. Yes readers, I do take requests. Feel free to hit me up on Instagram, Facebook and the like and leave title suggestions. That being said, this request was for a team-up I was only aware of the comic book crossover, it was a tad confusing to see Nickelodeon and Warner Brothers hand in hand with this project. This is Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Pizza party in the Bat Cave!!

Yeah I didn't stutter; as this was released to streaming, DVD and Blu-Ray on June 4^th, this very month. I heard skuttlebutt about it but thought it was wishful fanboy goofiness. I was most definitely wrong. Now certain elements of the comic book series has been passed over as they might have been deemed convoluted or unnecessary. The turtles do not travel through a dimensional tunnel but in fact, drive from New York to Gotham. Big difference. The whole instability of their mutagen properties in another dimension was shelved and honestly good idea.

Shredder has apparently been hobnobbing with Ras Al Ghul. Because there's two conglomerates you want together. League of Assassins and the Foot Clan. Can you just see the T-shirts now? Shredder is offering the mutagen to Ras Al Ghul to make obedient mutants and Shredder gets to dip in the Lazurus Pit to extend his life further with the whole near immortality and all.

But enough about the baddies. The turtles are a bit edgy, Ralphael is a bit of a harsh dick, Donnie's very cerebral as always, Mikey's got jokes and Leo has the proverbial stick up the butt as per usual.

Visiting Powers Industry (little nod to Batman Beyond), Barbara Gordon (for some reason made a college kid again) is fascinated by this clean air and emission free generator when...evil is afoot! Well the Foot Clan start haranguing the scientists in an attempt to steal the generator. Oh FYI, these are not shoddy built robots but human ninjas. And parents, there is some decent violence. Not 80s Action Hero level mind you, but still some blood in the air so you have been warned. About PG rating.

So, do my goggles make me look kind of dumb?

Ninja shenanigans aside, the generator is gone, Babs blabs to Bats about it and he is looking pretty peeved. Not dead parents peeved but at least irked. A bit of footage and Batman is on the case trying to figure out both the appearance of the Foot as well as the Turtles. To be fair, he may not read the New Yorker.

Wayne Enterprises' experimental tech is up for grabs with the exception of their night watchman who pummels quite a few Foot before having a showdown with the Shredder. Also they didn't over power Bats for a change so that's nice to see him being mortal.

Plenty of Easter Eggs for fans of either series. I caught a "My Toe!" reference from the standup arcade of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:Turtles in Time. Mikey's jokes just poke fun at Gotham. I mean all the damn blimps for example. They never have billboard ads, they don't route any traffic changes, they're never over a stadium. What's with all the damn blimps, Gotham!?! Couldn't help but notice,Baxter Stockman sounds very much like Jeff Goldblum via The Fly so yeah some good gags.

The Craigslist hook-up that shocked the world.

With a mystery to be solved, the World's Greatest Detective is on the case. Along with Damien Wayne/Robin and Batgirl, our caped crusaders fight alongside the Turtles to defeat Ras Al Ghul and Shredder.

The artwork is reminiscent of The Brave and the Bold Batman series with a slight tone of the 2008 TMNT. The designs of the characters are simple enough but not so radical that you couldn't identify these folk. The biggest plus of this film is no huge, overtly elaborate explanation of every character. Even if you are just mildly aware of either comic book, movies or cartoons , the average movie goer can pop this in and get right to the story. Easy peasy.

Also we are spared dead Wayne parents. Yeah Warner Brothers, I am sick to death of Thomas and Martha kill scenes. WE GET IT! We know why his runs around Gotham in a lightweight, ceramic and Kevlar armor beating the crap out of bad guys.   Additional, loved the Batmoble resembled the Animated Series version overall.

 Breeze feels good on my junk tonight.

Thankfully this has the right amount of grim and humor. Hell the title intro scene music feels like a proper mesh of Batman and TMNT so kudos to composer Kevin Riepl (Nancy Drew: Curse of Blackmoor Manor, Nancy Drew: Secret of the Old Clock, Gears of War, Crackdown 2, Silent Night, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Justice League Action and Constantine City of Demons: The Movie) and a serious praise for the slightly loose interpretation of writers James Tynion IV and Freddie Williams II, this was a lot of fun. Recommend this for all ages, we got a decent popcorn film with the right amount of ass kicking, crime solving and of course, Turtle Power.

KER-POW!