Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Justice League: The New Frontier Blu-ray Movie Review

When one hero isn't enough.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 7, 2011

Everything old is new again. X-Men: First Class reimagined the Cold War in the light of the early relationship between Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, putting a revisionist spin on the Cuban Missile Crisis that was spectacularly entertaining if not, well, exactly historically accurate. But years previously another superhero franchise had visited something along this same idea, though Justice League: The New Frontier actually deals with a somewhat broader timeframe than the most recent X-Men film. Over an appealingly graphic-novel inspired prelude, we hear sonorous if slightly foreboding narration from the self-described The Centre, some sort of entity who seems at the very least quasi-Godlike in its abilities. The Centre then apparently turns out to be the character in the graphic novel we have seen being written (and/or illustrated), a novel whose author then just as apparently commits suicide. So much for writer’s block. We’re then whisked off into an aerial sequence that is taking place on the last day of hostilities in the Korean War, in which pilots Hal Jordan (voiced by David Boreanaz) and Kyle “Ace” Morgan (John Heard) soon discover that not all of the Koreans have gotten the news flash. The second storyline involves the last of the Green Martians, the wonderfully named J’onn J’onzz (Miguel Ferrer), who is mistakenly teleported to Earth through the scientific investigations of Dr. Erdel. Seeing the Martian leads to a fatal heart attack for Erdel, but luckily (for J’onzz, anyway), the Martian is a shape shifter who is able to immediately assume Dr. Erdel’s physical form. (In a funny running gag, J’onzz watches television back at Erdel’s apartment and briefly assumes different forms he’s watching, including everything from Warner icon Bugs Bunny to the old Native American who used to be on the “end of broadcast” test screens that used to air overnight on early broadcast television). The third plotline involves Superman (Kyle McLachlan) tracking down Wonder Woman (Lucy Lawless) in 1954 Vietnam (then still called Indo-China), taking her to task for some war atrocities which Wonder Woman didn’t do anything to discourage. Back in the United States, we have reporter Iris West (Vicki Lewis) in a Las Vegas casino, but talking on the phone to her boyfriend Barry Allen, AKA The Flash (Neil Patrick Harris) when a nefarious villain named Captain Cold (James Arnold Taylor) breaks in to rob the place. Also in the casino are ex- pilots Hal and Ace. As this brief summary may indicate, Justice League: The New Frontier is nothing if not packed to the gills with various characters, plot elements and interlocking storylines, frankly perhaps too many for its relatively brief running time.

Justice League: The New Frontier manages to also bring a coterie of other DC icons, both heroic and villainous, into the mix, including Batman (Jeremy Sisto), Robin, Green Arrow, Gorilla Grodd, and in a series of something akin to cameos, everyone from Lex Luthor to The Joker to Two Face. This enterprise is certainly quick and entertaining, and it boasts relatively high production values for a straight to video effort, but with so much going on, and so many interconnected storylines, it also often feels like too much of a good thing. Batman and J’onzz (who soon assumed the identity of a policeman named, well, John Jones) end up maintaining the main focus of the plot, an investigation which leads them to a cult worshiping some sort of entity known as The Centre, but there is so much flying around the tangents of Justice League: The New Frontier that viewers, like test-pilot Hal, need to hold on for dear life lest they be ejected into the far reaches of inchoate space. Along the way we get a sort of origin story for The Green Lantern as well as a coming of heroic age arc for The Flash.

Justice League: The New Frontier actually advertises its PG-13 rating on its cover, proclaiming it proudly as if it will be some sort of marketing lure to pull in those who want something ostensibly more “mature” than the typical animated fare. What it actually boils down to is slightly more graphic violence, as well as some kind of interesting allusions to everything from McCarthyism to prejudice, as well as the then ever-present threat of nuclear holocaust. There’s probably nothing in Justice League: The New Frontier that will overly disturb those younger than the suggested 13, but parents should be aware of the rating in any case.

The animation style of Justice League: The New Frontier is a nice update of a traditional Warner look that actually owes quite a bit to the early and mid-sixties reboot of the Looney Tunes characters, something that is of course appropriate given the film’s timeframe. There’s a nice melding of traditional cel animation techniques with a more graphic element that is especially evident in the opening prologue, which nicely references the graphic novel on which this outing is based. Batman’s original look in the film is a just slight reimagining of a legendary DC Comics character, but he soon adjusts his costume, which a young kidnap victim finds frightening, to be more in line with what longtime fans remember.

Part of what elevates this enterprise is the A-listers populating the voice talent. There’s a wide variety of notable actors involved here (many of whom are listed above, but also including Brooke Shields and Kyra Sedgwick), and their professionalism brings an element of reality within the necessarily cartoonish context of an enterprise that is after all based on various comic strips. The piece ends with a reference to a John F. Kennedy speech (much like X-Men: First Class, in fact, which also utilizes Kennedy’s real life speeches warning of impending disaster should the USSR cross the Cuban blockade), and that ties the film more completely into “real life” than might otherwise be expected. While Justice League: The New Frontier probably would have been better served with at least a somewhat longer running time which would have allowed it to more fully explore these connections with actual reality, what remains is a brisk and eventful trip down a Memory Lane that was never there to begin with.

Justice League: The New Frontier Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Justice League: The New Frontier is presented on Blu-ray with a VC-1 encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. While no one would ever accuse this outing of being incredibly innovative from an animation standpoint, it has many, many good things to recommend it, notably the great graphic novel inspired prologue as well as a kind of funny-silly climax that sees two of our heroes engulfed by some wacky hallucinations. Colors are fairly bursting from the screen with robust saturation, and line detail is sharp and firm throughout the enterprise. There are some very minor banding issues on a couple of scenes, but they're extremely transitory. Otherwise, this is an artifact free presentation that pops very nicely and should please lovers of traditional cel animation, not to mention fans of the various heroes on display in the film.

Justice League: The New Frontier Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Justice League: The New Frontier sports both a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix as well as a lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix. The lossless mix is astoundingly effective at times, not just by dint of the fact that superior voice actors are offered in abundance but also due to the fact that the film is a virtual nonstop riot of impressive sound effects. From the opening portentous narration to the first battle sequence in Korea to the climactic showdown between the alien entity which turns out to be a sort of dinosaur island (don't ask), Justice League: The New Frontier offers superb fidelity, extremely consistent and immersive surround activity and more than abundant LFE. As has been mentioned, all of the voice work is excellent, and the sound effects are extremely well placed throughout the soundfield, and include any number of great panning and discrete channelization effects.

Justice League: The New Frontier Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary I features Executive Producer Bruce Timm, Supervising Producer Mike Goguen, Voice Director Andrea Romano, Director Dave Bullock, Screenwriter Stan Berkowitz and DC Comics SVP Creative Affairs Gregory Noveck.
• Commentary II features comic writer and artist Darwyn Cooke.
• Super Heroes United: The Complete Justice League History (SD; 41:06) is a really excellent overview of the 47 year history of the Justice League, comparing the massing of the DC universe's heroes to the Greek Gods.
• Sneak Peek: Batman Gotham Knight (SD; 10:11) is a sort of making-of featurette for the piece, talking about its connections with anime.
• Comic Book Commentary: Homage to the New Frontier (SD; 10:16) has Darwyn Cooke discussing how he blended actual history into his storyline, as well as how he adapted the original comic book (OK, graphic novel) into the medium of film.
• Legion of Doom: The Pathology of the Super Villain (SD; 33:58) gives us the psychology behind all of that bad, bad behavior.
• Justice League Bonus Episodes (SD; 1:08:37) includes "Dark Heart," "To Another Shore," and "Task Force X."

Justice League: The New Frontier Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's simply a little bit too much going on throughout Justice League: The New Frontier for it all to be able to be crammed into little more than an hour's running length. Ambition is certainly to be lauded, but there has to be enough structure in the running time to support it all, and in that regard this feature feels a little rushed and underdeveloped. It's also all pretty silly at times, especially the dinosaur-laden climax. But taken as a whole, Justice League: The New Frontier is a lot of fun, with incredible voice talent and a very clean and appealing animation style. Bolstered by outstanding video and audio, and a full slate of good to excellent supplements, this release is Recommended.