A ‘re-imagining’ of the forming of the Justice League of America, set in the early 1950’s amidst the fear of nuclear war, McCarthyism, distrust and racial division.  But does it work?

Justice League - The New Frontier is based on the Justice League - The New Frontier - a graphic novel of the same name.  It retells the formation of the Justice League of America, the foremost heroes of DC Comics - Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter, the Green Arrow, as well as a small army of lesser-known comic book heroes.  The setting is the paranoid era of the 1950’s, with fears of communism being stoked by Senator McCarthy, the aftermath of the Korean War, fear of nuclear war and racial division.

The result is a mixed bag.  The voice talent is first rate, and I have no complaints about the acting.  Likewise, the artwork in the animation is excellent; it doesn’t look like the Saturday morning sausage factory, but instead is clearly a work of love.  The story centers on the formation of the world’s foremost group of heroes, the Justice League of America, in the aftermath of the cold war.  The JLA is composed initially of Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, the Flash, the Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter and the Green Arrow.  The movie centers on two of the ‘new’ heroes, the Green Lantern and the Martian Manhunter, allowing plenty of time for character development.

The underlying conflict is between ‘the centre’, an ancient life form hidden within the bowels of the planet who feels that the Earth must be purged of the ‘hate-filled’ humanity in order for life to survive, and between humanity itself, represented by the Justice League and various government factions.

So, do I recommend Justice League - The New Frontier unreservedly?  No—it is very much an ‘adult’ film, by which I don’t mean people removing their clothes.  Some of the fight scenes are extremely graphics, with body parts lying around.  Another example is a scene, earlier in the movie, between Superman and Wonder Woman, where she has found a village (presumably Korean) where the men and children have been murdered by the rebels and the women caged up for the rebels’ ‘use’—Wonder Woman defeated the rebels, disarmed them and released the female prisoners, who promptly take the weapons and murder the rebels.  Superman is aghast that she’s allowed this, and Wonder Woman considers this to be an example of Justice.

Another point in favor of Justice League - The New Frontier is the sheer number of ‘lesser’ heroes who appear in the film.  Unless you’re a fan of the Silver Age of Comics, as I am, you would likely miss many of these.  While watching with my son I was able to point out Ace from the Challengers of the Unknown, the Blackhawks, Larry Traynor of the Doom Patrol, etc. 

Product description of Justice League - The New Frontier courtesy of Amazon.com

Inspired by the best-selling graphic novel by Darwyn Cooke and produced by the multiple Emmy® award winning animation legend, Bruce Timm, The New Frontier is the epic tale of the founding of the Justice League. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are all here of course, and so are Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Flash - whose incredible origins will be told for the very first time. Strangers at first, these very different heroes must overcome fear and suspicion to forge an alliance against a monster so formidable, even the mighty Superman can not stop it. If they fail, our entire planet will be “cleansed” of humanity.

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Editorial review courtesy of Amazon.com

Product Description of Justice League - The New Frontier, courtesy of Amazon.com

Inspired by the best-selling graphic novel by Darwyn Cooke and produced by the multiple Emmy® award winning animation legend, Bruce Timm, The New Frontier is the epic tale of the founding of the Justice League. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are all here of course, and so are Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Flash - whose incredible origins will be told for the very first time. Strangers at first, these very different heroes must overcome fear and suspicion to forge an alliance against a monster so formidable, even the mighty Superman can not stop it. If they fail, our entire planet will be “cleansed” of humanity.

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