Justice League: War

Justice League: War
Home video release cover art
Directed by	Jay Oliva
Written by	Heath Corson
Produced by	James Tucker
Starring	Christopher Gorham Justin Kirk Shemar Moore Jason O'Mara
Edited by	Christoper D. Lozinski
Music by	Kevin Kliesch
Distributed by	Warner Home Video
Release dates	January 21, 2014 (2014-01-21) (Digital) February 4, 2014 (2014-02-04) (Physical)
Running time	79 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Justice League: War is a direct-to-video animated superhero film featuring the DC Comics superhero team the Justice League, and an adaptation of the story Justice League: Origin by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee, the first story in DC's 2011 DC Universe relaunch. It was directed by Jay Oliva, scripted by Heath Corson. It is the first movie from the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series that is part of a new shared continuity, the DC Animated Movie Universe. The film was released for downloading on January 21, 2014 and was released on Blu-ray and DVD formats on February 4, 2014. It had its world premiere at the Paley Center for Media on the same day. On August 11, 2015, Warner Home Video re-released the film on a combo pack, which includes a DVD and Blu-Ray copy, a digital copy, and the graphic novel it's based on.

The film depicts an invasion of Earth by the alien Darkseid and the subsequent formation of the titular superhero team to counter it, which includes Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Cyborg and Shazam. A stand-alone sequel, Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, was released in January 2015.

Plot

A series of strange abductions have occurred in Gotham City, Central City, Coast City and Metropolis among others. Video footage suggests that Batman, a wanted, costumed vigilante, is behind the incidents. When a mysterious, burly, cloaked kidnapper abducts a woman, Green Lantern arrives to confront the kidnapper and saves the woman when she is dropped from above. Green Lantern then attacks the kidnapper, revealing it to be a monstrous Parademon. The creature defeats Green Lantern soundly, and as he is about to be killed, Batman appears and attacks the Parademon, trying to interrogate it. The Parademon then attacks both heroes. They escape from the city's police and chase the creature into the sewers, where it charges a Mother Box and explodes. Batman and Green Lantern examine the box, deduce that it is of extraterrestrial origin, and decide to ask Superman for an answer. Another Mother Box, supplied by The Flash (Barry Allen) is being studied at S.T.A.R. Labs. Doctor Silas Stone, father of Victor Stone, deliberately misses his son's football game so he can study the box. Arriving in Metropolis, Batman and Green Lantern fight Superman—who has fought a Parademon previously and believes the heroes are working with it. The battle spreads over a portion of the city; it finally stops when Batman calls Superman "Clark". Superman uses his x-ray vision and recognizes Batman as billionaire Bruce Wayne. The three heroes then begin to collaborate. On the planet Apokolips, Darkseid orders Desaad to begin an invasion of Earth in response to the superheroes' discovery of his plans.

Victor arrives at S.T.A.R. Labs and argues with his father Silas, who believes that football has no importance in a world that is changing with the appearance of metahumans, and states that he will never come to one of his son's football games due to his devotion to his own work. At the Daily Planet, Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern realize the invasion has begun when the box activates and several Boom Tubes appear throughout the world, including S.T.A.R. Labs. While Victor is holding the Box being studied by his father during their argument, it activates and explodes, creating a Boom Tube. The explosion fuses the technology inside the Box to Victor's fatally wounded and mutilated body. With several Parademons attacking, Silas is forced to take Victor to an emergency room to save him. Silas loads Victor into a technologically advanced medical bed and uses experimental nano mechanical and tissue grafting technologies on Victor in desperation, though this seems to fail when his heartbeat flatlines. Countless Parademons appear around the world, attacking everyone on sight. The box's technology spliced with Victor's body fuses itself with the various technologies, as well as computers, around the room, transforming Victor into Cyborg, with a body now made from technology capable of transforming and adapting itself and obtaining new features, such as weapons. Just as the Flash arrives to save the scientists, Cyborg's systems reveal details of Apokolips, Darkseid, and the invasion plan. He sees that the Parademons are actually the inhabitants of countless worlds conquered by Darkseid. The inhabitants are captured and spliced with Darkseid's technology, allowing it to control and repurpose their genetics and physical makeup, transforming them into mind-controlled monsters and together serve as a highly expendable army for conquering other planets. Victor's body was affected by the same technology but it had not been programmed to create a Parademon, and fused with other materials and instead allows Victor to become Cyborg. At his foster home, teenager Billy Batson sees a Parademon outside and mystically turns into the superhero Shazam. Air Force One is attacked in the air, but is saved by the Amazon princess Wonder Woman (Diana Prince) and Superman. After the heroes gather, Cyborg reveals that the invasion is a prelude to the terraforming of Earth. Darkseid arrives and proves to be a powerful opponent who defeats each hero effortlessly.

Darkseid uses his Omega Beams while fighting Flash and Superman, with the latter being unable to outmaneuver the beam and is hit, incapacitated and captured by a Parademon. Batman stops Green Lantern from going after them on his own, as his ego has caused him to charge at Darkseid without thinking and be quickly defeated and injured to the point where his arm breaks. Batman then persuades him to think about the many lives at stake rather than his own image as a hero and to help the heroes work together after he unmasks himself and reveals that his parents' murders were what motivated him to fight evil. Batman unmasked deliberately and allows himself to be captured to save Superman. Green Lantern, acting as a leader, assembles everyone and decides that to defeat Darkseid they must destroy his eyes first, stripping him of his power to use his Omega Beams. Bruce is taken through a portal and arrives on Apokolips, proceeding to escape the Parademon and stop Desaad from turning Superman into a Parademon. Because of the brainwashing process being done on him, Superman becomes unstable and highly aggressive, resulting in him murdering Desaad by strangling him to death and attacking anything in sight, including other Parademons and Batman. Batman reasons with Superman, helping him reassert his own personality. On Earth, after Darkseid's eyes are destroyed (as Wonder Woman stabs him in his right eye with her sword, while Flash impales him in his left eye with a crowbar), Cyborg connects with the Mother Box to reopen the Boom Tubes and send the tyrant and his army back to their home world. Though the Parademons are gone, Darkseid remains. Superman and Batman arrive and together they eventually force Darkseid into the portal. With the world saved, the once-maligned superheroes gain the public's trust and are honored at the White House. The President of the United States asks whether they have a name. Shazam abruptly announces the name "Super Seven", to which the others object.

In a post-credits scene, an Atlantean ship emerges from the ocean and Ocean Master appears carrying the dead body of his king, possibly killed when the Parademons assembled in the sea during Darkseid's arrival on Earth. He believes that the surface dwellers on Earth are responsible for his death, calling it an act of war from the surface, for which he swears revenge.

Cast

• Jason O'Mara as Batman / Bruce Wayne, a billionaire socialite and vigilante protector of Gotham City.
• Alan Tudyk as Superman / Clark Kent, the sole survivor of the planet Krypton and protector of Metropolis.

• Michelle Monaghan as Wonder Woman / Diana Prince, an Amazon warrior, princess and diplomat.
• Justin Kirk as Green Lantern / Hal Jordan, an Air Force pilot and member of the interplanetary Green Lantern Corps.
• Christopher Gorham as Flash / Barry Allen, a forensic investigator who can move at superhuman speedsa and vibrate at a molecular level.
• Shemar Moore as Cyborg / Victor Stone, a high school football player who is transformed into a cyborg to save his life.
• Sean Astin as Shazam / Billy Batson, a child who can summon magical powers and become adult in appearance by saying the word "Shazam".
  • Zach Callison voices Billy Batson, reprising his role from Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam
• Dee Bradley Baker as Parademons
• Melique Berger as Sarah Charles
• Steven Blum as Darkseid, an extraterrestrial warlord from the planet Apokolips.
• Kimberly Brooks as Darla
• Rocky Carroll as Silas Stone
• Ioan Gruffudd as Thomas Morrow
• Georgie Kidder as Freddy Freeman
• John Mariano as Ice Cream Vendor
• Richard McGonagle as the President of the United States
• Matthew Mercer as Guard
• George Newbern as Steve Trevor
• Andrea Romano as Green Lantern's ring
• Roger Rose as Pinstriped Loudmouth
• Gary Sturgis as Teammate #2
• Bruce Thomas as Desaad
• Hynden Walch as Hannah Grace

Soundtrack

Untitled

The soundtrack to Justice League: War was released on February 4, 2014. The music was composed by Kevin Kliesch.

Track list

Justice League: War – DC Universe animated original movie (original motion picture soundtrack)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Justice League: War" (opening titles)	0:39
2.	"Green Lantern Meets The Parademon"	0:47
3.	"Rooftop Battle/Chase Through The City"	3:34
4.	"Underground Tunnels"	2:27
5.	"Silas Updates Barry"	0:41
6.	"Game Day"	1:19
7.	"Diana And The Angry Mob"	1:34
8.	"Billy Meers Victor/Superman Makes an Entrance"	2:30
9.	"Superfriend or Superfoe?/Enter Darkseid"	4:12
10.	"Parademons Break Through/Saving Victor"	3:19
11.	"Fighting The Parademons Horde"	2:04
12.	"Billy Becomes Shazam"	0:42
13.	"Darkseid's Arrival"	4:46
14.	"Batman Unmasked/Darkseid Homeworld"	2:02
15.	"The Heroes Join Forces"	1:47
16.	"Off To Rescue Superman/Darkseid Battle"	2:43
17.	"The Battle Continues"	7:10
18.	"Final Battle"	5:55
19.	"Saving The Day/Award Ceremony/End Titles"	6:29
Total length:		54:40

Reception

Justice League: War received a mixed response. IGN gave a total score of 8.8/10, calling it a "great modern origin story that will win you over with its action and humor." CraveOnline gave it a rating of 9.0/10.

Conversely, Brian Lowry of Variety believes it did not reach the high standards of other DC Animated Movies; he wrote, "the interplay yields its share of moments but ultimately proves too frenzied and chaotic to deliver more than a few revisionist thrills". Additionally, Scott Mendelson of Forbes' Magazine called the film a "dry run for Justice League". He criticized the plot, describing it as "monotonous".

Sequel

A follow-up, Justice League: Throne of Atlantis featuring Matt Lanter as Aquaman / Arthur Curry, was released in January 2015 with several of the first film's cast reprising their roles; notable changes include Alan Tudyk, Michelle Monaghan, and Justin Kirk, who were replaced by Jerry O'Connell, Rosario Dawson, and Nathan Fillion in the roles of Superman / Clark Kent, Wonder Woman / Diana Prince, and Green Lantern / Hal Jordan, respectively.

External links

• Justice League: War at IMDb