# Justice League : Doom Review



## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

*Justice League : Doom Review (Blu-Ray)*

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=8396[/img]*Title: Justice League : Doom
Starring: Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, Susan Eisenberg, Nathan Fillion, Carl Lumbly, Bumper Robinson
Directed by: Lauren Montgomery
Written by: Mark Waid & Dwayne McDuffie
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 77 Minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: * February 28, 2012

*Movie:* :4stars:
*Video:* :3.5stars:
*Audio:* :4.5stars: 
*Extras:* :3stars: 
*HTS Overall Score:*75




[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=8402[/img]*Summary*

I grew up awakening every Saturday morning to watch the Legion of Doom getting their butts handed to them by the Justice League time and time again, so when they announced that Mark Waid's "Tower of Babel" comics were being brought to home video I was as excited as I could be. The story has always intrigued me, drawing me in with a tale of shaky trust and the constant knawing question. "What keeps the good guys from becoming bad guys?". 

The movie starts out with the JLA foiling yet another robbery by the infamous Royal Flush gang. Along for the ride in a helping role is Cyborg (Bumper Robinson). Once the gang is recuperating and enjoying some much needed R and R, Mirror Master (Alexis Denisof) sneaks into the Bat Cave and steals some files with the help of a mysterious benefactor. After that, 6 of the JLA's most hated super villains are called into a meeting by said mysterious benefactor who reveals himself to be Vandal Savage (Phil Morris) an 80,000+ year old megalomaniac with plans to wipe out the JLA and take over the world (as every good villain plans to). These 6 villains then systematically neutralize and almost kill the Justice League members with unnerving ease, each one targeting their victims weakest points. However Cyborg, who not being a Justice League member, manages to foil the destruction of Wonder Woman (Eisenberg) in time to cause a chain reaction that saves the rest of the members from impending doom. The frustrated League find out after convening that the reason that they were so easily taken out was due to Mirror Master stealing a secret contingency plan created by Batman himself (Kevin Conroy), who intended to neutralize the JLA members in the unlikely case that any one or all of them went rogue. Tensions rise and old conflicts surface, but the need to take out Savage and his Legion of Doom enables the members to band together again and do what must be done in order to save earth from another tyrannical mastermind.

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=8401[/img]I had high expectations for Justice League : Doom going into it and was not disappointed. The voice actors chosen were cream of the crop and for all of you who grew up with the Batman Animated series and the Superman Animated series the inclusion of Kevin Conroy and Tim Daly made it all worthwhile. They can bring their respective characters to life with such passion and vigor that it feels like you're seeing old friends on the screen. The only flaw I found with the film was that it felt like an extra long episode of the JLA. There was the standard cheesy fare where the viewer understands that none of the heroes will die and the villains will get their comeuppance at the end of the film that drew my score down from a perfect 5. Despite that flaw, the film is still an excellently put together transition from paper to video and should be lauded as such.



*Rating:* 

Rated PG-13 for sequences of violent action


*Video* :3.5stars:

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=8400[/img] While the plot and execution of JL : Doom was near flawless, the video unfortunately was not. Warner Brothers is known to sport several villains in its animated films, and those villains are present here as well. The issues seem to stem from Warner's choice to give low bitrate encodes to their films. Crushed blacks, compression artifacts and the all-famous color banding all rear their ugly heads. The issues are not overwhelmingly bad nor are they persistent. One scene may look fantastic with rich colors and deep inky blacks while the next scene will be littered with huge color bands across the screen and blacks that crush out the backgrounds into mush. Please don't get me wrong. This isn't a massive issue and doesn't get in the way of a very pretty picture, but to those of us who are sensitive to banding and eradicated background detail may be a bit irked by Warners compression choices. This is not the best WB animated picture, but it is by no means the worst either. 





*Audio* :4.5stars:

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=8398[/img] The audio, on the other hand, was sonic heaven. I knew I was in for a treat when my twin subs lit up like the fourth of July on the title credits alone. Be prepared to have your ears assaulted with thunderous LFE that will shake your couch. Missiles exploding right in my ears and punches felt like they were striking my own gut just with the shear sonic impact. The LFE while being very aggressive was matched by clean, sharp dialog that didn't feel drowned out by the soundtrack or sound effects. The surrounds were used extensively to create a very immersive feel. During the Green Lantern cave-in you could hear rocks falling on all sides of the seating position. This one is one you will want to listen to with your subs turned on and your system cranked to where you neighbors may not have warm fuzzy feelings towards you anymore. 


[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=8399[/img]*Extras:* :3stars:

•	DVD copy + Ultraviolet digital copy of the film (relegated to first pressings of the film)
•	Guarding the Balance : Batman and the JLA
•	Cyborg : His time has come
•	Creative Team Commentary
•	DC Digital Comic Book - _Justice League of America (Issue #43): Tower of Babel_
•	A League of One : The Dwayne McDuffie Story
•	Preview of DC Universe's Next Animated Original Movie "Superman Vs. The Elite"
•	Bruce Timm Presents 2 Bonus Cartoons


*Overall:* :4stars:
Justice League : Doom was a worthy addition to the DC comics vault of movies. It had the slight problem of feeling like an extra-long Television episode of the JLA to pull the score down from a perfect 5 story-wise, but even with that flaw, it was still an excellent view. There was the right amount of tension with the right amount of heroic posturing that one would expect from a comic book sourced movie. The audio was phenomenal and the video was very solid, albeit with some drawbacks that Warner is known for in their Animated films. Whether you might agree or disagree that this is one of the WB's finer efforts in bringing the printed page to film, we can all agree that it was an enjoyable outing nonetheless. 

*Recommendation: Buy It!​*


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

This review is a sample piece to be viewed as an "application" for the position of reviewer for the HTS. For the staff I hope you enjoy my review and to the other members, I hope the same. I chose something that hadn't been reviewed yet to my knowledge so that whatever the outcome may be the members here benefit from having another review added to the database


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