Young Justice: Invasion Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Young Justice: Invasion Blu-ray Movie Review

DC has yet to claim the Connected Cinematic Universe crown from Marvel, yet remains the reigning king of animated productions. Its animated series and films are only now beginning to converge, but each television show and original movie, for better or worse, has exceled at creating a smartly crafted, fully realized DC universe all its own. Which brings us to Young Justice (2010-13), a terrific two-season series that had it all. Great characters, thrilling superheroics, sharp writing and surprises in every episode. Its failing wasn't even its own. That failing falls on the shoulders of Cartoon Network, which unceremoniously cancelled the show in its prime, officially citing... no specific reason for abruptly offing its lovingly animated comic-born crowd pleaser. Low ratings? Budgetary challenges? Scheduling conflicts? Newer, better series on the horizon? DC's fault? CN's shortsightedness? No. Yes. Maybe? What we do know is that one minute Young Justice was fighting the good fight; the next minute it was being shuffled off to CN's animated graveyard, much to the dismay of its all-ages audience.

That doesn't mean Young Justice is dead and gone, though. While its bold, lineup-changing second season (Invasion) lays the groundwork for storylines and subplots that were never resolved or brought to fruition, the series has found life on DVD and now Blu-ray (courtesy of Warner Archive), expanding its fanbase despite the fact that there's no hope of CN or Warner Animation producing further episodes. (Plans for a proposed third season via Kickstarter were summarily rejected.) But what exists still exists, and there's no reason to avoid Young Justice simply because it doesn't offer a proper ending. Comicbook characters are perpetually being re-adapted and reimagined for various projects. One of the joys of a DC animated series, cancelled or no, is watching its creators work, delivering action, team-ups, cameos and high concept adventure that has yet to be embraced in the DC Cinematic Universe. The sky's the limit in DC's animated properties, and Young Justice takes full advantage of the DCU sandbox, focusing on a ragtag band of emotionally complex young crime fighters who are every bit as interesting, engaging and, yep, iconic as the adult heroes they're working so hard to impress and emulate.

• Happy New Year: Young Justice has gained and lost members, and works closely with the Justice League. Now, an alien race has launched an invasion of Earth from Rann using teleporters, and only Young Justice can travel there since the Justice League has been outlawed on the planet.
• Earthlings: On Rann, Beast Boy, Miss Martian, and Superboy team up with Adam Strange to locate the home base of the Kroloteans and stop the invasion at its source.
• Alienated: Young Justice and the Justice League track down a major Krolotean base on Earth and launch an attack, only to discover that an old ally is assisting the alien invaders.
• Salvage: Superboy and Blue Beetle go after Bruno Mannheim of Intergang, believing he was involved with the destruction of Malina Island. Meanwhile, Nightwing and several of his teammates track down the Roy Harper clone and try to convince him to set aside his quest to find his progenitor.
• Beneath: While a team of female Young Justice members enter Bialya to track down the alien tech used to destroy Malina Island, Blue Beetle looks for a missing friend in El Paso.
• Bloodlines: Impulse, a speedster from the future who claims to be the Flash's grandson, arrives at Mount Justice and is eager to meet his relatives. Meanwhile, Red Arrow and Cheshire track down Roy Harper.
• Depths: Nightwing calls Artemis back into action to defend a comsat launch against enemy saboteurs. But the team soon discovers that another old teammate has also returned... and is willing to do whatever it takes to stop the rocket.
• Satisfaction: While Young Justice go on with their lives, Green and Red Arrow explain to the recently-discovered Roy Harper that he has been a prisoner for eight years after being cloned, and he sets out to take revenge on the man responsible.
• Darkest: To prove his loyalty to the Light, Aqualad takes a team of villains on a mission to capture members of Young Justice... and destroy their headquarters.
• Before the Dawn: The team goes on a mission to rescue its missing comrades, and discovers that the Reach is allied with the Light and responsible for the abduction of dozens of teenagers... and plans to use Blue Beetle to further their invasion plans.
• Cornered: Young Justice's relocation after the destruction of Mount Justice is interrupted by the attack of an alien gladiator. Meanwhile, Black Canary interviews the Reach abductees, and the Reach ambassador continues to undermine the League's standing on Earth.
• True Colors: The Reach claims to be helping Earth with its agricultural problems and forms an alliance with LexCorp. Suspecting the worst, Nightwing sends an undercover team in to gather samples and determine what The Reach is really up to.
• The Fix: Black Manta seeks revenge on Miss Martian for her telepathic attack on his son, but soon discovers that she's her only hope of restoring his son's mind. Meanwhile, Young Justice tests their new ally, Green Beetle, and Blue Beetle seeks a way to control his scarab.
• Runaways: Four of The Reach's teenager abductees break out of STAR Labs when they grow tired of the endless experiments on them. When Blue Beetle tracks them down, however, they agree to go back only find the lab under attack by a killer android.
• War: Rather than let Earth fall under the control of The Reach, the alien warlord Mongul brings his planetary-sized mobile weapons platform to destroy the planet. To stop it, Young Justice and the Justice League must join forces to stop it... and receive help from an unexpected ally.
• Complications: Cheshire and Sportsmaster break into Black Manta's sub to take revenge on the people they hold responsible for Artemis' death... unaware that Artemis is alive and working with Aqualad and the captive Miss Martian.
• The Hunt: Luthor convinces the former Reach test subjects to sneak aboard Warworld and rescue the captive members of Young Justice... providing a distraction so that The Light can recover a vital piece of equipment. Meanwhile, public opinion about The Reach begins to change.
• Intervention: After capturing Blue Beetle, the Young Justice team takes him to Bialya in a desperate attempt to free him from The Reach's influence.
• Summit: The Light and The Reach meet to resolve their differences, only to discover that Aqualad has set both sides up.
• Endgame: Young Justice defeats Black Beetle and The Reach, but discover the aliens' failsafe plan... to destroy Earth. Meanwhile, the Leagues face justice on the planet Rimbor.

Young Justice: Invasion Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Like other Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray releases of DC animated series, Young Justice's Season One and Season Two BD collections (dubbed Young Justice and Young Justice: Invasion) feature strong 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentations with the smallest of issues; namely banding and minor macroblocking, both of which trace back to the original animation. Neither proves to be a serious distraction, although the color banding that appears here is a bit more noticeable than in other DC shows. Why? Darker scenes dominate both seasons, with plenty of night missions and shadowy adventures that utilize computer-gradated lighting (a frequent source of banding). Otherwise, Season One and Season Two boast bursts of vibrant color, able-bodied primaries, inky black levels and striking contrast. Detail is excellent as well, with crisp line art that's free of ringing. CG elements (vehicles, space ships, giant robots and other machines) are prone to slight aliasing -- again, present in the original animation -- but none of it becomes too problematic. All told, both seasons of Young Justice look as good as they conceivably could. Fans will be quite pleased with the results.

Young Justice: Invasion Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Both seasons of Young Justice offer a solid DTS-HD Master Audio stereo track. Six-channel 5.1 mixes would have been better suited to the comicbook action and thrills, no doubt, but the lack of low-end and rear speaker support doesn't spoil everything the series' sound design gets right. Dialogue is clear, intelligible and perfectly prioritized, effects and explosions make a decidedly decent impact, and music is balanced nicely with the rest of the soundscape. Remarkable? No, but underwhelming? Not at all.

Young Justice: Invasion Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Young Justice Invasion features a trio of extras: two audio commentaries with producer/story editor Greg Weisman, producer Brandon Vietti and voice actors Jason Spiask (Kid Flash) and Stephanie Lemelin (Artemis -- the first for "Summit," the second for "Endgame" (with Spiask, Lemelin -- and a solid little pair of interviews in the guise of a featurette called "Invasion: Behind the Scenes" (SD, 16 minutes).

Young Justice: Invasion Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Young Justice died an untimely death, but while it lived, what a show it was. It wasn't perfect, but like the best DCU animated series it knows its characters, knows its universe, and knows what makes both work. Exciting, entertaining and unexpectedly dramatic, it combines storytelling prowess with impressive animation that shouldn't be dismissed. Heroes like Superman and Batman may only be minor supporting characters, but with leads like Superboy, Robin and the rest of the team, it hardly matters. Thankfully, Warner's Blu-ray releases of Season One and Season Two (Invasion) aren't disappointing in the least. There aren't any special features, but strong AV presentations make it easy to add Young Justice to your collection.