Justice League Dark: Apokolips War Movie Review

Justice League: Endgame

by Casimir Harlow
Movies & TV Shows Review

8

Recommended
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War Movie Review

After seven years and fifteen films, the DC Animated Movie Universe reaches its Endgame, as Darkseid returns and a decimated Earth makes one final stand.

Whilst the live action franchise might be floundering, wondering how to piece together its successful discrete elements into a cohesive team-up ensemble, MCU-style, DC's animated universe continues to prosper. Utilising a two-fold attack, the wider Original Animated Universe still mines the endless comic source material to bring classic tales to life, whilst the sub-section within - the DC Animated Movie Universe - reaches its natural end here, after a build up that kick-started with 2013's excellent Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox, through War, Throne of Atlantis, the first Justice League Dark movie, and a number of others, and culminates here in an Endgame-like narrative which shakes up the whole universe.

 

An Endgame-like narrative which shakes up the whole universe  

After defeating Darkseid in Justice League: War, the intergalactic tyrant returns, decimating all of Earth's finest warriors when he inadvertently ‘foresees’ their plan of attack, and leaving the planet in ruins with no one remaining to stand against him. With Batman and Lex Luthor as his lieutenants, Darkseid plans to destroy the planet's core, but the few surviving heroes - and villains - band together for one last stand, with sorcerers John Constantine and Raven leading the charge, supported by a weakened Superman and Batman's son, Damian.

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War

If you've come into this at the 11th Hour, then catching up with all the characters may be a tough task but, to be honest, the very Apokolips War itself shakes things up no end, clearing the chess board of almost all the most familiar players and leaving you with a rag-tag group of Resistance fighters including the likes of Harley Quinn, Bane, Killer Shark, and a scene-stealing Etrigan to take the fight to Darkseid. It's cleverly tied back all the way to Flashpoint - still a highlight in the entire universe - and brings the whole Darkseid arc full-circle in a climactic battle where all bets are off.

Over the years, the character of John Constantine has come into the fore, after his resurrection as a mainstay on DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and his leadership of Justice League: Dark, so it's fitting that he take centre-stage in this battle, with all of the classic League characters making an appearance - in one form or another - and one hell of a climactic multi-front battle on the cards, as the 'Old Gods' face the New Gods for the fate of the entire universe.

Not quite Endgame levels of build-up have been put into this; not all of the preceding 15 entries are directly relevant to the events here - efforts like Batman: Hush and Wonder Woman: Bloodlines are set in the same timeline but merely inform the character stories and not the overreaching arc, which was only really returned to in the latest The Death of Superman reworking - with the narrative largely throwing back to what was started in Flashpoint Paradox and furthered in Justice League: War. And, for classic League fans, the limited and/or alternative participation of the core characters will be at the very least surprising, if not outright disappointing, but this is still a very good follow-up to Justice League: Dark, and even a nice tie-in to left field affairs like Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, oddly enough, relying more heavily on the darker mystical side of this expanded DC Universe, rather than the classical tales of the Holy Trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman going up against some big bad. In many ways it's actually more like Constantine: Endgame and certainly fans of the cynical, wise-cracking drunk will enjoy watching him even come close to going toe-to-toe with Darkseid (a little like the glorious moments where Scarlet Witch goes up against Thanos).

 

It'll be interesting to see where the animated universe goes from here 

Tony "Candyman" Todd's Darkseid is every bit the match for the MCU's Thanos, in terms of power, even if his motivations are limited (he's more of a 'going to kill everybody just for the sake of killing everybody' kind of tyrant), with the torturous wrath he inflicts on some of the most beloved core characters is rather shocking to see in this 15 rated adult animation; heroes are ripped to pieces, villains are decapitated, and few haven't lost one limb or another come the end of the first act, let alone the closing credits (sure, it's not Mortal Kombat: Scorpion's Revenge levels of glorious ultra-violence, but it's a step up from offerings like Superman: Red Son).

Matt Ryan continues to be the perfect voice for Constantine, both in the live action world of DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and in the animated realm, whilst Rosario Dawson is still a great Wonder Woman (giving us hope she'll be inclined to commit to Ahsoka in The Mandalorian after The Clone Wars came to its sublime close), and Rebecca Romjin (X-Men's original Mystique, Star Trek: Discovery) continues to be an impressive reimagining of Lois Lane. It's also nice to see a suitably tortured Raven get some headlining work, as she did in DC's Titans, with Vera's sister Taissa Farmiga (The Nun) perfectly capturing her ostensibly meek but secretly devastatingly powerful persona.

Even if you're not familiar with the source novels, the ultimate ending shouldn't be too hard to see coming - but it'll be interesting to see where the animated universe goes from here. Will they just continue to make one-shot adaptations of Elseworlds comics and the like? Or will we get a "Phase 4?" Either way, this is a strong finale to go out on a bang with.

Scores

Verdict

.
.
8

8
AVForumsSCORE
OUT OF
10

Our Review Ethos

Read about our review ethos and the meaning of our review badges.

To comment on what you've read here, click the Discussion tab and post a reply.

Related Content

Land of Bad Movie Review
  • By Casimir Harlow
  • Published
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Movie Review
  • By Mark Costello
  • Published
Road House (2024) (Amazon) Movie Review
  • By Casimir Harlow
  • Published
All of Us Strangers (Disney+) Movie Review
  • By Casimir Harlow
  • Published
Fast Charlie (Amazon) Movie Review
  • By Casimir Harlow
  • Published

Latest Headlines

AVForums Movies and TV Show Podcast: 25th March 2024
  • By Phil Hinton
  • Published
Where to watch the 2024 Oscar best picture nominees
  • By Andy Bassett
  • Published
Freely TV platform set for a Q2 UK launch
  • By Ian Collen
  • Published
Back
Top Bottom