Review of Justice League: The New Frontier (2008) by John P — 02 Jun 2010

Pretty good, I'd say.

It's quite obvious that this is direct-to-video (er, DVD. Fuck it.), and some of the musical cues are damned atrocious, but otherwise, I think this distills everything great about Darwyn Cooke's masterful miniseries into a 76-minute film.

Obviously not all of Cooke's storylines make it in the translation, but that's okay, because they're either subtly mentioned, or incorporated in a different way. In fact, one of the opening scenes from the book is transported to film in a vastly different, yet totally cool way.

But if you didn't read the book, that's fine. Because this is a differently told story (from my recollection, at least) that captures the essence of the book.

The animation is excellent, and I'm glad they attempted to recreate the vibe the original artwork gives off. Also, the voice acting is well-done, I thought. It's not often that I see an animated Batman and not wonder where Kevin Conroy went, but this time, I was perfectly okay with Jeremy Sisto's portrayal. Neil Patrick Harris's Flash is excellent, and David Boreanaz does the straight-man thing well with his Hal Jordan.

In fact, this story re-tells Hal Jordan's origin story in a much more meaningful and dramatic way than the painfully mediocre Green Lantern: First Flight.

So, as far as animated superhero tales go, this is a great one. It won't knock any socks off, but it's a good time overall.