My Review of Justice League Unlimited · 11:04pm January 28th
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, folks! This is Mr. J back with another TV show review for today. This evening, I will be reviewing the twin cartoon or sequel series entitled “Justice League Unlimited” which ran from 2004-2006. Somehow, this show became slightly more popular than the first JL series, and I can see and understand why that would be the case. Regardless of the wonderful world-building and the amazing storylines we got from this, this is…a minor downgrade in some aspects.
This series actually lives up to its name: unlimited. It has a huge number of new superheroes joining the league and working together to protect Earth from dangerous threats. Together, they combat deadly villains big and small and must fight even more supervillains joining the fray.
This is the last series of the DC Animated Universe as it takes a deep dive into its continuity left off by past shows. Honestly, I think they did the best they could to conclude every story arc they created and give it a satisfying conclusion. However, I feel like it has too many characters that either felt underdeveloped or were just there.
Also, there are some episodes that felt very questionable and didn’t make any sense. Remember Solomon Grundy from the previous show and the heartbreaking moment where he died helping Hawkgirl, Dr. Fate, Aquaman, and the others from a universal threat? Forget that because we’re gonna dedicate an episode where he gets resurrected, his memory wiped out, and goes on a rampage across the city! WHY?! Why would they ruin Grundy like that?!
As much as I dislike the overall character of Shazam/Captain Marvel, I still felt bad for him when Superman kept scolding him for following Luther’s presidential campaign (although it turned out to be a ruse) and actually fought him in the entire city block. Yeah, I get why Superman was suspicious of Luthor, but he had no right to manhandle CM like that. It was unprovoked at the very least.
He’s a kid, dude. So I don’t blame him one bit for leaving the league at the end of that episode. It felt like Superman was out of character and held the Idiot Ball just to progress the plot. I just didn’t like the way they set up this storyline at the beginning.
But I can still consider that whole arc somewhat interesting because we see The Question scrutinizing this whole situation as a doomsday prophecy that will result in the exact same scenario involving the possible death of The Flash, Luther’s assassination, and the original six members of the league becoming the Justice Lords as we’ve seen in the previous show.
That’s the primary thing I love about this show; it took some storylines from its predecessor and expanded on its story tenfold. This is where Amanda Waller and the government get involved. And let me tell you, the ordeal between her and Batman is tight and serious from start to finish.
Now to be honest, there isn’t that many characters—heroes and villains—that I particularly like because this series spent three seasons on covering the ones that it felt like needed the spotlight while it put the others as background characters. But there are a few that I like to some degree such as The Question, Huntress, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Hawkman, and…yeah, I like those new additions to the cast.
Oh, and I was fascinated by the other subplot of the series: the formation of the Secret Society of Supervillains under the direction of Gorilla Grodd. Again, he remains to be a formidable mastermind who thought things thoroughly until he was embarrassingly overshadowed by Luthor. Thus, the latter would continue his pursuit of power by recovering the remains of Brainiac.
Alas, it went to utter ruination when he accidentally resurrected Darkseid. That’s where he had to team up with the Justice League so he can exact revenge against Darkseid for “taking Brainiac away” from him. Seriously, he was in love with a computer. How creepy yet hilarious to watch!
This would have been an amazing series finale if it had gotten a three-parter, considering the fact that Darkseid became more powerful than ever as he got a few parts from Brainiac’s remains. It felt like the world-ending conflict was resolved too quickly and didn’t take the threat too seriously.
Why can’t most finales be expanded for more than two episodes?! Come on, these finales involve Armageddon and destruction! Shouldn’t they be given more thought and care to empathize how serious they are?
Regardless of my grievances with this show, it’s still one of the best DCAU shows that exist and, more or less, did the best it could to conclude the overall story that started with “Batman: The Animated Series”. I admire the great animation, the lore, the voice acting, the soundtrack, and most of the characters here.
This gets a solid 4/5: unlimited excellence. Overall, the DC Animated Universe is an amazing franchise that proves itself to be twenty times better than the DCEU in every way. If you want to understand the characters in a fundamental level, watch the animated content that exists.
Peace!
Out of curiosity…
What were your thoughts on the developing romance between Batman & Wonder Woman in both this show and its JL predecessor?
5765382
It’s cute.
5765398
I was just wondering.
Even though I haven't watched the JL shows in their entirety, the idea of a romance between Batman and Wonder Woman in any DC iteration has frequently fascinated me.