Crappy film

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Love animation and have really enjoyed to loved many superhero films, animated and live-action. Of the DC animated films, there are some good ones out there as well as some disappointments and ones that fall in between. Although the very different portrayal of the Justice League characters will take a lot of getting used to, their personalities and back-stories changed beyond recognition for die-hard fans struggling with the concept, the alternate universe concept was a very interesting one and mostly the execution was very good, its best elements great. 'Justice League: Gods and Monsters' is one of those divisive films, purists are likely to not care for it but those who have been disappointed by general DC animated standards (which to me has been variable) they will be rewarded.'Justice League: Gods and Monsters', like a good deal of DC animated films, could have been better with a longer length by about 10-15 minutes or so and the pace slowed down. The ending in particular felt rushed and didn't seem developed enough. Having said that, 'Justice League: Gods and Monsters' has better story and characterisation execution than most DC animated films that needed to be longer and not as hasty. The story is one of the darkest and grittiest of any DC animated film and all the better for it because to me that's the right approach to take. It's also very gripping, makes the most of its concept without being too simple or confusing and gives the characters interesting stories, especially Wonder Woman. The characters are intriguingly handled and with intense and potent character interaction, though there could have been more of a few of them (i.e. Lex Luthor). The action is violent and exciting, though perhaps there could have been more of it.'Justice League: Gods and Monsters' is very good, often great. There are some very nice detailed backgrounds, the characters are designed well and the colours are dynamic and atmospheric. The music is both haunting and rousing, a good fit for the film's mood. Writing is far from simplistic or childish and the voice acting is impressive, Michael C. Hall being brilliant while Benjamin Bratt is one of the better voices for Superman of the DC animated films and others show that with good material they can act (C. Thomas Howell). Concluding, 'Justice League: Gods and Monsters' may not be quite godly but it is far from monstrous, closer to the former than the latter. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Anyone watching the Justice League animated movies in order: The New Frontier, Crisis On Two Earths, Doom, Flashpoint, and War, will notice that they have become darker and more nihilistic one after another. Now we arrive at Gods and Monsters, the depressing continuation of this trend.Of course, they are all "anti-heroes" now, to put it kindly, although a combination of violent vigilantes and fascist army is probably closer to the truth. Batman's a vampire (how imaginative! A vampire bat!), and embarrassingly Superman (sporting a goatee which I guess is meant to make him look badass?) is a Mexican illegal immigrant, a move obviously intended to make a politically correct point, although not really exploited here. Truth Justice and the Mexican way ! Yay! Oh and his real father is the murderous General Zod.Even worse is the new sword-carrying Wonder Woman. Her family has been massacred by Highfather, who in the real DC universe is the embodiment of goodness, while Darkseid, who Highfather betrays here, is supposed to be the embodiment of evil. (Hence the name)Poor old Jack Kirby must be rolling over in his grave to see his creations being so abused. He understood the difference between good and evil, light and dark, something that modern writers (themselves gone over to the dark side?) no longer see.So by what perversion of the word 'Justice' can this trio of murderous misfits call themselves the 'Justice League'? I refuse to call these impostors by their assumed superhero names, since they are NOT the beloved characters they purport to be or anything close, so I dub them Sword Woman, Goatee Man and Vampire-Batman.This morally inverted universe could be interesting if there was some realisation at some point by the characters that they were actually the bad guys and see them turn it around. Now That could have been thrilling. The problem is that we are supposed to be on their side from the start and see their personality flaws (ie that they are all bloodthirsty killers) as badass.The film is basically a series of massacres, each more brutal than the last. Leaving aside the destruction of Krypton, massacre #1 is the "Justice League" wiping out a terrorist organisation. At least 50 people are horrifically killed by the JL, when they could just as easily have been captured by this super-powered trio. Some are hacked to death by Sword Woman, some crushed to death thanks to Goatee Man's heat vision (which he uses indiscriminately) and one has his blood sucked by Vampire-Batman. Nice. But that's OK its alright since they are "terrorists" and therefore deserve to be summarily executed by our heroes.A token protest by ordinary people is then shown as well as a critical report by Lois Lane, but this legitimate concern is depicted as a bunch of small-mindedness.Massacre #2 is of a group of scientists, some beloved characters in the comic world. Oh and a kid who just happens to be a young version of Cyborg. Again the film goes out of its way to make this as sadistic as possible.Massacre #3 is the aforementioned backstory of Sword Woman.Massacre #4 is a continuation of the massacre of scientists, this time inside Magnus's house. The violence is even more graphic with one poor victim being literally ripped in two. Note that our heroes were not able to save one person.At this point I was pretty stunned but was still expecting some big turnaround to come. This, after all, has received some 5/5 reviews.Massacre #5 is when Goatee Man and Sword Woman decide "heroically" not to give up but instead fight the army. To be fair, this sequence is less graphic than the earlier ones; we don't actually see any soldiers being killed when their tanks and helicopters are smashed by our heroes. Maybe these all were drones. But I guess showing soldiers dying would make the shallow ending less palatable.Then comes an almost literal Deus-ex-machina. Lex Luthor (channeling his inner Stephen Hawking) appears out of thin air and explains to the JL what's happening and they go and fix the "villain".Cue general rejoicing. Lois Lane recants her former opinions. The JL are now exonerated. So what if they have killed dozens of soldiers unnecessarily in addition to over 50 "terrorists" and failed to save a single scientist? They saved the world! Oh, from a threat powered by Goatee Man's rocket ship and protected by their "Justice" tower's force field. But nevermind, that's not anything to worry about.Terrible. But the only question is, how on earth has this dreck gotten some many good reviews?

This is actually one of the better Justice League movies I've seen. Anything with an Elsewords theme always makes you think, and it's a fantastic way to see your favourite characters in a different light.However.....Why do these movies have to be so violent? I'm seriously not expecting the Super Friends here, but when you see Kimiyo Hoshi burned alive, or Karen Beecher stabbed through the head, the film tends to disappoint. It shows how lazy film-makers are becoming when they are adding extra violence just to titillate the audience, without letting the viewer paint their own picture of what is happening.I know I come from a generation when kids were generally the main audience for these original cartoons, and that the creators need to make the shows more grim to widen the audience appeal. But I would also like to feel comfortable taking my kid to see a movie about the heroes I grew up loving, instead of having them miss out on some wonderful fantasy story-telling.

Flashpoint paradox was the only DC animated l enjoyed in recent years, and especially JL War and Throne of Atlantis were particularly bland and boring.l suggest anyone to watch the mini introduction chronicles first to get a sense of the new versions of the league members in this alternate universe (especially Superman - Bomb!!). And if you can spend the time to read the 3 (each) mini comic releases for each of these characters you will have a much satisfying experience of this story.Especially l am amazed with Bekka (Wonderwoman of this universe) origin story and how much deeper Bekka as a character compared to mostly bland Diana. Probably her past on Apocalypse was the best sub-story l ever encountered in DC stories. (This is as much as l can say with out spoilers).Definitely worth watching, especially if you were a fan of Batman Animated series from 90s. Story is much more darker than regular DC ones, but not pointlessly violent. Don't miss this threat as it does not happen nowadays often.