Sommerleigh Pollonais – Senior Writer
Minor SPOILER ALERT warning.
Now THAT’S how you step up your game! Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, definitely feels like a step in the right direction for the 15th and final film in the DC Animated Movie Universe (DCAMU), which began back in 2013 with Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.
The stakes were raised, the tone was, well dark (it’s right there in the title) and the ending gave way for a fresh start, and a sense that they’re planning on updating not just the animation style we’ve all become so familiar with (and to be honest, a little tired of) by now, but the stories being told as well.
I’ve always appreciated DC for trusting their audience with content you would never see in a Marvel film. This one is Rated R for a reason folks! It’s brutal to the point of making you squirm, and squirm you will as you watch heroes you know and love fall in the war against one of DC’s most formidable foes, Darkseid. And of course the language that pops up here and there isn’t meant for younger ears.
By now, the voice cast feels more familiar (although I will never stop missing Kevin Conroy <Batman> and Tim Daly <Superman>), from the earlier animated television shows and movies. There’s also something very satisfying being a fan of Matt Ryan, who plays working class British warlock John Constantine on DC Legends of Tomorrow, and hearing his charismatic and sarcastic voice come out of his animated counterpart as well. Ryan previously voiced the character in Justice League Dark and the web series Constantine: City of Demons.
Throw in solid dialogue, great pacing and the always fun to watch Suicide Squad, led this time by the Queen of Crazy herself, Harley Quinn, and Justice League Dark: Apokolips War easily becomes on of the more memorable animated DC movies of late.
Now I know some fans are gonna say the ending was a cop-out (we wouldn’t be true fans if we didn’t spend hours discussing/arguing about these shows) and to an extent I agree because I just spent the past hour and a half feeling real moments of dread and loss for what I had just experienced. But I also deeply appreciate they had the guts to close the book on the older animated films and bring these characters (and their newer comic book stories) to the screen.
Long story short, I enjoyed the hell out of this one, and I can’t wait to see what DC animation has in store for us next.
Score: 8 out of 10
For my Quick Bite review of Superman: Red Son you can click here.