My Review of Justice League · 10:54pm January 21st
My TV Show Rating Score:
5/5: It is an awesome show!
4.5/5: it is a great show albeit not perfect
4/5: It’s a good show with minor flaws
3/5: It’s overall okay/guilty pleasure
2/5: It’s bad but not awful
1/5: Look, up in the sky! It’s super bad!
0/5: MY EYEEEESSS!!!
Greetings, everyone! This is Mr. J back with another TV show review for today. This evening, I will be reviewing “Justice League” which aired from 2001-2004. Guys, have I ever expressed how much I love the DC Animated Universe? Because these cartoons are just the absolute best at world building and storytelling than the entirety of the DCEU. This show in particular is the best animated JL series there is, and no one else can tell me otherwise. As I binge-watched this series on Max, my love for it kept growing more and more.
This series is about the original seven members of the Justice League: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Flash, and Hawkgirl. They form an alliance and work together to fight off a series of supervillains they encounter across the world.
As I said, this show is quite spectacular in the writing department; they took the time to make both old and new characters down-to-earth and unique with their respective characteristics and capabilities.
And you want to know what sets this show apart from the rest? Every single episode is a two-parter. That’s right, every episode is a two-parter whereas the series finale serves as a three-parter. I like that because it allows enough room for our characters breathe and grow. That strategy gives the writing team enough time to explore their worldview and flesh out their characters.
Because one of my main gripes with most cartoons is how they rush the plot and world-ending storylines with a two-parter at the end of a season instead of building it up from the start until the end. It’s like they don’t take those episodes seriously enough to extend the length of the episodes. But thankfully, this show doesn’t make that mistake and keeps it flowing properly.
I especially liked how they took the time to flesh out the characters of Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern especially. They are some of my favorite superheroes in this show, and the way they interact with other heroes showcases their mature mindset. Still, they are quite different in some ways.
J’onn J’onnz lost his family years ago on their home planet and suffered so much from emotional distress and trauma. Eventually, he grew to accept the Justice League as his new family although it wasn’t without any struggle or tribulation.
John Stewart may appear very strict, stubborn, and stern on the outside but from the inside, he cares deeply about his teammates like a softie.
Oh, and Hawkgirl seemed to be a decent character at the beginning, but as the show went on, we see more of her personality and background which ultimately pays off at the series finale. Her relationship with GL was something I didn’t expect, but it’s something I grew to appreciate. It’s not the best ship in this show, but it was well-written at least.
Wonder Woman is as good as the other members are and is likewise a fun character to watch. She appears to be one-dimensional at first, but she does grow to respect even the male members of the League and becomes a part of the iconic trio of the JL with Batsy and Fly Boy.
Flash is just…the Flash. His comedic moments are pretty good, but even when moments get serious, he stands firm in his morals. When Wonder Woman was about to kill Toyman for seemingly destroying Superman, Flash stopped her and reminded her what heroes are supposed to do. That’s my favorite Flash moment of the whole show…besides his fight scene with Brainiac Luthor.
Speaking of which, Luthor progressively became more unhinged and villainous in this show. Ever since his debut in “Superman: The Animated Series”, he was more reserved and calm; now he is even more bold in his treacherous ways and will do anything to get rid of his enemies especially Superman.
And the way he developed his bond with Brainiac was interesting yet slightly unsettling. Plus, they actually explained how Luthor survived that point-blank blast from Brainiac in that one STAS episode, and it actually makes sense story-wise. Overtime, their chemistry became more…disturbing. That’s all I can say about that.
Throughout the show, we see different villains execute their evil schemes in different parts of the world. We see different worlds and how they function, and how our heroes need to save innocent people from the hands of tyrants and psychopaths. We aren’t just stuck on Earth the whole show; we go to other planets as well which signifies how vast the universe is.
That gives writers more freedom to explore the setting of this show and more room to expand each different storyline every two-parter. I love it that way.
The animation looks slightly better than the animation of STAS, BTAS, and TNBA. It’s so vibrant and very expressive in that aspect. Plus, it makes me miss the early 2000’s animation.
The voice acting is equally on par. The late Kevin Conroy, Phil LaMarr, Carl Lumbly, Michael Rosenbaum, Susan Eisenberg, and Maria Canals-Barrera all did amazing voiceover work for their respective characters. They seemed to enjoy their work so passionately and had a lot of fun in the recording booth.
George Newbern, as the new voice of Superman, was surprisingly a great treat to hear. He may not sound like Tim Daly, but I appreciate the fact that he gave his own voice for the character and made sure he remained faithful to the source material by giving him the same calm, collected, heroic tone for our Blue Boy Scout like how Tim did.
But of course, we can’t forget the guest appearances we all know and love: Mark Hamill as The Joker, Clancy Brown as Luthor, Michael Ironside as Darkseid, Corey Burton as Brainiac, and some newbies like Powers Booth (RIP) as Gorilla Grodd, Phil Morris as Vandal Savage, and William Atherton as Doctor Destiny to name a few.
Overall, this show is so profound in giving these characters time to shine and develop as a superhero family. It taught the same lessons we learn from the previous shows: heroism, sacrifice, and even hardship when they suffer betrayal.
Batman and Superman are basically the parents in this league, considering they have a history together and know how to form a team and work within a team…somewhat. Although Batsy can be a lone wolf (or lone bat?), he still understands the value of teamwork.
There’s so much I can say about this show, but I think I’ve said enough. This gets a 5/5: justice done right. Please give this show a watch if you haven’t already. It’s an amazing and underrated masterpiece of a series, in my opinion.
Peace!
Perfect summary! I may not have grown up with this show and its sequel much, tbh, but watching loads of clips of it online over the years and I also came to appreciate the quality of both JL shows, especially as I actually grew up with the original Batman: The Animated Series.
I still remember seeing "Secret Origins" quite frequently back when my family and I had a VHS tape of the episode combined like a movie. It was truly engaging and fun to watch, and while I haven't seen the rest of the series yet, I'm very interested.