Official Synopsis
Justice League vs The Legion of Doom – The Justice League starts to fall apart when they try to decide who should be nominated as team leader and a new member sows seeds of discontent among them, all while the world’s super villains are forming their own team to destroy the League once and for all.
LEGO DC Comic movies are always entertaining, though they do tend to play it safe a bit. Compared to their older brother, hand drawn DC Comics animated features from WB, the LEGO features are enormously kid-friendly, while sprinkling in just a tad bit of adult humor to keep them interesting. This certainly is the case for LEGO DC Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom.
I can dig that, though.
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The first act of the movie starts with the Justice League trying to find their leadership, which is vital for its survival. All personalities are in full swing, with a dark Dark Knight in place, a joke-less chatty-Cathy of a Superman, and a desperate-to-prove-himself Cyborg. All of whom make up a messy, disorganized and attention span deprived Justice League. While the group decides who is to lead, Lex Luthor begins to get together a group of villains for a try-out to see who is fit to make up the new band of baddies he is putting together called the Legion of Doom.
I love the premise of the movie, as we get to see some chaos within the group of good guys, though controlled chaos. Their clashing personalities make for an entertaining start, even though some of it can be downright mean (see Cyborg/Batman encounters for details). It also allows for competition in the group, as well as brief distraction from the bad guys/gals.
Opposite of the good guys, it’s nice to see that LEGO DC Comics has delved into creation of the Legion of Doom, something that isn’t exactly addressed a lot in DC Comic movies, though I suspect we might see it forming in Zack Snyder’s Superman vs. Batman (just hopes and wishes, folks). The first act does a great balancing job with both sides of the hero/villain equation, while maintaining a nice, complicated storyline for the younger audience. This is all part of the first act.
The second act begins with Area 52 (replaced 51) being attacked and eventual blame falling on the Justice League. The League is banished off the earth, which provides a wonderful opportunity for the Legion of Doom to reveal itself, and make its bid for total world domination.
The setup and delivery here is a bit goofy, though it’s fun to watch the playfulness of the villains and the eventual descent within the Justice League, then ascent. What’s also neat, and treated very well, is the introduction to Martian Manhunter, who has that Vision-esque creation, where he was brought in to be bad, but ends up quite the opposite. Regardless, his origin is treated quite well and done well.
As the third act is brought to light, the Justice League goes head-to-head with the Legion of Doom, which breaks into a gigantic, yet funny battle. I like how things, and relationships, are resolved. I won’t give the ending away, but it actually ends properly…with some surprises in store at the very end that leave the world open for more LEGO DC Comics films.
Kudos to director Rick Morales for keeping this movie balanced for both adults and kids, while maintaining a decent story that is worthy of the DC moniker. His writers did a superb job, as did the casting director, Lisa Schaffer.
As LEGO DC Comics movies go, this one is a good one. It rates up there with the Batman LEGO movies. Maybe they can make a game from this one? Please?
On the Blu-ray side of the release, the visuals are masterful as usual. Clean, clear and crisp are the best ways to describe the transfer. The animation is in classic LEGO style, so no disappointment in that category. Overall, just another solid WHV transfer to Blu-ray.
Lastly, the only feature added is called ‘Click, Zap, Boom! Creating the Sound Design’. It’s a decent feature that adds to the product, but I’m not sure it will completely interest kids. An extra short might have done the trick.
Anyway, to the summary!