Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015)

Thanks for the memories!

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Love animation and have really enjoyed to loved many superhero films, animated and live-action. Of the DC animated films, there are some good ones out there as well as some disappointments and ones that fall in between. Although the very different portrayal of the Justice League characters will take a lot of getting used to, their personalities and back-stories changed beyond recognition for die-hard fans struggling with the concept, the alternate universe concept was a very interesting one and mostly the execution was very good, its best elements great. 'Justice League: Gods and Monsters' is one of those divisive films, purists are likely to not care for it but those who have been disappointed by general DC animated standards (which to me has been variable) they will be rewarded.'Justice League: Gods and Monsters', like a good deal of DC animated films, could have been better with a longer length by about 10-15 minutes or so and the pace slowed down. The ending in particular felt rushed and didn't seem developed enough. Having said that, 'Justice League: Gods and Monsters' has better story and characterisation execution than most DC animated films that needed to be longer and not as hasty. The story is one of the darkest and grittiest of any DC animated film and all the better for it because to me that's the right approach to take. It's also very gripping, makes the most of its concept without being too simple or confusing and gives the characters interesting stories, especially Wonder Woman. The characters are intriguingly handled and with intense and potent character interaction, though there could have been more of a few of them (i.e. Lex Luthor). The action is violent and exciting, though perhaps there could have been more of it.'Justice League: Gods and Monsters' is very good, often great. There are some very nice detailed backgrounds, the characters are designed well and the colours are dynamic and atmospheric. The music is both haunting and rousing, a good fit for the film's mood. Writing is far from simplistic or childish and the voice acting is impressive, Michael C. Hall being brilliant while Benjamin Bratt is one of the better voices for Superman of the DC animated films and others show that with good material they can act (C. Thomas Howell). Concluding, 'Justice League: Gods and Monsters' may not be quite godly but it is far from monstrous, closer to the former than the latter. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Not for KIDS, not for FANBOYS. In an alternative history Zod is Superman's father, Batman is not Bruce Wayne but instead a vampiric Man-Bat, and Wonder Woman is the child of Ares, God of War. They cuss and drink and sleep around. The opening action scene gives you a GD and some other cussing. There is lots of blood as our "heroes" kill American soldiers in a fight against the US president. Wonder woman offers her body to a cop for information (no, I am not EVEN kidding). Krypton's destruction becomes a weird, liberal statement on the evils of fracking?? This movie has no audience. Unfortunately, kids will watch it and think this is OK. It is not. SKIP THIS

To say that I've become disenfranchised by the DC Animated films would be a bit of an understatement. Ever since Justice League: War, they've just been a mess. There was the one bright spot of Assault on Arkham but otherwise they've just been dull action movies that don't do the characters justice. Thank goodness WB brought back Bruce Timm, who was one of the primary creative forces behind the Batman and Justice League animated series that kicked off DC animated projects being good in the first place. The result is the best DC animated film since New Frontier.Gods and Monsters can be said to be the first true Elseworlds story that's been done in animation. Sure there's been some parallel world stuff (Crisis on Two Earths) and plenty of out of continuity stand alones (like the aforementioned New Frontier) but they've still kept the characters pretty close to the standard versions we all know. None have really tried to craft a completely new vision of what these characters are, and that's what this story does. It makes the wise choice of having different characters taking on the mantles of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman rather than actually trying to muck about with Clark, Bruce or Diana. Instead Superman is the son of Zod, Batman is Kirk Langstrom (better known as the Man-Bat in the main DC universe) and Wonder Woman is one of the New Gods (such as High Father and Darkseid.) Their backstories are explored just enough to give a good picture of these versions without ever bogging down the narrative itself.Like any good Elseworlds story, this is an "all bets are off" take where any prior knowledge of the main DC universe can add some weight when characters like Victor Fries or Dr. Sivanna get name dropped, but nobody is exactly the same as their standard representation. All of the voice work is solid, and each of the primary characters (and even some of the secondary ones) are given the chance to stretch a little and show some dimension.The action is also a huge step up from what we've gotten lately. Most of the DCAU films based on the New 52 continuity have had well done yet rather mundane action sequences. The problem is that those films are trying for a more realistic version of fights, which isn't what animation is good for. Animation is good for over the top stuff that couldn't be replicated by just two actors and a fight choreographer, and that over the top stuff is what we get here.I don't think I can recommend this highly enough for anybody who has found the recent output of DC animated films to be sorely lacking. This is a return to form, it's a top notch story, it's a fun and engrossing new take on characters and it's the kind of thing I hope we see more of in the future.

This film is an abomination! It is un-lore friendly to the comics as well as lazily voice acted and down right not enjoyable! It takes the classic DC alternate universe plot line which, as shown in films like The Flashpoint Paradox and Crisis on two earths, can be done right and come out very entertaining but this film does it wrong, very wrong. Now in films like Flashpoint and Crisis on two earths you get an introduction which explains what is going on but in this you get General Zod push a button and suddenly batman is a vampire, superman has a goatee and honestly I have no clue whats up with wonder woman. They take some of the most beloved characters in comic book history and say "f*** you, in our new DC film your getting a Vampire, Goatee-man and wonder woman dressed like a stripper cause you all asked for this!"