The Gauntlet Crew Ranks the DC Animated Films

The Gauntlet Crew Ranks the DC Animated Films is another installment in the

Gauntlet Crew ranks series. It was hosted by scarletspeed7 and ran throughout

Late March 2015. The participants were Charon, Inviso, JONA, Karo, profDEADPOOL,

red13n, scarlet, Snake5s, and Wickle. A first place vote netted a film 1 point, a

last place vote netted 30 points. This is also the first Gauntlet ranks project to

be completed entirely in one topic.

Rankings

 * 1) 30 - The Batman vs. Dracula (265 points)
 * 2) 29 - Superman: Brainiac Attacks (252 points)
 * 3) 28 - JLA: Adventures: Trapped in Time (238 points)
 * 4) 27 - Son of Batman (205 points)
 * 5) 26 - Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo (198 points)
 * 6) 25 - Batman: Gotham Knight (182 points)
 * 7) 24 - Mystery of the Batwoman (177 points)
 * 8) 23 - Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (175 points)
 * 9) 22 - Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (171 points)
 * 10) 21 - Justice League: War (152 points)
 * 11) 20 - Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (141 points)
 * 12) 19 - Superman: Doomsday (137 points)
 * 13) 18 - Justice League: Doom (134 points)
 * 14) 17 - Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (134 points)
 * 15) 16 - Batman: Year One (132 points)
 * 16) 15 - Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (129 points)
 * 17) 14 - Superman: Unbound (123 points)
 * 18) 13 - Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (122 points)
 * 19) 12 - Green Lantern: First Flight (120 points)
 * 20) 11 - Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Part 1 (119 points)
 * 21) 10 - Wonder Woman (118 points)
 * 22) 9 - Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (113 points)
 * 23) 8 - Superman vs. the Elite (103 points)
 * 24) 7 - All-Star Superman (95 points)
 * 25) 6 - Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Part 2 (93 points)
 * 26) 5 - Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (92 points)
 * 27) 4 - Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (85 points)
 * 28) 3 - Justice League: The New Frontier (84 points)
 * 29) 2 - Batman: Under the Red Hood (67 points)
 * 30) 1 - Batman: Assault on Arkham (29 points)

Outlier Score
red- 212 vis- 204 karo- 178 wick- 168 char- 151 prof- 148 jona- 132 snake- 114 scar- 100

Write-Ups

 * 1) 30 - The Batman vs. Dracula (265 points)

Charon - 28 Karo - 28 Snake - 29 JONA - 30 prof - 30 red - 30 scarlet - 30 Vis - 30 Wickle - 30

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"I'm not really sure who came up with the concept of this one, and it does at times

portray Batman in a bit of an odd way (for example he needs a mirror and lipstick

to figure out Dracula's 'clever' way of spelling his name backwards?). While

technically many of Batman's foes are supernatural in design and origin, this one

really might have been pushing things a little too far. Part of the success of

Batman has been the dark, gritty, slightly fictionalized way the universe is

portrayed, but to delve into pure fantasy like this didn't mesh well. All that

said, I didn't 'hate' the movie but it didn't really leave me thinking we needed

any more like these." ~Charon

"Oh dear lord, who thought this was a good idea. This should have been a suggestion

for Epic Rap Battles of History, not a serious superhero movie. Vampire Joker!

Alfred spouting off one-liners from Duke Nukem's vocabulary! Curing vampirism...

with SCIENCE! Once this merry-go-round of idiocy starts spinning, there is no

getting off." ~Karo

"You want a Batman/Dracula story, go read Red Rain. Everything about this movie is

absolutely atrocious in every way, from the corny writing to the dumbed down,

stupid characters. This movie suffers from a lot of the same problems with The

Batman animated series itself, like weird versions of the characters like Joker and

weird animation and designs. Gimmicky and bloated, this movie simply sucks, and not

blood." ~Snake

"Even though the scene where Bruce reveals that Alucard spelled backwards is

Dracula is entertaining, even though it's for the wrong reasons, the movie just has

nothing going for it." ~JONA

"My first thought is the art style is ugly. And wtf at Penguin beating someone up.

This was stupid. Me no like. And I mean it wasn’t exactly completely horrible. But

it wasn’t good in any sense either. Which manages to make it the worst of this

list." ~Prof

"Can we have a unanimous last place? Please? Really, please. This was awful. First

off, coming out of TAS block of movies, the voices a bit off-putting, not the most

fitting either. The animation is also a step down. And then you get...whatever the

hell this movie is its the biggest mess of anything here by far. I'm not sure I'd

call it Shark Tale bad, but then I get to vampire Joker and I have to reconsider.

Theres no mystery here, theres just vampires and batman crossing over in someones

horrible idea given the green light. This really feels like someone took fanfiction

and turned it into a bad animated movie. And yes Penguing, I can see that you are

bleeding, saying "I'm bleeding" in a horrible voice doesnt lend anything to the

movie. Little awful things like that are everywhere, and this movie really hurt the

brain." ~red

"Every one of these companies we review has a dark age, and the dark age of Warner

Bros.' DC line-up was the Legion of Super-Heroes/The Batman/Krypto era. Sloppy

artwork, poor scripting, and of course a really terrible concept. Did you know that

Alucard is Dracula backwards? Literally the greatest detective on Earth couldn't

figure that out in one shot. Anyone else would've nailed that. Sherlock Holmes

would've rocked that. Basil from Baker Street would've rocked that. Hell the

f***ing Babysitter's Club would've rocked that. This movie makes Nancy Drew look

hardcore." ~scarlet

"This movie was f***ing terrible. I knew was going to be bad the second I saw the

title and realized the kind of cheesy plotline they would inevitably go for…but

this was just bad. Joker not voiced by Mark Hamill…becomes Dracula’s b**** for a

few scenes and looks absolutely pathetic. Meanwhile, Penguin is just a comic relief

lackey who seems pointless to the story. There’s a ton of bad puns and cheesy

scenes (like the mirror scene)…but that’s not even the worst thing about this

movie. The worst thing…the thing that pissed me off to NO end…was that f***ing

three-note guitar riff that played after EVERY goddamn event that was even remotely

intriguing. The movie did not go a single minute without playing that three-note

selection at least once…and it was dumb. It doesn’t make the film more mysterious…

it makes it corny as hell." ~Vis

"Is there really any reason for this not to be the last ranked movie? I won’t say

anymore since I’m sure other write-ups will explain how terrible this one is."

~Wickle


 * 1) 29 - Superman: Brainiac Attacks (252 points)

Wickle - 26 Karo - 27 prof - 27 JONA - 28 scarlet - 28 Vis - 28 Charon - 29 red - 29 Snake - 30

Gauntleteer Rankings: "Heh. Brain Freeze. Man, all of Lex’s little quirks and humorous exchanges were the

only good thing of the movie." ~Wickle

"Here, Superman fights the Brainiac, a rejected Dragon Ball Z villain with a dial-

up modem installed in his head. For some reason, despite Superman's astounding

strength, he has trouble even denting a metal robot, and strains at lifting a car.

Stop being such a p****, you're the man of steel! Jimmy is even more irritating

than usual, he pretty much ignores the advances of a hot girl interested in him

just cause she's a 'nerd' (thankfully he finally wises up after taking many

concussive blows to the head). Also, what the hell did they do to Lex Luthor? He

seems like some sort of silly doofus throughout the film, and the way he acted in

the car near the start had to mean he either forgot to take his medication or was

demonically possessed by Pinkie Pie." ~Karo

"Was good but nothing really stood out. Just an average animated movie for the most

part. But it had Superman TAS art style so that gives it points." ~prof

"I refuse to accept that this movie is a DC movie. I'm just going to pretend this

is a Marvel film. I hate Thor: Ultron Attacks." ~scarlet

"Let’s start by discussing this movie’s title…because right off the bat, it sounds

cheesy. And the movie itself is just as cheesy. It’s not as bad as Dracula, but

that’s only because the plot was reasonably logical. Superman still sucks. I mean,

first off, you have Superman dealing with an identity crisis with regards to

revealing who he really is. When you have a hero with limitless power, that’s

pretty much the only direction you can go with making his stories dramatic…and it’s

weak. Lex Luthor is supposed to be Superman’s big adversary, and he comes across

like a bumbling idiot in this movie…so much so that it actively hurt the film for

me. And Jimmy Olsen is terrible. Seriously, f*** that guy. Just a boring, cheesy

movie about a character I’m already not a huge fan of." ~Vis

"The first Superman movie proves to be... full of everything I really dislike about

Superman. The biggest problem with this film is the portrayal of Superman, where

he's like at one moment finally realizing that concealing his identity the way he

does doesn't make sense but then he rebuffs himself with nonsense. The villains

here were the only things portrayed remotely well and even then they are shadows of

themselves from other portrayals, though Lois isn't "bad". What is definitely bad

is Jimmy Olsen and all his pointless screen time. Then the jerk STILL gets the

pretty girl he didn't want because she was wearing glasses at the end, like he

deserves it! Also the ending, that ending is so bad." ~charon

"Like the Batman movies showcasing what was good about TAS, Braniac Attacks shows

everything horrible about Superman TAS. Forgive me for going story time here, but

when I was younger, at some point WB nabbed Batman on their block(It used to be on

Fox) and combined the show with Superman. I would tune in for the Batman part, and

then turn the channel whenever Superman came on. Why? Because the show was boring.

Superman was always overpowered, Lex Luthor in this series is almost always

pathetic, Lois is suicidal, naive, and stupid, and it just couldnt come near the

level of maturity that Batman consistently brought. The constant tiptoeing of the

Clark Kent/Superman/Lois relationship gets played out to death and more often than

not goes nowhere(As it does spectacularly in Brainiac Attacks). I hated the

animated series and I hated this movie." ~red

"Quite simply one of the worst comic films ever, period. This is no thought to this

movie, no complex plot, just a lot of Superman vs. Brainiac and weird joke-making

Lex. The worst part is that this movie pretends to be part of the DCAU with its

animation style, and that’s just plain disrespectful to that series. Absolute kid-

friendly garbage at its worst. It’s boring, cheap, and I regret watching it."

~Snake


 * 1) 28 - JLA: Adventures: Trapped in Time (238 points)

JONA - 21 scarlet - 23 snake - 23 red - 26 prof - 28 Karo - 29 Vis - 29 Wickle - 29 Charon - 30

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"It's a fun little throwback with some good cheesiness I enjoy. Man, I loved that

baby scene. However, Karate Kid and Dawnstar aren't exactly the most compelling

protagonists." ~JONA

"If you're actively ignorant like Vis who doesn't even bother to look at the

credits to see that Dawnstar is one word instead of two and that DC's Karate Kid

predates the movie by 20 years, yes, this movie is pretty terrible. Because it IS

terrible - the main characters are Marvin and Wendy on Superfriends-level of

grating, and the plot is just an excuse to bounce around the DCU and visit a lot of

different oft-forgotten corners. But that's the fun of this. Despite this being a

pretty slovenly-written pile of tripe, if you're a DC fan, you'll probably be

excited to see who's around every corner." ~scarlet

"Teen Titans-level of corniness, it’s kinda fun I guess, but a little too stupid. I

mean, it’s good once in a while when something doesn’t take itself too seriously,

but at the same time it’s not really my style or what I look for. The voice acting

is decent and so is the animation, but otherwise… meh." ~Snake

"Just what we needed, two time travel movies in a row. This time with two annoying

kids as the culprits. First off, its so far in the future you dont care about their

timeline. Two, nothing about the time travel in this movie is going to pass any

sort of a logical sniff test. Just so many flaws and things that dont add up that I

dont want to talk to them. Then you get to the ending where they didnt fix it

anyway and then end up back in regular time. Except they are never going to fix

anything there either because this terrible movie is never going to get a sequel.

Luckily this movie was short because it is an example of what not to do with time

travel." ~red

"Yawn boring. I mean it is purely a Saturday morning cartoon style kids movie. Same

kind of thing as Braniac Attacks only with a worse art style so it is slightly

worse than it IMO. They really are the same though." ~prof

"The title is quite misleading, as the JLA are sort of secondary characters in

their own movie. The main heroes are these two teens from the future, one of which

is a wiseass kid who knows every martial art but feels he gets no respect from the

older heroes and this totally does not get excruciating in 10 seconds flat.

Opposing them is Lex Luthor and his doom brigade of villains consisting of Cheetah,

Backwards Superman, King Kong, Frankenstein, Professor Coldheart, B.E.N. and

Saucer-head. The stupidity and inept writing of this movie knows no bounds, plot

holes and logical fallicies are everywhere. -Luthor, who has no super-durablity, not only manages to survive being frozen in

ice for a thousand years, but suffers absolutely no ill effects upon his release! -Despite a reverse gravity field strong enough to lift a large ship into the air,

one of the ship's crew actually falls DOWN into the water! -Dawnstar and Karate Kid existing at all in the past after retconning Lex into

never visiting the future which would mean they never went into the past and

couldn't retcon him and then... you know what, just f*** it, okay? Lets not even start on Luthor's stupidity with the Time Trapper. Lex has no idea

what year he is in other than a vague idea from the info plaque, yet his first

command is 'send me back exactly 1000 years in the past! this will magically put me

in a time a few weeks after I was frozen!' and later he literally commanded Time

Trapper to open a portal to a unspecified field 'some years ago'. the f*** is wrong

with you Lex, you are supposed to be a GENIUS! You are lucky he did not send you to

the Archean Eon and let you suffocate, you f***ing imbecile!" ~Karo

"Through the first 26 films I’ve watched, this is the shortest one, but that does

not give it a pass for being actively offensive. I mean, first off, the animation

looks dumb. Second, the movie opens with the Legion of Doom getting wrecked and Lex

getting frozen in a glacier, which then fast forwards time to a thousand years in

the future, where he is found and put in a museum. Then two dumb kids let him

loose, he finds a time turner that lets him go back to destroy the Justice League,

and they have to save the day. The rest of the movie is Karate Kid (gag) and Dawn

Star (less gag, but that’s because her name is less stupid) trying to make things

right while the Legion of Doom engages in wacky hijinks, and then some dumb luck

crap happens at the end where it turns out the two kids are the only ones in the

whole world who have the powers needed to stop the big bad guy. It’s so childish

and stupid that it hurts my brain, having watched it." ~Vis

"**** time travel. This stuff is bull****. Done." ~Wickle

"For reasons I cannot really understand, they decided to make a two-episode length

Saturday morning cartoon movie. This one has cheesy lines, little depth, kid

characters as leads and mundane villains. I mean, a film with Bizarro and Solomon

Grundy in it isn't bound to leap out and impress you with it's storytelling

ability. Dawnstar is... okay? I can't say much else about this one. I won't even

get into all the time travel paradox stuff this one creates either. It's just...

let's hope they stick to doing pre-written comic stuff from now on." ~Charon


 * 1) 27 - Son of Batman (205 points)

prof - 13 Charon - 15 Wickle - 16 red - 22 scarlet - 26 Snake - 27 Vis - 27 JONA - 29 Karo - 30

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"Violent….Damian was too much of a brat for it to really be amazing. I also really

didn’t like Bruce kissing Talia. Other that those two issues it was pretty great."

~prof

"Batman has already had plenty of experience playing daddy due to all the Robins

he's trained. Here he gets a shot with is actual son and it proves to just as

difficult. Damian is kind of a tool, but he was brought up in a certain environment

so it's hard to blame him completely. He does manage to do a little bit of

reformation by the end, so I have to hand it to him for picking up Batman's creed

so quickly. I wasn't a huge fan of Deathstroke in this one, I just didn't feel he

stood out very much or was portrayed in any sort of memorable way. I'll be

interested to see where the sequel goes for this plotline." ~charon

"I wish there was a reason for me to not put this as high as I have, but I laughed

at the second “I’ll drive” “no.” But yeah, I agree with Deathstroke’s description

of Damian, and the fact that the kid could beat him is unnerving. Also, I thought

he could benefit from becoming Robin, but basing on Scarlet’s reaction to him…

Doesn’t seem he does." ~Wickle

"Because having two movies in a row with an annoying kid wasnt enough, have a

third. Damian is an annoying spoiled brat who...learns a lesson at the end of the

movie for no apparent reason. I would understand if Batman's no-killing played

significant dividends or someone killing had negative consequences to larger goals,

but his little heel turn of no kill at the end just kind of happens. It needed some

buildup and it just really didnt get any." ~red

"The story of the progeny of Batman's rape baby leaves a lot to be desired. And the

only good thing about Damian - Bat-Cow - is noticeably absent from this film. I was

pretty amazed at how WB could take a GRANT MORRISON story and turn it into the type

of film that tortures you on an airplane ride from Portland to Tallahassee."

~scarlet

"What a snoozefest. Easily DCUOAM’s weakest offering. I’m not a Damian fan, and

this movie doesn’t change that. In fact, he’s more annoying here than in the

comics. And wow, way to character assassinate Deathstroke. Fact is, don’t adapt

Morrison’s Batman unless your’re gonna go full force with it. " ~Snake

"I’m gonna start this write-up by saying that Damien Wayne is f***ing terrible and

I f***ing hate little know-it-all brats that think they’re above the adults in

their world. So many scenes with Damien are cringeworthy, and the worst part is

that he doesn’t seem to actually LEARN anything or grow as a character. He’s a brat

who thinks killing is ideal throughout the movie, right up until the end when he

finally grows a conscience because you have to make him out to be a good guy on

Batman’s level. So yeah, I hated Damien and everything he stood for. That being

said, the rest of the movie (even though it was based so heavily around Damien)

wasn’t completely terrible. It was just kinda…lame. I mean, killing Ra’s al Ghul?

Lame. Having Talia get captured in such a dumb way? Lame. Hell, random choppy-ass

animation? Lame. It just managed to mishandle everything, although I will give it

credit compared to say, Trapped in Time…but still, it was dragged down by Damien."

~Vis

"My favorite part was the clip of the Daffy Duck short." ~JONA

"Oh my goodness, what happened here? The whole movie is chock full of atrocious

cringe-worthy dialogue that sounds like it was ripped straight out of Sonic

Adventure 2. Frankly, it would seem perfectly appropriate to play a canned sitcom

laugh track after every awkward, unfunny joke told by the characters. So basically

Batman finds out he is a dad and needs to babysit his son, Damian (who needs to be

bludgeoned repeatedly with an iron pipe). Damian's arch nemesis, Big Boss, then

kidnaps a scientist and forces him to create an 'army of flying superpowered ninjas

using sonar'. That is not my usual witty embellishment, by the way. Someone

literally says that line in the movie.

Stupidity abounds everywhere. Gatling arrow guns! The elevator tube full of man-

bats. Damian still being able to swordfight perfectly after having both his f***ing

arms nailed to a wall by katanas! You know, it is very polite of the enemy soldiers

to wait patiently for Ra's al Ghul to turn to face them before trying to murder him

with their automatic weapons. That way, al Ghul can block the bullets with his

samurai sword because he is clearly a F***ING JEDI KNIGHT." ~Karo


 * 1) 26 - Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo (198 points)

red - 13 Karo - 15 Vis - 15 Wickle - 21 Charon - 24 prof - 26 JONA - 27 Snake - 28 scarlet - 29

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"Teen Titans Vacation in Tokyo is quite appropriately a vacation from the bit

monotony all of these DC movies kind of share. Yes they vary in quality, but many

tell similar stories, have similar threat levels, and really, a similar feel of

seriousness to them. Trouble in Tokyo is a lighthearted adventure that just happens

to be with superheroes. While there is always a sense that there is a real threat

somewhere, this film is continuously lighthearted. It hits on a bunch of

stereotypical japan things in comedic ways. It will also give you the feels with

Robin and Starfire. Now, its not the best film in any fashion, Brushogun eventually

proving to be kind of a crappy villain, but its a great break from the rest of

these movies. This is the hardest movie to rank because its so drastically

different from all the others. I have shuffled it up and down repeatedly from a

range of about 6 or 7 and I'm really not sure where I want to put it." ~red

"You might wonder if the TV show's brilliant, slightly comedic take on superherodom

would translate well at all to the longer format of a movie. The answer is yes. All

the wonderful characterization and personalities from the show are fully intact as

the Titans travel to Japan to do battle with the Brushogun, a supervillain whose

power is bringing manga characters to life. Of course, this being Teen Titans, it

is an absurdly stereotypical version of Japan where our heroes have to contend with

rouge sushi chefs, love-crazed schoolgirls, and Godzilla. Even with the somewhat

silly tone, there is still room for some serious (and very sweet) romantic scenes

between Robin and Starfire. This movie is a little bit different then the rest of

the entries on the list, but in this case being different is a-ok in my book."

~Karo

"This ranking might be a bit unfair since unlike the Batman cartoons, I actually

watched, and am a fan of, the original Teen Titans cartoon (and as such, I like the

characters and their personalities and whatnot). But still, it was just a fun

movie. It was very campy, compared to the darkness of the Batman movies (or the

utter stupidity of the Dracula movie). I just like having a team dynamic so you can

have multiple personalities playing off one another, even if the villains weren’t

exactly multi-dimensional (also, the twist was so friggin’ obvious). I’ve also

gotta mention and give bonus points to the film for having a cute catgirl (multiple

cute catgirls to be precise), even if sadly she is no more by the end of the film.

So yeah, it’s fun and I like Teen Titans, but I have to admit that it’s more a

two-part TV episode than a real movie." ~Vis

"Childhood vs growing the **** up… And… I’m still a kid when it comes to d’aww my

ship finally setting sail. As a kid it was always there… shipping Robin and

Starfire (down to the obvious reason on why I eventually have to read Kingdom

Come), liking the usual moments between Raven and Beast Boy. It’s like watching

NCIS! Now I need a fan fic of Brushogun fighting his nemesis… Samurott." ~Wickle

"13 years after the first Batman animated movie, a non-Batman movie finally

appears! Well... it has Robin, as teen Batman basically but yeah! Not a bad

offering, Teen Titans is pretty okay. I wasn't really thrown by who the major

villain here actually was though, it was pretty apparent right from the start. The

motives of this villain were interesting but poorly planned out, especially at the

end where he does note he'll still be the hero even if Robin destroys him. Then he

proceeds to turn into a big ink monster... yep. That wasn't too well thought out."

~charon

"Word of warning. I never watched the original Teen Titans cartoon so… This was

judged purely on its own merits. And it is just a little too cartoony for me. I

mean it was rather funny at times but it was still rather overdone silliness. It

felt a bit too much for kids and not enough for everyone." ~prof

"Just an excuse to get Robin and Starfire together and it shows." ~JONA

"The show, while corny at times, had a few flashes of brilliance that made it worth

watching. But, there’s none of that brilliance to be had in this film, leaving only

the corniness. And that’s frankly not what I like. The characters come of more as

caricatures and the villains are non-threatening. Stupid and not worth the watch."

~Snake

"Takes all of the worst aspects of the Teen Titans cartoon - including its terribly

out-of-place fascination with eastern culture - and wraps them up in a nice little

package for all the world to scoff at. Utterly awful original characters and a

contrived plotline that serves as an excuse to ship two characters for sad adults

that need to live in a fantasy world of teenage romance." ~scarlet


 * 1) 25 - Batman: Gotham Knight (182 points)

Snake - 4 JONA - 16 scarlet - 20 Vis - 20 Karo - 23 red - 24 Wickle - 24 prof - 25 Charon - 26

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"Though I’m generally not a fan of anime styles, Gotham Knight is a fantastic

sequence of films. Set in the Nolanverse, Gotham Knight uses the oppurtunity to

re-imagine some villains in a more realistic fashion, and it works wonderfully. The

anthology format provides a unique set-up for each segment, though I would’ve liked

a tie-in story like most horror anthologies have. While some of the plots are a

little thin, the action and dark atmosphere make me really love this one. " ~Snake

"I had more of a reaction to the reviews here than I did to most of the shorts,

probably the biggest sign that this movie did virtually nothing for me. Aside from

an excellent piece on Deadshot, all I really have to say is that Wickle apparently

is the Nancy Reagan of Board8. Seriously, "druggies"? Get a f***ing grip." ~scarlet

"It’s hard to really talk about this one, because I feel like the shorts were

interesting on their own…but they’re still shorts, and it’s hard for them to stack

up against really high-quality movies with overall plotlines. First short was

poorly-animated…not a fan. Second one was well-animated, and Ramirez was cute…but

didn’t really stand out much. Third was very similar to the second in that both

were good, but didn’t feel like fully-realized ideas. Fourth had Scarecrow, which

should’ve been awesome, but it just felt too…cartoony for a movie set in the

Nolan-verse. Fifth was very good, in my opinion. It’s the only one that truly felt

like it gave some depth and character. And the sixth was the most interesting plot

because Deadshot was awesome, but again, not really good enough for a full story.

It’s just naturally hard for me to be fair to package films, I guess…but I liked

the animation in most of the shorts at least." ~Vis

"We've got DC package films now! This was an experiment in the vein of the

Animatrix. Unfortunately, 12 minutes isn't really long enough to tell a proper

story, and most of the shorts are simply forgettable. The best of the lot is the

final one with Deadshot." ~Karo

"Batmanimatrix. The first mistake is starting with the absolute worst of all the

shorts. Random tales of exagerated Batman tales that didnt happen the way they are

said just isnt interesting. Robot Batman probably sounded cool to someone, but a

bunch of kids with annoying voices that I dont care about stretching the truth to

create robobat just didnt work. Unfortunately for this movie you only get one first

impression. The shorts get more interesting as the go along, eventually leading and

actually coming together a bit for the controntation with Deadshot, but ultimately

most of them just arent that fulfilling and there were multiple times I just wanted

to get distracted with something else." ~red

"I couldn’t like this movie after the first part. Just having the kids debating

what Batman was… ugh. Much of the rest was fine, like Killer Croc’s initiation,

Scarecrow showing up, him understanding pain, etc. It’s just, I didn’t feel like

there was a point behind all those segments put together. A few are find standalone

things (especially his establishing pain thing), but altogether with the ****ing

druggies at the beginning… ugh." ~Wickle

"The shorts have nothing to tie them together and none are really that great

either. Still it isn’t completely horrible but it really doesn’t have any redeeming

factors either. " ~prof

"This is done with a lot more care than Disney package films, but at the end of the

day, it's still a package film put up against feature films. These are still

interesting glimpses into different aspects of Batman's character though, with my

favorite one being Working Through Pain. I enjoyed seeing just how Batman is able

to shrug off injuries that would stop a normal man all without having any

superpowers. The way it was told seemed very realistic, as well as Batman's

portrayal through it." ~Charon


 * 1) 24 - Mystery of the Batwoman (177 points)

red - 5 Vis - 12 Wickle - 15 Karo - 16 charon - 23 JONA - 24 Snake - 26 scarlet - 27 prof - 29

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"Probably the least movie feeling of the Batman TAS block(Technically it wasnt

called The Animated Series anymore here, but it was always close enough). No real

big backstory tying into Batman here or world-shattering consequences, just a

simple Batman playing detective story. But at the end of the day, I still think

putting Batman primarily in the detective role is where hes at his best. Seeing

Batman a bit confused at the improbability of Batwoman til the three in one reveal

played pretty well, even if the girls probably played their cards a bit too out in

the opened for it to be particularly shocking. Was good enough to keep my

interested the whole way through regardless." ~red

"So far, all of these movies have been at least SLIGHTLY awkward to me. I’m not

sure why, but something about the animation style of DC movies combined with

flirting and romance…it looks WEIRD. That being said, this was enjoyable enough. I

mean, I’m not gonna say no to a movie about a sexy, badass super-heroine, and I

love the fact that the word “Mystery” in the title wasn’t a misnomer, because they

introduced multiple new female characters who could potentially be Batwoman’s

secret identity. And honestly, I appreciated the fact that despite it being a

Batman movie and Batman having a large role…Batwoman felt like the real star, with

Batman in the supporting role. It was just a nice change of pace, since there’s a

lot of Batman movies in the beginning of this watch-through, and Batman himself is

a bit…dry." ~Vis

"I don’t think I would have walked into this movie ever expecting three Batwomen

with a title like that… well played WB, well played. Outside of that we met Bane,

the most… just plain screwed up Batman villain. I mean we had Batman and Robin

(live movie) that had him as… nothing but muscle. You had Dark Knight Rises and a

what the **** back story just to have Talia be unable to fight like the daughter of

Ra’s should have been able to, and now we’ve seen the real Bane… And I don’t know

if I like him. Weird to hear him be Hispanic, would rather read." ~Wickle

"There's a new crimefighter in town, the kickass superheroine Batwoman Like the

title says, much of the story revolves around the mystery of Batwoman's identity,

and there is no shortage of young female characters introduced into the movie to

fuel the audience's speculation. (all of which are awesome, btw) Once the truth is

unearthed, the good guys all come together for the action-packed finale, which like

most of the early animated batman movies, involves everything in the close vicinity

exploding profusely." ~Karo

"Not to be confused with the actual Batwoman, which I did coming into this film.

The twisting plot around who Batwoman is carries the film and the revelation of her

triple identity was a nice idea, but perhaps not executed quite well enough to put

me in awe. It still had some nice ideas but just needed a little more cohesion. The

addition of Bane seemed to just be convenient and not really add anything to the

storyline either." ~Charon

"Jeez, wake me up when its over. The only mystery here is why this movie is so

lame. The plot is mediocre, the voice acting isn’t as strong as usual, even the

animation seems dull and cheap. It has none of the great atmosphere of the animated

series, and brings in a cheesy romantic sub-plot for Batman, distinctly out of

character. Just a boring, melodrama movie with no punch to it, feels like a cheap

knock-off similar to Brainiac Attacks. " ~Snake

"What this movie lacks is a point, a heart, a script, a plot, a soul, a reason for

Bane, a reason for using the Batwoman name, a reason for creating such a poor

design for Batwoman that is essentially an acid-washed Terry McGinnis costume,

momentum, voice actors who don't just sound like they're here for a paycheck, a

twist that isn't a cop-out, a decent score, animation that lives up to its BTAS

heritage... other than that, it's a great movie." ~scarlet

"Well that was boring. It had a few humorous moments but not as many as some of the

others in this range. It kinda felt like a rip-off of Mask of Phantasm also :/"

~prof


 * 1) 23 - Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (175 points)

red - 7 Karo - 18 charon - 19 prof - 19 Snake - 20 scarlet - 21 Vis - 21 JONA - 25 Wickle - 25

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"Batman TAS Block warning, I am blinded by Nostalgia on these movies, sorry. I've

always had a bit of a soft spot for Freeze in this movie, kind of a hard luck

villain that you can feel sorry for while still understanding that hes probably a

little nutso. My big complaint with this movie is the use of "organ transplant".

Its just not specific enough, and every time these say the line it just feels

awkward. And they say it quite a bit. Not the deepest storyline Batman TAS has ever

told, but its an example of the show being able to make you feel invested with

every character they choose to use." ~red

"Freeze is Batman's most complicated and sympathetic nemesis, and he definitely

carries the movie here.The ending is really top notch in the way it allows Freeze

to succeed without really 'winning'. Though I have to wonder, why out of the 18

people in Gotham with the right blood type, you choose to kidnap the goddamn police

chief's daughter! He could have grabbed some random mook that nobody would miss,

and had the operation done before Batman even knew he was in Gotham. Instead, he busts into a nightclub with his f***ing polar bears and makes a

gigantic scene." ~Karo

"I was never a huge fan of Freeze, probably due to the poor performance of Arnold

in the movie being his most 'memorable' appearance. That being said this movie was

better than I thought it be but it was sluggish in the first half as it probably

spent too much time focusing on Robin and Batgirl. Freeze is the films best part,

able to showcase a sympathetic villain who's driven to do whatever it takes to save

what he loves." ~charon

"Yay Mr. Freeze. I will fully admit this is probably higher than it should be

because I love what TAS did for Mr. Freeze and this movie is part of it. But eh my

list and I will put things where I want >_>" ~Prof

"The BTAS films seem to get progressively worse, and SubZero is no exception. While

still decently dark in tone like Phantasm, it’s still lighter and more kid-friendly

than Phantasm. Freeze is a boring villain here compared to the show, and the plot

is lame and predictable. I’ve seen better." ~Snake

"Heart of Ice is better. Batman: Snow is better. Freeze in Arkham City is better.

Dangerous Dames & Demons is better. So why should I care about SubZero?" ~scarlet

"I did not have high expectations going into this one. I mean, I thought the first

one was a bit cheesy, and I knew this one involved Mr. Freeze, who I mainly know

for being played by Ahnuld in a terrible movie. And yes, it was extremely cheesy at

times (like Nora Fries having the same rare blood type as Batgirl, who is dating

Robin, or like Batman randomly assuming the doctor was a scumbag, when all evidence

pointed to him being a kidnapping victim of Mr. Freeze). But I just…I wound up

liking it a little bit. I found Mr. Freeze to be a very likable villain, because

even though he’s a bad guy, he’s not entirely a BAD guy. Everything he’s doing,

however misguided and evil it is…is because he wants to save his wife, which is a

very noble goal. And he’s trying to be a father to an orphaned Eskimo kid…that’s

positive too. I just like the movie highlighting him trying to be a good person,

but he just keeps getting kicked in the face by life, over and over again." ~Vis

"Just a really long okay episode of Batman: The Animated Series." ~JONA

"I think this movie defines Mr. Freeze for me. I feel like he could be such a great

character… if he wasn’t a villain. He’s just another person who suffered because of

Gotham’s bull****. Just think of his success if he’d have turned to Bruce Wayne for

his assistance in the first place. Yay payment for his funds, and miracles to be

performed with cryogenic studies would mean yay profits. But no. He chooses to

isolate himself and become a villain." ~Wickle


 * 1) 22 - Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (171 points)

Vis - 13 Karo - 14 Snake - 14 Wickle - 18 red - 19 prof - 20 JONA - 22 scarlet - 24 Charon - 27

Gauntleteer reviews:

"For a package film that was mainly little vignettes as opposed to a complete plot,

I think this was handled much better than Gotham Knight, if only because they

managed to tie all the little stories together in a relatively decent and logical

fashion. You have a new Lantern who is hearing all these stories about other major

characters in the Green Lantern core while preparing to take on an ultimate evil

entity. And the stories themselves are all well-animated and enjoyable, whereas

some in Gotham Knight were…not. I liked hearing more about Kilowogg, meeting Lyra

for the first time, learning more about Abin Sur, and of course, the story of Mogo.

Overall, it was just a really fun and interesting little collection. But I can’t

rank it higher because at the end of the day, a single coherent plot is preferable

to me than a package film." ~Vis

"Even though it is a 'package film' it is still better than the first Green Lantern

movie. It might have something to do with how infrequently Hal is actually in this

one. Also, it doesn't matter if you are the galaxy's greatest warrior or an

immortal antimatter god, Mogo don't give a f***." ~Karo

A bit better than the first GL animated film, the anthology set-up allows for some

cooler Lantern stories to be told. And unlike Gotham Knight, there’s a cool tie-in

story as well, which I always like. The stories are solid, animation solid, voice

acting solid, it’s just solid. Nothing else to it." ~Snake

"Man, I’m just not that amused with Green Lantern movies. Kilowog and Abin Sur both

were really excellent in this, and little elfling is cute. Other than that… In

brightest day in blackest night; no evil shall escape my sight; MOTHER FRICKERS!

Best Lantern Oath. Not in quotations ‘cause I couldn’t find that swear again."

~Wickle

"Despite borrowing the animation straight from the last Green Lantern movie, this

shares absolutely no conitnuity. Brand new universe, exact same look. Why? It makes

no damn sense why. Anyway after All-Star Superman being a collection of shorts

disguised as a single movie, we get an actual collection of shorts. Luckily these

shorts are actually interesting sometimes and kind of fitting to give you some

Green Lantern background. While the ending ends up not all that interesting, most

of the shorts made me feel invested in the characters they were focusing upon for

the short time they were there." ~red

"Consistent art style and an actual story that is clearly there even though it was

many in one made it pretty nice." ~prof

"Only Laira's story was the one that really interested me. " ~JONA

"When will they learn that MOGO. DOES. NOT. SOCIALIZE. It's interesting how poorly

a bunch of Alan Moore stories translate to film." ~scarlet

"One of the two package DC films, this one focuses on other Lantern universe

characters rather than on its star like Batman's does. This is done to mixed

results for me. As I was watching this, I commented that the Green Lantern universe

seems so interesting and complex. And it is... so much so that I think DC struggles

to adapt it to film in any sort of glorious way. Here we get a look at some of the

more notable support characters, and each story is fairly interesting in its own

way (personally preferred Kilowog's). However I just think there's so much history

to tell and the fact that it isn't as common knowledge as Batman or Superman makes

expressing this universe sort of difficult." ~charon


 * 1) 21 - Justice League: War (152 points)

Vis - 5 red - 11 Wickle - 12 Karo - 13 prof - 17 Charon - 21 scarlet - 22 Snake - 25 JONA - 26

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"I’ve gotta say…the majority of these Justice League movies have been REALLY good

so far. I’m a bit burned out on origin stories, but this isn’t really rehashing too

much (plus it’s more of a modern origin story for the league itself rather than the

individuals within…save for Cyborg). I think that this film handled the characters

a lot better than we’ve seen them in the past. Yeah, Green Lantern is a MAJOR

jobber this time around, but he’s also way funnier, and just comes across as a

necessary comic relief. Wonder Woman’s amazon mentality is handled well and played

for laughs in several scenes. Superman, who is supposed to be the strongest being

in the universe, actually gets TREATED that way. He shrugs off MOST attacks, and

when he DOES get owned, it feels like he’s facing a legitimately powerful opponent.

The only real flaw is that Shazam kinda shows up outta nowhere (for me as a non-

comic reader), but hell, he’s funny enough that I don’t care." ~Vis

"The start of apparently an ongoing movie universe. Maybe this one will last more

than two movies? Maybe? Not going to lie, Shazam being annoying as all hell

absolutely dropped this thing in the rankings. Darkseid comes back and goes full-

scale invasion this time, which is fair enough for a Justice League origin plot.

For what feels like the first time, rather than the Justice League just kind of

being together, we get to see them meet and interact in what feels like a more real

manner. They can be snarky, a bit mystified, some more knowledgeable about everyone

that others. YOu can kind of get more of a feel of their different views on the

world and each other at the time, and for a more simple origin story, I like that.

This is also a full Cyborg origin story for some reason because we didnt already

have enough origin stories. But seriously, someone shut Shazam up, hes ruining the

movie for me." ~red

"I pitied Victor. THIS MOVIE SUCKS! Also please make Captain Marvel stop talking.

All he needs to do is yell Shazam and beat up peeps. I want to like him, not see

him act like the pre-pubescent boy that he is. Also. DARKSEID OP AS ****.

Seriously, Darkseid alone can make this movie be top half because he can be blind

and still kick the *** of any superhero. This universe’s method of making the

heroes gradually come together was cool though." ~Wickle

"Darkseid attacks again!

Hal and Batman together make a funny team, but that still doesn't change the fact

that Hal needs to be hit repeatedly in the face with a blunt object. By the way,

what ever happened to Martian Manhunter? He was cool. We get two other heroes

instead of him, the most blatant token black character ever, and an immature

impulsive cocky wiseguy because that is clearly a personality type the JLA doesn't

have enough of." ~Karo

"Eh… It was good but… I never really cared for it tbh. Captain Marvel being a

dumbass was entertaining and I loved the line about him not being a child." ~prof

"The rebirth of the Justice League does both good and bad things for it. While I

like Wonder Woman's design, I don't like her Teen Titans Starfire impersonation so

much. Cyborg gets better here, and you can tell they really want people to like

him. Shazam is just sort of thrown into the movie for no real reason. I guess this

is how you replace Martian Manhunter... as for everyone else well, they apparently

all decided to try and out-dick Batman (he didn't let them do this though). That

said, I enjoyed the big brawl scene against Darkseid. This is the REAL Darkseid

that can only barely be defeated by sending him through a portal with seven of the

most powerful people on the planet, rather than a girl who is barely old enough to

drive." ~charon

"Gauntlet folk will be tired of hearing me say this, but the Justice League is a

pantheon. More than any Marvel team, the JLA is a modern incarnation of the classic

primordial force of nature found in Greek Mythology on Olympus or Norse Mythology

on Asgard. The main, killing blow this movie receives is from the petty

personalities of its stars. And also Cyborg sucks." ~scarlet

"I don’t know, I guess this was ok. A lot of the Leaguers seem a little off and

weird, but I got enjoyment out of Batman’s dickery and Wonder Woman’s aloofness.

And don’t do Darkseid if he’s gonna be a lame wimp. Seriously, this is the lamest

Darkseid ever. And ugh, could we not have Shazam in movies anymore. Not a fan of

him. It was just… ok." ~Snake

"Almost everyone came off as a******s in this movie and once the team finally got

together, the action started to be too much." ~JONA


 * 1) 20 - Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (141 points)

Karo - 5 prof - 10 Wickle - 13 JONA - 15 Snake - 15 scarlet - 19 Vis - 19 red - 20 Charon - 25

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"Despite the title, the movie is really more about Supergirl (who is voiced

wonderfully by Summer Glau <3). We get to see 'Batman with prep time' at his best,

and the fight at the end is easily the best out of all these movies." ~Karo

"I have a bias for this movie since I watched it when it came out and since I was

only like 15 and an angsty teen at the time and it is a movie where teen angst is

kinda a main thing…. Yeah. Plus Batman intimidating Darkseid. Which is always

awesome when Batman is able to beat him somehow. So yeah… And yes Darkseid is

disappointing. But I still have a soft spot for it even though objectively it

doesn’t deserve to be this high." ~prof

"I loved the humor in this. Batman is great. But I’ve never been the biggest fan of

Supergirl. Don’t dislike her, but don’t like her. On another note, I used to think

Darkseid and Thanos were counterparts due to design. Dear god Darkseid is insane

and I’m sorry for insulting him so." ~Wickle

"I loved the humor in this. Batman is great. But I’ve never been the biggest fan of

Supergirl. Don’t dislike her, but don’t like her. On another note, I used to think

Darkseid and Thanos were counterparts due to design. Dear god Darkseid is insane

and I’m sorry for insulting him so." ~Snake

"Much like in comics, despite solid characterization and animation, Apocalypse

suffers because of the high stakes set in Public Enemies." ~scarlet

"This was actually one of the few movies I’d seen clips of prior to this DC

watchthrough (namely the final fight against Darkseid). And in terms of the fight

scenes, this movie does things very well. The final battle is great, the fights on

Apocalypse itself are great, the battle going on with the Amazons is okay. Hell,

the character designs are especially sexy in this movie (not so much Granny…who

looks like Jeffrey Tambor from Transparent), what with Supergirl starting the movie

naked, then winding up in a large variety of sexy outfits, plus Guillotina. What

keeps it from being truly great is that the plot feels very rushed, like they’re

trying to tell a much larger comic storyline in a short amount of time, which means

cutting out a bunch of exposition (and hell, they could add some exposition and get

rid of some of the “Whoa, look at her learning to live in the real world” stuff)."

~Vis

"A sort of maybe sequel to public enemies? All it gets is the mention to President

Luthor Impeachment and then this is just totally different. And then it involves

more Wonder Woman than the title even slightly suggests. Except its not a story

really about any of them but mainly Supergirl. They all end up on Darkseid's

planet, fights happen that dont matter because Batman outsmarted Darkseid. Which

was nice and felt like a decent enough climax to the movie. Except then Darkseid

shows up on Earth anyway and fights Superman and Supergirl where he gets booted to

some unknown region. This last little fight scene was pretty uninteresting because

there just wasnt anything at stake. Darkseid didnt have any deeper plan and you

just kind of felt like at that point in the movie the only available ending was him

losing(Which is what happened)" ~red

"The Supergirl character doesn't really strike me as exciting. Name wise aside,

she's not very interesting in her first appearance (she shows better potential in

the other). Outside of the shopping spree scene which felt weird, but also amusing

when she's bending over and Superman catches pervs looking at her ass, there's

still a lot that strikes me wrong here. Namely, Darkseid having his ass kicked by a

teenage girl. Then again, Hero films tend to do this as they are interesting a new

character to the lineup. Overpowering and unnecessarily showing off their strength.

I suppose it can't be helped, but one of DC's most powerful villains really looked

like s*** here." ~charon


 * 1) 19 - Superman: Doomsday (137 points)

Karo - 9 Vis - 9 JONA - 10 charon - 11 scarlet - 15 Snake - 16 red - 21 prof - 23 Wickle - 23

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"On a whole, this is an incredible improvement on the DCAU movies that came before

it. Luthor is actually the real villain he should be, and Superman actually

seems... well, super. Dark Superman was great, and both the major battles are

awesome, epic affairs that cause massive... urban renewal." ~Karo

"Okay, this movie was absolutely amazing. I went into it on the heels of that awful

Brainiac movie, thinking that there was no way to make Superman interesting. And

this movie did a damn good job of it. It started out admittedly kinda bad. Stupid

relationship drama with Lois, typical “Superman is a perfect boy scout” storyline.

But then Superman DIES (spoilers). And suddenly have a world in which people have

to adapt to the fact that Superman is gone, and things start to turn interesting.

Lois deals with it, Jimmy deals with it (and he’s a s***bag), Martha Kent deals

with it…it’s great. Then Superman comes back…and he’s not just a generic boyscout.

Things get dark. He kills people. And we get to see what happens in a world where

Superman realizes that he’s a God that knows better than humanity what’s good for

humanity. Lex Luthor is actually intimidating in this one too, and the overall

resolution is great." ~Vis

"Oddly enough, the movie is at its best when Doomsday is not involved. Thankfully,

that's a majority of the movie." ~JONA

"Presumably whoever wrote Brainiac Attacks was subsequently fired as well as

whoever authorized the film's production. Though this film starts off slow and with

some trite Clark Kent drivvle, it proceeds to tell a great rendition of Superman's

Death storyline. Here Luthor is portrayed far better, as well as most every other

character (no getting around Olsen being an ass). The struggle between Superman and

his doppleganger is one of the better things I've seen out of Superman, as I

typically like the fine moral lines that are easily crossed and the clashes that

follow. Even though he was misguided, even in his death, the fake Superman still

has you feeling a good amount of pity for him." ~charon

"Superman: Doomsday, where Doomsday is dead and never seen again after the first

sequence of the movie. This movie is a bit free of the chains of Superman TAS, with

a smarter Lois Lane, though still a bit of an awkward relationship involving her,

Kent, and Superman. We also get Jimmy Olsen at his worst as hes given his own

terrible mini-plotline. A bit more mature than the animated Superman that we'd seen

up to this point, an improvement even if the plot isnt the greatest." ~red

"Score 7/10

I found myself greatly disappointed in Lois’ voice and look(TAS Lois>>>>this in

voice and looks). And I thought the art style was a bit too gritty just in general.

And the first ~45 minutes or so wasn’t that good. But then those last ~30(once Lois

starts investigating the clone) was much better and made me actually like it."

~prof

"The standard by which I judge other DC animated movies. A refreshing landmark for

DC as it breaks away from reliance on pre-existing animated franchises and struck

out into original territory. Naturally, there are few stumbling blocks (such as the

Jimmy plotline), but an otherwise solid effort." ~scarlet

"This adaptation is merely ok, as the film kinda starts to fall apart in the second

half. For being in the title of the movie, Doomsday is really only a plot device

here for Superman to die. The Lois and Clark romance is not investing at all, and

they really should’ve sprung for the DCAU voice actors. The second half is rather

aimless, featuring a random Toyman cameo that again is less of a villain than a

plot device. Still, the Doomsday vs. Superman fight is a master-class in animation,

and Lex was well done in this film. Simply put, there are better DCUOAM films, but

for the first one, it’s not the worst." ~Snake

"I preferred when Luthor realized that he’s a ****ing *****bag. A lovable *****bag,

but one never-the-less. I did enjoy the death of the Cyborg Superman, with the

“you’ll protect this city?” He was great, it was just sad he couldn’t be good."

~Wickle


 * 1) 18 - Justice League: Doom (134 points)

Vis - 6 JONA - 9 Snake - 11 Wickle - 11 scarlet - 14 red - 15 Charon - 20 Karo - 24 prof - 24

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"Yeah, I know this might not be objectively amazing, but f*** it, I love Cheetah

for being an anthropomorphic redheaded cheetah girl with a British accent and black

boyshorts. Also, there’s other characters in the movie. But seriously, this is a

pretty cool concept. Batman gets hacked and it turns out he has a plan to take down

each and every member of the Justice League, and as such, villains with great

rivalries set out to use those plans in order to kill or otherwise remove the

Justice League from the equation. The plans are all pretty awesome (especially

since one involves creating an army of Cheetahs), and they help develop the

characters a little bit more. Plus, I’ve gotta say that Scar is right: Flash and

his villains are the most fun characters in the Justice League series. So yeah,

bringing a bunch of villains together is always fun, and this movie has lots and

lots of awesome Cheetah, so yay." ~Vis

"Just a fun movie. It was exciting seeing all the Justice League members get out of

their predicaments." ~JONA

"This Tower of Babel adaptation is really well-done, and it’s just friggin’ awesome

to see the Justice League members get defeated. I don’t mind the change of Ra’s to

Vandal, but a couple of changes to the way to JL were defeated was a little

disappointing and lame compared to the source material. And they should’ve kept

Plastic Man in! Still, the writing is great and no one character ever feels left

out." ~Snake

"Basically a movie about villains that are actually greedy enough to want to kill

the Justice League peeps individually, given the ability to do so thanks to

Batman’s planning. Also found the reason Cyborg sucks. World in danger and he still

“thinks” that he built this thing right and wants a test run. Be more confident in

your goddamn intelligence, dumb***." ~Wickle

"You either do it first or you do it best; despite the high level of quality in

this outing, Tower of Babel still did it first AND best back in Mark Waid's JLA

run. Still, it's an enjoyable romp furthered by a group of entertaining villains."

~scarlet

"The Legion of Doom comes together with plans from Batman to subdue the justice

league and modified them to be lethal...sort of, maybe, not really. They arent

lethal at all. Its a horrible plan among more horrible plans and Cyborg is around

to help Batman save the day. The plot has problems, but much like Crisis on Two

Earths, really does a good job showcasing off Batman's place in the league(Or at

the end of this, an interesting take on how to view the whole Superhero thing). It

also shows how Batman with a plan is scary as all hell. Its an interesting take on

Batman here, even if the culmination of the plot isnt all that grand." ~red

"Early on I remarked this film made everyone but Vandal Savage look stupid. The

heroes were almost so effortlessly defeated by the villianous counterparts that it

made them seem weak while it made the villains seem inept that they couldn't figure

out how to do this before. This was until it was revealed that it was actually

Batman's plans that caused the attacks to work so well, and only Batman ended up

being able to fix them. So... this film made everyone seem stupid, except for

Batman. And Cyborg I guess, who is finally introduced here. He's not very good...

at least here, though I think he gets better later (probably in the minority

there). Loved Batman here, didn't really care for much else other than Superman at

the end." ~charon

"The world's smartest neanderthal hatches a plot to BLOW UP THE WORLD! mwa ha ha

ha! To assist him in this endeavor, he forms the Evil Doom League of Doom or

whatever the f*** they were called. We get a random assortment of baddies from each

of our heroes' storylines, and neither who they are, or their relationship to the

Justice League members, is touched on in any significant manner. Hey, I guess Hal

has a supervillain ex-girlfriend, and J'onn isn't actually the last of his kind!

Why bother explaining anything when you can just have everyone punch and kick each

other for an hour?" ~Karo

"Ew Bruce being a dick to Alfred. Like just wtf. Batman was too much of a BatDick

in this for me just in general so I didn’t care for it too much. Still decent

though." ~prof


 * 1) 17 - Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (134 points)

Wickle - 7 JONA - 12 prof - 12 charon - 16 red - 17 scarlet - 17 Snake - 17 Vis - 17 Karo - 19

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"There’s good and bad. I still need a sock in Captain Marvel’s mouth, much like

War. Though Aquaman made up for every bit of my irk of Captain Marvel. It makes me

enjoy the team… just… give me the CM that showed in Public Enemies. Also Black

Manta lecturing Arthur and then Arthur called up a shark was best part of that

movie." ~Wickle

"I wanted to like this movie more. The setup for Aquaman is great but he doesn't

feel as important as he should be because of the Justice League being in the movie.

I would have enjoyed it more if it was a stand-alone Aquaman film." ~JONA

"I %$#*ing loved the Steel cameo. I would say it was definitely more effective than

War but…I disliked the way Mera looked a lot. Still the rest was pretty nice."

~prof

"29 films later... and it was finally Aquaman's time. It's a shame he spent the

first 30 minutes moping over a fish bowl. However, the long suffering King of the

Sea gets a decent backstory after all this time and becomes a little more

identifiable for audiences. The few issues this one had was the usual "no one can

beat the new big bad, EXCEPT this new dude!" and sort of weird Woman Woman/Superman

romantic subplot. They did scale back on the douchebag levels of most everyone, but

I was still hoping for a little better offering. Still, there's potential enough

created here for Aquaman to be a worthwhile character." ~charon

"You know, its a commonly held opinion that Aquaman sucks. This movie...does little

to dispel that opinion. Aquaman begins as a guy that wants to fight because...hes a

jerk that wants to fight. Let me rant for a bit but...The people of Atlantis suck.

Who wants a King that has never really seen their city proper and hasnt even lived

in the same environment. Are they insane? Of course they are, screw Atlantis. They

think he can bridge the gap from both sides but...he only knows one side and it

certainly isnt theirs. Mera was probably the most interesting Atlantean, why cant

she be in charge. Oh and the Queen does the dumbest thing anyone does in any of

these movies. Who turns their back on someone they are openly admitting is

attempting a Coup 2 seconds prior? Seriously. You deserve to die after that. The

Justice League interactions are ok here, and Shazam shut the hell up for the most

part until the ending. Anger at some of the plot being stupid aside, this wasnt the

most awful movie out there and was quite enjoyable at points." ~red

"We're definitely doing something right by pushing the Johns' version of Aquaman.

The script is shaky, but there's a lot going for this film." ~scarlet

"Continuing the War universe, Throne of Atlantis is both aided and hindered by

this. The focus on Aquaman is weak, but the other heroes return stronger and better

voiced. And the animation is really strong in this one too. The plotting is pretty

rushed as well. It’s entertaining enough, but not one of the best." ~Snake

"There’s nothing really WRONG with this movie. I came out of it having enjoyed it,

and Aquaman wasn’t completely terrible, or a joke. But this still ranks more in the

middle because there’s nothing about it that really stands out as special or

amazing. It’s a pretty standard superhero movie. The bad guy is a bastard, but his

diabolical plot is kinda dumb. The henchman is there, but we never really get to

see anything about this bigger plot he has. And even though I’ll give Aquaman

credit for not sucking…he’s still Aquaman…and he just doesn’t hold a candle to any

of the other heroes in the Justice League aside from MAYBE Shazam. So yeah, not

bad…but nothing special either, though I will give credit for a reasonable origin

story, even if it did feel a bit rushed." ~Vis

"It's only fitting that a mediocre member of the Justice League would get a

mediocre movie. The best scene was when Black Manta's monologuing was interrupted

by SHARK WEEK. Speaking of Manta, they really needed to explain more what an

outsider like him was doing in Atlantis in the first place, and why the xenophobic

Ohm was friends with him at all. I love how they called in the army BEFORE the

Atlanteans revealed themselves, to presumably try and fight a tsunami with tanks

and assault rifles." ~Karo


 * 1) 16 - Batman: Year One (132 points)

Charon - 2 Vis - 2 prof - 9 scarlet - 13 Karo - 17 Snake - 19 Wickle - 20 JONA - 23 Red - 27

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"I quite enjoyed the dual main characters, since it was nice to see Gordon in such

a prominent role. He's badass in this too so that helps out a lot. I loved the

portrayal of his character here moreso than any others, I guess because it's an

origin story, but Batman's also great here too. Generally, we all think of Batman

as this calculated, well-oiled machine but here we see him in his infancy. Here we

see Batman afraid, mistake-prone and without much in the way of planning. This one

in general represents a nice change of pace for me." ~Charon

"Yes. Yes. This is goddamn amazing. I know that the Batman origin story has been

told and retold, and hell, I’m aware that Gotham exists, and that there is a

Christopher Nolan movie that covers much of Batman’s beginnings. But damn it if

this movie didn’t feel amazing. You know why? Because yes, there’s a story about

Bruce Wayne learning to become Batman. And yes, there’s s story about Selena Kyle

learning to become Catwoman. But the REAL story is that of Commissioner Gordon

proving himself to be the hero that Gotham both needs and deserves. It’s no

surprise that he’s voiced by Bryan Cranston. He just comes into Gotham with a

pregnant wife, and he’s a good guy in a city where almost everyone is on the take…

and he just wants to reform the system. He’s not a perfect character. He has an

affair. But the fact is that he’s still a heroic figure in spite of this, and it’s

actually a lot more interesting to see him in all his bravery compared to Batman,

who has years of training and gadgets to back up his power." ~Vis

"This is one of the origin stories I really like. Mostly because it is more of a

Jim Gordon story then a Batman origin story despite being Batman’s start. The

narrations of the thoughts is not something you usually see in movies and I really

liked it doing so. It worked really well IMO." ~prof

"As you might imagine, any of these films based directly off of a comic storyline

are going to end up being compared to said storyline by an avid comics reader (ie:

me). And don't get me wrong - there are films on this list that surpass their

comics counterpart, but that's not the case here. That's honestly what holds this

back - the script isn't Miller's, and the art isn't Mazzuchelli's. Release the

comic and the film in the opposite order, and I would tell you that this is a

strong film." ~scarlet

"This is sort of a Batman slice-of-life film. It is also really more about Gordon

than Batman. Also we get to see mah kitteh in easily her best movie appearance. its

just a shame they didn't have her do more in the story." ~Karo

"Year One is pretty slow and kinda dry. The voice acting is sub-par, and the

animation looks dull and washed-out. Year One does little to capture the lightning

of the comic, but at least I can say the characters are actually well-developed

enough. Nothing great, not much to say." ~Snake

"Gotham is better. I’m apparently three or four episodes behind on that. I need to

watch those eps sometime this week." ~Wickle

"The movie has a good atmosphere that displays how much of a s***hole Gotham is but

there's some dull monologuing, which probably worked better in the comics, and just

an uninteresting plot." ~JONA

"A James Gordon origin story is an interesting take on the origin story(We have a

lot of these), unfortunately I'm not really sure this was executed in the best of

ways. Its a relatively short movie by the standards we have here, but I couldnt

help but feel like it was long and stretched out by the end of this. Its weird when

I can say that some of the scenes with Batman were...just boring. Same with Gordon,

who at times is just a jerk period. The voice acting here can all be incredibly

lifeless, especailly some of the lines from Bruce Wayne/Batman. I just played some

back for memory and oh god are they painful. I feel this concept could have made a

good movie, its just every bit of it feels lackluster." ~red


 * 1) 15 - Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (129 points)

scarlet - 6 Wickle - 6 charon - 10 prof - 11 red - 16 Vis - 18 JONA - 19 Karo - 22 Snake - 21

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"This is what the DCAO brand was made for - taking big stories full of action and

heroes and villains and turning them into vibrant dynamite-packed high-octane

films. It jobs the entire DCU to put over the World's Finest... which is what

should happen from time to time! Who needs heroes to struggle in every damn story?

Not me. It even keeps the four-year long President Lex storyline from 2000-2004,

the throwback to the classic Composite Superman of the Silver Age and much more.

Also lol @ Karo for assuming Big Hero 6 is the first place an Asian kid named Hiro

was gifted in technology (see Snow Crash)." ~scarlet

Yeah, I did enjoy seeing Superman and Batman beat the **** out of all those

villains in practically no time. Also it had someone who I need to read about to

see if he might become my favorite DC character. Doubt it, but who knows." ~Wickle

"Other than having to watch Lex Luthor kiss Amanda Waller, this was pretty good. I

generally am a little wary on Batman and Superman combination stories, but there's

a lot done right in this movie. Luthor's plans are interesting, and a good

testament to his character of desiring to help humanity but his otherwise good

demeanor being compromised by a guy who doesn't have to work for his level of

respect and power. This eventually drives him to artifically power himself up. At

the end of the day Batman tends to steal the show in films he appears in with

heroics and rationality and that's no different here. My only real qualm with this

one was how only these two heroes stood up for justice, while all the rest can be

so easily manipulated." ~charon

"Yay no boring backstories. Yay Superman and Batman being complete badasses and

beating the entire world(well close enough). And Hiro was hilarious. Plus Luthor’s

hubris backfiring on him is always good." ~prof

"Where Superman is an idiot, Batman is not, and Lex Luthor is President. Its an

interesting little concept, and it works in a weird way. It works less when you get

to the end of the movie and Luthor wants everyone to die, and it gets a little

weird when it starts throwing all sorts of villains at the two main characters and

they tear through them like paper. The first of what will be many team-ups of these

two is mostly an enjoyale ride with some really rough problems holding it back."

~red

"This movie definitely felt like little more than fanservice by having Batman and

Superman work together and fight like, a plethora of different villains (and

heroes) from throughout DC. Not to mention having Lex Luthor get elected president

just for plot purposes. But, it was still an extremely fun movie. I like the fact

that, by having so many different characters all fighting and going after Superman

(and by extension Batman), it allowed from some really cool battles (plus it

actually made a positive showing of Superman’s weakness to Kryptonite, with side

effects beyond just “He gets hurt by it”). I’m not a fan of Power Girl based on

this movie though…I feel like they REALLY wanted to get fanservice out of her, and

that annoyed me. So yeah, decent film in terms of combat, but not amazing." ~Vis

"While watching Superman and Batman treat everyone like jobbers is fun, it's

basically the whole movie and it feels like the movie doesn't have any substance. "

~JONA

"I am not really a fan of this one. The worlds of Batman and Superman mesh together

poorly style-wise, and in this case, it is Batman who feels weird and out of place.

It probably would have been better had they focused on the story rather than see

how many cameos of random DC supers they could stick in the movie as fanservice.

(DC has a Japanese robot-building boy geinus named Hiro, too? I smell a lawsuit)

...and lets not even get started on that absurd Batman/Superman Gundam they blew up

the meteor with." ~Karo

"OK movie, Superman and Batman’s relationship was well done and more of the focus

than in Apocalypse. But, the writing is stale and predictable, and the movie feels

more like a giant fighting game at times than a movie. There’s not much else to

this one honestly. " ~Snake


 * 1) 14 - Superman: Unbound (123 points)

Charon - 6 red - 8 Wickle - 10 Karo - 12 Snake - 13 JONA - 14 scarlet - 16 prof - 22 Vis - 22

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"Supergirl's a bit better here, showing more of her vulnerabilities and character

traits. As well, Brainiac is done much better this time around. This version of

Brainiac is pretty interesting because of how he is defeated at the end, and it

makes pretty good sense and I never really considered that as one of Brainiac's

weaknesses. Batman level deduction by Clark there. As usual, there's a Superman's

love life subplot as well and it sort of goes along with this. Superman is safe in

his protected little world, and he's scared to venture out of it." ~charon

"We already had a Brainiac movie and it sucked. But that was forever ago and at the

very least Unbound doesnt suck. Actually I've commented multiple times on how I

hate Lois Lane but in this movie she is...more than tolerable. She is actually

likable and not all the things that make her awful in the other movies. It was very

refreshing. As far as Brainiac goes, this is a much bigger far more threatening

Brainiac than the last, and thats good too. Also I had to mention this somewhere,

so I'm going to mention it here, damn does Superman punch things a lot. Pretty much

how all of his fights go at some point, he flies or something up to enemy, punches

repeatedly, possibly repeat a bunch. He really likes punching things. Luckily, this

movie actually ends with him beating an enemy with something other than beating it

to death, with Superman actually getting to be the clever one for once. He did

plenty of punching there too mind you, but it didnt win him the fight." ~red

"That primary version of Braniac was scary. Got to see Mos Eisley without Jawas,

Supes propose to Lois, and Supergirl be… uh… Herself." ~Wickle

"Just a standard Superman movie, where he saves the planet from aliens and s***.

This movie has a much better version of Brainiac than in 'Brainiac Attacks'. He's

more of Galactus where the other was like a reject Ginyu Force member." ~Karo

"Superman had a decent streak of movies in this DC animated canon here. This isn’t

just another Brainiac Attacks thankfully, this is a great, earnest attempt at a

Brainiac movie. There’s a nice epic battle in this film, and thus, the plot is a

little weaker than the other Superman films. But there’s a nice narrative edge

about personal life and protection that the movie explores pretty nicely. The one

really bad thing about this film is the animation however, just not as sharp as

some of the other entries." ~Snake

"Probably equal to its source material, Geoff Johns' Brainiac arc in Action Comics.

Not spectacular, but not bad either." ~scarlet

"Score 7.5/10

Eh. Not a good art style. The story was decent and I really liked Kal proposing to

Lois at the end but… overall just a decently good movie." ~prof

"Yeah, it seems like Superman movies are extremely hit-or-miss for me, and this one

is definitely much more in the “miss” column. I normally get annoyed by any level

of dumb Superman x. Lois relationship drama, but this movie amped that up to absurd

levels that I just couldn’t tolerate. But beyond that, I don’t know…this just

didn’t do anything for me. I never felt as though I was connecting with the

characters. Superman’s super-abilities were dominant as always except when they

weren’t. Supergirl was dealing with a whole bunch of angst, but then everything

winds up okay because her parents are safe and sound and there gets to be a cheesy

ending. Hell, even Brainiac went out like a total b****. He came across as more

intimidating in Brainiac Attacks than he did in the climax of Unbound. It was just

a weak story, IMO." ~Vis


 * 1) 13 - Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (122 points)

red - 2 JONA - 5 Charon - 8 prof - 8 Snake - 10 Vis - 10 scarlet - 25 Karo - 26 Wickle - 28

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"Its Batman Beyond, but Batman TAS blinded by nostalgia clause goes here

regardless(It is a tie-in story, after all). Batman Beyond struggled at times to

live up to what Batman TAS was, at times it could feel a bit too futuristic, the

villains in general were a step down(Just look at the Jokerz here), and Terry

sometimes felt more a kid than a Batman. But Return of the Joker really pulls the

heartstrings with the tie-in to The Animated Series, Something that was always kind

of missing from Batman Beyond as a whole. It gives you a hook that you can care

about(Not that BB was bad, but it was no TAS). The story with Tim Drake essentially

becomming the Joker is a sad one, but if there is one place this movie kind of

falters, its the mystery behind the identity of the Joker. Tim is really the only

candidate, even when they try to play it off like hes not. The ending with the chip

in the neck isnt exactly the most exciting of endings either, but despite the

flaws, the movie as a whole is very good." ~red

"Just a great movie with an enthralling backstory. The movie also shows how Terry

is different from Bruce and why he is a worthy successor to Bruce." ~JONA

"As someone that never really watched Batman Beyond or is at all familiar with

Terry McGinnis this movie unsettled me at the start. I suppose I am simply used to

more precision and stoicism from my Batman, but as the movie went on I grew to

appreciate Terry's character needed to be different from Bruce Wayne's. The plot is

decently interesting, and even though I still prefer the original this was a

progressively better movie as time went by." ~charon

"Seriously this is great. Like I mean… Joker kidnapping Tim and making him a mini

Joker is pretty dark for a cartoon movie in the Beyond universe since that was

aimed at kids and all. I mean…Tim shooting Joker. And then his crying. That was

extremely dark. And it is good because it is willing to do that." ~prof

"Though a lot of the DCAU film offerings are quite frankly boring stinkers, Beyond

is the once exception along with Phantasm. The story here is extremely dark and

compelling, and frankly has one of the best climaxes in any of these movies. Terry,

however, is a pretty boring lead, but the dynamic characters and action more than

make up for that." ~Snake

"Best film of the first three I watched. I mean, there’s still cheesy moments…and I

feel like there’s ALWAYS going to be cheesy moments in the animated movies, because

it’s animated and they can get away with it…but it was still enjoyable. I liked

this version of the Joker compared to Phantasm, because he actually felt

threatening. There’s something about a guy straight-up murdering one of his

henchmen that makes him feel like more of a villain. Plus, actually getting to

Bruce Wayne and taking him out? That’s a great addition to the plot, as was the

swerve with Robin. And when you throw in the complicated backstory and watching the

reactions of the old guard and the new guard…it was an interesting concept, and I

did enjoy the finale, and how the Joker was finally taken down." ~Vis

"Terry McGinnis is the Spider-Man version of Batman, and as such he just doesn't

jibe with what Gotham should be. If he was to get out of the way of the film, it

would be a much more pleasing experience. Actually, simply putting this about

fifteen years ahead of BTAS and letting an aging but not invalid Bruce be the lead

would make this much more palatable." ~scarlet

"First off let me say that I do not like the Batman Beyond TV show. The whole thing

reeks of a desperate attempt to make Batman 'cool' to kids by making him some

annoying wiseass teenager who fights to heavy metal music. Even so, I was willing

to overlook this considering how well the story was unfolding, and how amazing

Hamil's Joker always is. ..and then the wheels completely fell off. Ah ha! it was Tim all along! oh no, it wasn't, it was the Joker who jammed a giant

microchip into Tim's neck years ago that NOBODY f***ing ever noticed, not even his

goddamn WIFE. Oh, and this chip not only makes Tim think he's the Joker, it turns

him physically INTO the Joker to an extent that he can even fool a forensic voice

analyzer, because lets just throw any semblance of logic remaining out the window. Th-th-th-that's all folks!" ~Karo

"I once thought Deedee was the only reason Batman Beyond was watchable. I know

learn there’s nothing redeemable about that series. Ugh." ~Wickle


 * 1) 12 - Green Lantern: First Flight (120 points)

Vis - 4 red - 9 scarlet - 9 JONA - 11 Charon - 12 prof - 14 Snake - 18 Karo - 21 Wickle - 22

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"You know, for all the s*** people talk about the Green Lantern, I went into this

movie expecting it to be downright terrible. And then…it wound up topping my list

up through the first twelve movies in DC. It manages to take an origin story, which

could EASILY be boring and stupid to watch, (as evidenced by the Wonder Woman movie

that preceded it) and made it awesome. Is Hal a little too good and too perfect for

a guy who just became a Green Lantern? Yeah…little bit…but when it comes to

superheroes, I guess I’m willing to give a little bit of some slack, especially

since I don’t WANT to watch another “superhero learns to control his powers” origin

story. I love Sinestro as a bad guy too. He’s just handled so well in terms of his

lust for power…and the fact that major characters can actually die (and die HARD)

just amps this movie up to great levels." ~Vis

"Because an origin story in New Frontier wasnt enough, we get another GL origin

story in First Flight(And to pile it on, the live-action film will do the same

thing at some point, but the less talk of that the better). Its not the worst of

stories, but the fact that Sinestro gets to go through with his plan when hes

obviously at least sort of evil is never the most believable story(And his name is

Sinestro for heavens sake, of course hes going to be evil). Does a good job

highlighting some of the other Lanterns pretty quickly and is interesting enough,

just wish we didnt have to go through a billion origin stories 3 times each." ~red

"There were two Green Lantern movies that came out that year. Guess which one was

better?" ~scarlet

"What would have struck me as odd about this one was the lack of backstory for Hal

or the Green Lantern thing, but I suppose they didn't want to rehash it since they

went into great detail during TNF. Once it got going I found this one to be very

good, and Sinestro is the sort of villain I am typically drawn to. Boodikka's turn

surprised me, since I never knew until this movie that Kilowog was actually not a

villain. I'm not sure where I picked that up from but yeah, I can sense in him a

lot of Wrex. Or well, I suppose it's the other way around." ~charon

"… goddammit an origin story. It really is boring to hear how the stuff works again

guys. Rest was really good though and the boring stuff I already knew wasn’t too

long so that helped. " ~prof

"Yeah yeah, boring origin story. Like in Wonder Woman, I just feel like there’s no

need for this kind of movie in an animated feature. Still, there’s a good bit to

like in this one. The animation is pretty gorgeous, and it treats the GL mythos

with great respect. The biggest problem is Hal’s lack of development. It’s good,

but forgettable." ~Snake

"I've always thought the whole Lantern mythos is cool, and one of DC's best.

However, there is one thing that keeps me from enjoying this movie as much as I

should, and his name is Hal Jordan. I am not really a fan of Hal in general, but

here he is downright unbearable. None of the New Frontier characterization that

made him sympathetic is present here, now it's just 'I'm a cocky wiseass! I find an

alien ring and now I'm a cocky wiseass... IN SPACE!' Wake me when they make a movie

about Kilowog and Ch'p going off and having adventures together." ~Karo

"mfw I could quote the Green Lantern pledge with all of them without looking it up

prior. Ahhhhhhh yeah. Now to memorize the best Lantern Corps motto, Orange’s. Done.

(I laugh at all of you that don’t get it). But yeah. I watched the live movie (that

was bad), I read the comic, and now I watched this. It’s strange how many different

ways this one tale can be told." ~Wickle


 * 1) 11 - Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Part 1 (119 points)

prof - 6 Karo - 7 charon - 9 Wickle - 9 scarlet - 10 Vis - 14 JONA - 17 red - 23 Snake - 24

Gauntleteer Reviews: "Ah dystopia. A dystopian future with a God reborn. DKR is amazing and I hate that

it had to be split into two. I understand it would be a bit long but… I still wish

they did that instead. " ~prof

"I love this characterization of Batman - a brutal but honorable sociopath whose

treatment of criminals would make Dick Cheney cringe. Girl Robin was pretty cool."

~Karo

" In Year One we got to see Batman's struggles as he was young, and here we again

get to see Batman in unfamiliar territory as his mind attempts to fight what his

body is telling him. Batman's still quite capable here obviously, but I still

enjoyed seeing him have to adapt to his condition to be successful. There are

curious little events, like him immediately revealing who he is to a complete

stranger and taking on a Robin that basically chose herself. I did end up liking

Carrie however. Bartholomew Wolper is such a tool though and it caused me near

physical pain to hear anything he had to say." ~charon

"Gotham? More like the entire mindset of this ****ing country. The analogy for what

this country’s mindset is… is so perfect. I also really enjoy James Gordon now.

Reason? His Pearl Harbor talk, creating an analogy about FDR. Back to the matter I

was discussing at the front, like the girl that ended up to be Robin’s parents, we

hear about some guy who shoots up an area and then takes the coward’s way out and

the media tries to make us pity the suicidal murderer. Such bull****. Especially

that the generic public ****ing buys it." ~Wickle

"As with the original comic, big things are more memorable in the second half, but

it's the first half that contains the real meat and heart of the story, including

the fantastic clash between the Mutant Leader and Bruce." ~scarlet

"A lot of these movies have proven to be at least SOMEWHAT good at telling an

interesting story, or exploring an aspect of a superhero’s powers that you wouldn’t

normally expect to see explored in a conventional animated setting (a movie as

opposed to a 30-minute television cartoon). TDKR1 is no different. It takes place

in a Gotham years after Batman has retired and the city has gone to s***, and he

realizes what needs to be done in order to restore order, and to prevent families

from being torn apart the way his family was. It’s also interesting to see Batman

having to cope with the fact that he’s old, and there’s a new generation of bad

guys that he’s not necessarily equipped to cope with. What winds up holding this

movie back for me…is the constant news reports. CONSTANT parody news reports of

people debating whether Batman is good or bad…it was just SO repetitive and boring,

and like…it got old after the first instance." ~Vis

"NEWS REPORT. SLICER DICER. I talk about it a few times in my writeups, but I like

Batman best when hes playing Detective...in year 1 he...plays the opposite.

Batman's role is to beat the crap out of his enemies, be it with a tank or with his

fists. There isnt a whole lot of detective work going on here. The movie feels very

one-note and I feel like I could have shut off my brain to watch this one. The

fights werent bad mind you and you at least feel somewhat invested in what is going

on, but there really isnt more to the movie than what it is showing you." ~red

"I’m actually not the biggest fan of Frank Miller’s original work to begin with,

but DKR (part 1 anyway) is just a slow-ass movie. That’s it. If it was just Part 2,

that would’ve just been fine. " ~Snake


 * 1) 10 - Wonder Woman (118 points)

Karo - 3 red - 6 Charon - 7 scarlet - 8 JONA - 13 prof - 15 Wickle - 19 Snake - 22 Vis - 25

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"Let me say that the dialogue and characterization in this are pretty top notch.

Diana and Trevor make an odd couple duo that brings to mind the ones seen in the

modern Disney films. My one issue was how it was never explained why the Amazons

randomly had a modern jet with advanced cloaking capabilities just sitting around

somewhere, and how Diana automatically knew how to fly it." ~Karo

"With Wonder Woman absolutely sucking it up in New Frontier, I wasn't quite going

into this movie with the highest of hopes. I was pleasantly surprised with this

being a decent movie, though it definitely got a bit preachy, especially in the

middle section of the movie. It was also very high on the violence, though with

Ares as the main villain it never felt at all out of place. I honestly just enjoyed

this movie a hell of a lot more than I expected to." ~red

"There's a lot well done here. While Steve Trevor is a little over the top and

sometimes a little bit "much", I do like the way Diana was portrayed. I personally

didn't feel any real feminism in this film though I've heard that said by some in

passing, especially with the "lesson learned" by Hippolyta at the end due to

Persephone. The climax was surprising as well, since I didn't really expect Ares to

be killed and sent to Hades to be a zombie." ~charon

"I don't say this lightly - there is a script here that, with minor tweaking, is

primed to be taken directly to the big screen for the long overdue live-action

adaptation of the Amazonian Princess." ~scarlet

"Ew an origin story. And one that was overly long at that. The babes in it wasawas

nice but…as someone who already knows her backstory I was kinda fairly bored for

pretty much everything where Diana was alive until they got off Themyscira. " ~prof

"I find it funny that I argued with Inviso about feminism after he watched this

movie. It wasn’t so bad, the stereotypical male is kind of hilarious and I believe

it was fine for her first touches to America. Her later moments, like that in New

Frontier are the moments that tick me off. She’s a fine character when her powers

are not there just because, like Inviso points out, ‘lol I’m a woman superhero.’"

~Wickle

"I’m not the greatest fan of Wonder Woman. Greg Rucka’s stuff is pretty great, but

generally I don’t find her too interesting. As such, this movie isn’t really that

interesting. First of all, it’s a boring origin story. Animated films really don’t

need that boring crap. And, this movie has an annoying fixation with sexual themes,

another subject I’m not really interested in. Nothing more than a filler entry in

the animated canon. " ~Snake

"The ending ALMOST saves the movie. I mean, I guess to non-furries, it’s not on the

same level as random Aquaman from the end of New Frontier…but hell, random Cheetah

was good enough for me. Still, this movie was extremely painful to sit through. I

GET that it’s an origin story and Wonder Woman has a very unique backstory…but I

just hate it. I really do. I mean, I’m the kind of person who absolutely LOVES

strong female characters, especially of the warrior variety…and yet watching this

movie…ugh. Even I thought this was preachy. I get it, women are good and men are

bad. Thank you so much for that insightful social commentary, movie. But wait,

there’s a twist! Wonder Woman gets called out on being such a raging Feminazi! My

eyes are not designed to roll this hard…and that’s the tone of the whole movie. I’m

sorry, but no…just no, movie. I mean, better than making Wonder Woman into a

secretary…but still" ~Vis


 * 1) 9 - Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (113 points)

red - 1 JONA - 3 Charon - 5 Snake - 5 scarlet - 7 prof - 16 Vis - 24 Karo - 25 Wickle - 27

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"Forgive me for this, but I'll be the first to admit I'm absolutely blinded by

nostalgia on the Batman TAS movies. They were things I actually remember from being

a kid, and the show as a whole was one of the most solid shows out there. Having

watched all of these movies with Batman forced into the Justice League(Where he is

at many times proclaimed worlds greatest detective or similar), its Batman's own

movies(And really TAS as a whole) where this gets to shine, and I think its Batman

at his best to me. With TAS you always felt like you were getting a detective show

mixed in with a little bit of superhero(And supervillain of course) thrown on the

side. Most of the Justice League movies have him play more Ninja(With infinite

money) than Detective, and its really not the best for me. TAS was very appealing

to a younger me and still appealing to a much older me. So I'll get this out there,

I cant for the life of me become unbiased to these movies, I'm aware of it and I

cant do anything about it. Mask of the Phantasm is TAS at its best, with a couple

suspects for Batman to dig through to uncover for the Phantasm and a little tie in

to the Joker(Maybe not necessary, but the Joker is always a good villain at his

best)." ~red

"A very emotional film that really puts you into the mindset of Batman. While a lot

of the movies just show Batman being a badass, this really shows more of Batman's

human side and makes you sympathize with him" ~JONA

"This serves as a good introduction to the Batman character, if somehow you didn't

know his backstory in this day and age. I enjoyed the usage of flashbacks along

with paralleling Batman along side Phantasm, as you can see that two individuals

with such similar sets of circumstances in their lives can go down different paths.

There's a good amount of heart here, whereas sometimes seem to forget the man

beneath Batman's mask." ~Charon

"The perfect companion piece to Batman: The Animated Series, this film tells a

fantastic mystery story with maturity and respect to the character of Batman, while

remaining wholly original. Andrea Beaumont is a deep character worth getting

invested in, and she really carries the film. It’s also interesting to learn a bit

of Bruce’s early years, something we never got too often in the series. Really

great film with a great story and well-done animation. Only wish it did better in

theaters; we might’ve had more great Batman animation in the cinemas." ~Snake

"Is it an overgrown episode of BTAS? Of course. But that's exactly what was

advertised - instead of making it a two- or three-parter episode, why not market it

as a film? They could have done the same with Heart of Ice or any number of multi-

part episodes. I only rank it as low as I do because I think the six films ahead of

it feature either a script full of the type of blockbuster action sequences that

would make a fantastic live-action feature film or a script that has some serious

heft and meaning and subtlety to it." ~scarlet

"Oh Nostalgia… I love this movie. Andrea is cute and the mystery is fun. The entire

half past half present thing is pretty fun also. I do however dislike Joker having

any kind of confirmed origin story and this unfortunately does do that which loses

it some points. However I do like when Batman’s lovers are also villains. And yeah

overall it was pretty damn enjoyable." ~prof

"I’m gonna preface this by saying I’ve never really watched Batman: The Animated

Series…so I’m not entirely sure what has been covered in the cartoon prior to the

movie. That being said, I just didn’t enjoy the characterization in this. They

really sped through some backstory and made Batman appear super-weak and pathetic

(at least compared to what I know about him from other media). I don’t need to see

him moping about his parents many years after the fact…I just don’t. Furthermore,

Joker felt extremely poorly handled in this. He randomly is involved in the bad

guys’ plot from the past, then gets involved in the future, and then he’s defeated

but we never actually see what becomes of him. And the police deciding to form a

manhunt against Batman was poorly handled as well. It felt like if they made this a

little longer, the plot could’ve worked…but they didn’t, so it didn’t." ~Vis

"In this movie we are introduced to the titular Phantasm, a campy masked villain

straight out of a Scooby-Doo episode (and whose apparent superpowers were never

explained in the slightest). The one shining spot was the scenes that involved the

Joker, which were all too few in number. The rest of the movie is centered on a

bunch of flashbacks about young Bruce's girl troubles, like some absurd superhero

version of Only Yesterday. I honestly expected more out of the only theatrical

release on the list." ~Karo

"The minute Joker appeared I was bored of him, that describes most of my

disappointment in this movie. The Phantasm itself was predictable and just a bleh

story. Also her magically surviving the end blast was dumb." ~Wickle


 * 1) 8 - Superman vs. the Elite (103 points)

prof - 1 JONA - 2 Snake - 8 Wickle - 8 red - 12 Vis - 16 Charon - 18 scarlet - 18 Karo - 20

Gauntleteer Rankings:

"This movie is amazing. I love it. Based on one of, if not quite possibly the best,

single comic book issues ever(Truth, Justice, And the American Way). It hit all the

right notes that made that issue amazing while changing it to better work for a

movie instead of a comic. I could go on forever about why. And oh hey I can. Let’s

do that.

So a long time ago in the comics world people started to go EXTREME. AND BLOOD AND

GORE. ANTIHEROES ONLY. BREAK THE CYCLE OF VILLAINS BREAKING OUT. This was a fairly

dark period of time known as the 90’s. They were attempting to break out of the

“Only for kids” mold they were previously in. Death of Superman was incredibly

successful and shocking. People like Punisher and Wolverine led the charge.

Everything went all grimdark. Then it was 2001 and Joe Kelly was working for DC on

Superman. On a side note Joe Kelly is a comic book writer I love and I really wish

wrote more comic books. But anyways. So Joe Kelly is working on Superman. And he

creates a story that tells us exactly what is wrong when all you have is

antiheroes. It is my favorite single issue of any comic ever(yes there are better

arcs by far but I don’t think there is a single issue that is better). So yeah I

have a lot of love for the issue this was based on.

And the movie was a great adaption(and honestly I thought an improvement on the

issue) so I love it. Yes the fact that Superman actually took away their powers was

perhaps a bit much but…I can honestly understand Superman taking their powers away

so… I don’t mind it. I understand other people *cough* Scar *cough* having issues

with it but… I honestly think it is an improvement. The fact that the Elite didn’t

start off completely evil worked better also for me. As a matter of fact the extra

length the movie could have over a single issue really helped because it just

worked better. We got to know the Elite a lot more and have a better view of why

people could like them. And I think that really helped make it a better story."

~prof

"Just an excellent, thought-provoking story about what heroes should be like. The

ending, while a bit convoluted, really sends its message well." ~JONA

"Easily one of the best Superman adaptations out there, Superman vs. The Elite

captures all the essence of the original comic. The story is nicely crafted, aside

from the god-awful ending. It finely explores themes of moral issues with Superman

as the center, placing him up against a fantastical group of villains." ~Snake

"The comic for this was the first comic Scarlet gave me. All I wanted while

watching this movie was to see how the voice actor would play out the epicness of

what he does to the elite. And George Newbern did not let me down. How does it

feel, commoners, to know why Superman, Batman, and other superheroes do what they

do. Why the “killing” method that some people think they should have does not work.

Why it makes you a villain. If you don’t know, read the comic, watch the movie,

even if it’s again and again." ~Wickle

"I like this one in THEORY because, like a lot of the movies I rank higher, it

takes a look at one of the key aspects of a lot of superheroes’ personas: the fact

that, at the end of the day, they set themselves apart as HEROES by refusing to

kill, even though failure to do so can only lead to more pain and death. Honestly,

I like the fact that the movie addressed this. I like the fact that you have a team

of superheroes who ARE working for the greater good of humanity, by clearing away

the bad guys, rather than just beating them up and putting them in prison. And

honestly, that’s kinda what held this movie back from being higher on the list for

me. I’ve always wondered whether it’s REALLY better for humanity to have these

supervillains locked up, rather than humanely destroyed...yet this movie was so

heavy-handed that “killing is wrong!” even after NOT killing leads to more death

and destruction. I dunno…something just rubbed me the wrong way." ~Vis

"A pretty unique Superman story meant to make you question your values on war and

crime and similar things. If there is one thing I can kind of nitpick here, its

that they felt the need to give Manchester Black a backstory but just kind of leave

the rest of the elite in the background as "former criminals". They all felt

relatively unique and interesting, I wish the rest of them would have gotten at

least a little backstory. The fictional country names were also awkward as all

hell, as were some of the scenes involving that little fictional war." ~red

"I enjoy the films that focus on Superman's "golden boy" routine vs. some other

sort of form of justice. This one takes a part of the Doomsday storyline and

evolves it to a fully-fledged tale about what sort of justice is really justice. I

find it hard to argue with Manchester Black for most of the film, and my biggest

critique with this is that they didn't simply let them both be right. Instead they

took this interesting character who was a hero, but simply didn't believe sparing

the murderers was any solution since so many of them continued to break out and

kill again, and made him into a run of the mill lunatic. It was unfortunate it had

to end that way, with their powers being stripped of them rather than leaving the

lingering moral question on whose brand of justice was actually the most helpful."

~charon

"I understand and can definitely appreciate all of the reasons other great users in

this project enjoy this film, but for me, this goes beyond the film itself into the

fundamental, primordial story it tells. I've often stated that the source material

for this film is one of my favorite Superman stories ever told. So despite enjoying

the vast majority of this film, it's something that most people would care very

little about that destroys any chance it has of ranking highly. And that something

is Lois Lane, for in the increase of Lois' role in the story, Superman suddenly is

fighting his fight for petty, mortal reasons rather than the grand ideals he

represented in Action Comics #775. This idealogue Superman in comics is suddenly a

very Marvel character attempting to espouse a DC virtue. This film needed a god,

not a man, to tell the allegorical tale it wanted to to tell." ~scarlet

"Endings can make or break a movie, and in this case, it is broken horribly. Having

the final fight be a staged play enacted by superbots was anticlimactic and beyond

stupid, and the biggest 'f*** you' to viewers since the final season of Lost. Also,

why the hell did The Elite need to interrogate people for info when they had a

powerful psychic who could just rip the secrets from their minds? augh." ~Karo


 * 1) 7 - All-Star Superman (95 points)

Wickle - 1 Karo - 2 Charon - 3 prof - 4 scarlet - 4 Snake - 9 JONA - 18 Vis - 26 red - 28

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"I think the top of my list will forever be something that makes me want to

understand more in the comics universe. I had to fight my own tears by the end of

that, fight to make sure none fell. For sorrow of his death and the fact that even

if that doctor succeeds at allowing Lois to birth those super children, would he be

alive to see them alive? I only feel I’m looking at the birth of Connor Kent

through that… but through that timeline Superman was still alive. I still want to

read that Identity Crisis. Eventually." ~Wickle

"When a movie starts with Jimmy Olson in a dress, you know its not going to be your

usual superhero film. There are a lot of things in this movie that should be

stupid, but are instead somehow awesome. Some hilarious doofus brigade vying for Lois' affections. Lizard people from the center of the earth! "You've broken the moon!" A baby lovecraftian monster Superman keeps in his basement as a pet and feeds

minature suns he makes on his SUN ANVIL cause that's how Superman roll. Also, this is the first time I've seen where Supes' Clark Kent disguise is even

remotely believable. So much so, that when Superman reveals his identity to Lois,

she chastises him for impersonating Clark! ah ha ha!" ~Karo

"Definitely a surprise of a film. Heart-warming, different and very emotional this

does its job and shows off Superman's humanity and mortality. Though the ending is

probably the most bittersweet of any of these films, not falling in place and

giving us a happy ending, I still thoroughly enjoyed this one despite it. Everyone

here is portrayed so well, and the only critique I can make is the unnecessary

addition of the two people from Superman's planet. I didn't really get why they

were necessary, and I suspect it made more sense in the comic, but despite that

small flaw this is still a really great film. Also the best portrayal of Lex Luthor

I've seen." ~charon

"Yay it actually used Quitely’s art style. It wasn’t perfectly faithful to the

comics and it did miss two of my favorite moments(Superman helping the suicidal

girl and Superman sparing Solaris) but it was still a fairly good adaption of one

of the best Superman comics ever." ~prof

"Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman is some of the best source material you could

possibly use to tell a seminal tale of the Man of Steel. There's heft and meaning

to it and it hearkens back to every era of Superman story, from the Silver Age

silliness of the 50s and 60s to the Bronze Age of the 70s to the post-Crisis re-

imaginings of the 80s. Just a phenomenal exploration of why there must be a

Superman." ~scarlet

"While sorta weak and rushed in a few points, All-Star Superman otherwise holds up

greatly with the comic of origin. All-Star Superman absolutely nails the atmosphere

and story of the original comic. While it’s sad that some scenes were cut out,

All-Star Superman is a nice character drama with lighthearted moments that make the

comic so worth reading in the first place. " ~Snake

" It had a good premise but I don't think it had a great execution. The main plot

was good and it had a strong ending but the movie got distracted with these dumb

side plots like Superman competing with two guys over Lois's heart and two

Kryptonians coming to Earth that don't really relate at all to the main plot. "

~JONA

"Okay, the CONCEPT for this movie is great. You take a character who is

unbelievably powerful in Superman, and you physically make him die. Granted, the

method behind it was kinda dumb and kinda random, but still, taking a God and

making him mortal is interesting in concept. Unfortunately, this movie executes

that concept with the grace of a gorilla wielding a sledgehammer. Superman gets

Supercancer within the first ten minutes based on a random and unexplained plot by

Luthor, who spends the rest of the movie doing random s***, right up until he’s

defeated far more quickly than he probably deserved to be defeated. Lois goes crazy

and tries to kill him with a kryptonite laser (which he shrugs off). There’s

randomly an appearance by Atlus and Samson…who cause a Sphinx to attack (which is

rapidly defeated through random means), followed by Superman beating them in an arm

wrestling competition to win Lois’ heart. New Kryptonians appear and try to enslave

Earth, only to realize that they’re infected by Kryptonite, so Superman sends them

to the Phantom Zone. And then Luthor breaks free and has a random evil niece that

wants to help him rule the world. Seriously, this movie tries to cram so much in

that it dilutes what should have been a solid plot." ~Vis

"Superman is now dying for getting close to the sun despite the fact he will do

this at least once in another movie(I think it might end up more than once but

whatever). Anyway, Superman was dying and we end up with what feels like a bunch of

short stories crammed into a rather unspecified period of time. I kind of glanced

over the opportunity to rant about how much I can hate Lois Lane, so I'm going to

take this opportunity to point out that this movie has Lois at her worst. First off

the Clark Kent/Lois/Superman triangle is a thing again, she has no idea Kent is

Superman for certain for no apparent reason even when being told. Then she gets the

ability to have Superman powers for a day. How does she spend that day? Being ogled

by two idiots and treating Superman like garbage. She doesnt do anything but travel

along. You have super strength, are super fast, pretty much indestructable and can

fly. But no, lets just sit here with these two idiots and waste the day away. Lois

at her worst, as she often is in these movies, is absolutely intolerable. And back

to our collection of shorts here, these get really weird, including a very brief

section with two kryptonians taking over the world and then essentially dying a

brief moment later. It just doesnt need to be here but its here. And then at points

Superman dying is brought up, he supposedly has x amount of time and then exceeds

it and keeps going, and then at another point he appears to actually be dead and

then is not dead moments later. This movie just cant make up its mind at all and

ends up a garbled mess. Also dont look at Superman's face while watching this

movie. Ever. I dont know what they were doing with it, but its a horrible monster."

~red


 * 1) 6 - Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Part 2 (93 points)

red - 4 prof - 5 Karo - 6 Vis - 8 scarlet - 11 Snake - 12 charon - 13 Wickle - 14 JONA - 20

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"Still too many news reports, still SLICER DICER or whater the hell the line is,

but this is absolutely not what I was expecting after Part 1. Part 1 felt very

grounded and now all of a sudden Superman is showing up. But that wasnt what we

were here for, Part 1 promised the Joker, and we finally got the Joker. And the

Joker goes nuts. He kills everyone and everything and is a constant terror, and you

can just feel him pushing Batman the whole way. As gruesome at it was, I think it

serves its purpose of making you feel the relationship between the two of them very

well in a short period of time. And then because Batman is too good at what he

does, he gets to fight Superman, with time to plan of course. And since he has time

to plan, Batman wins. This movie is much more clever than part 1, and it really

does a good job of making you feel immediately invested in everything that is going

on. I hated Part 1 and loved the turnaround of Part 2. Big downer was that despite

a lot of the ending being faked its implied Alfred actually died. Thats kind of

cold."~red

"Same as the first, only with Joker this time. Batman defeating Superman (who is

kind of a tool in this movie) was awesome. Also, fat old lady Selina? Do not want!"

~Karo

"Joker manipulation and Batman being Batman. Plus a slightly improved dystopian

future but still pretty dystopian. And yes I understand people dislike Superman

following the government completely but… I am fine with it since you know it is a

Batman story and it can work." ~prof

"I definitely preferred this half to the first half, if only because this half went

balls to the wall in terms of what they were willing to get away with. I mean, yes,

in the animated stuff so far, Joker is a psychotic killer…but to have him literally

murder a full TV studio just for funsies (and taking down his obnoxious

psychologist) was great. The fact that, after so many years and so many murders,

Batman finally snapped and murdered Joker once and for all…that was great. Hell,

the fact that Batman stepped up to lead an army in the wake of a nuclear attack…

that was even better. This movie made Batman come across as the hero, but not A

hero, and I appreciated that. Hell, him kicking the s*** out of Authority puppet

Superman was so very, very well-deserved. The only real problem I had was the

stupid Reagan parody, the overreaction from both Batman AND the police in reaction

to one another, and the dumb, unnecessary old Catwoman and Green Arrow cameos."

~Vis

"While it doesn't hit the emotional highs of its predecessor (nor the strong

worldbuilding storytelling of Part 1), TDKR numero dos is still a strong entry in

the DCAO line." ~scarlet

"As a whole, Dark Knight Returns is a largely more exciting entry than Part 1.

Filled with some of the best thrills and action, Part 2 isn’t a bore like Part 1

largely is. The Joker is entertaining to watch in this movie, one of the perfectly

psycho Jokers even put into an adaptation. The fights are large scale and aided by

bloody animation. Superman is largely the same way. The voices are still weird and

don’t quite match the characters, but it’s still a much better effort than Part 1."

~Snake

"The Joker's appearance is pretty good, but felt like it was cut short. This was

likely because of Superman also being in the film, whom when he posed and an eagle

landed on his arm showed he was going to be a massive prick in this film, and he

did not disappoint. That said I still enjoyed the fight scene, and Green Arrow's

lone speaking appearance (though he reminded me of a crazy old hippie hillbilly),

especially Superman's defeat at Batman's hands and what Bruce had to say after

that. " ~charon

"Continued American politics combined with me squirming with scenes like… Joker

getting a Batarang in his eye, that puppet master being chopped up by the roller

coaster, Batman getting shot, etc. I’m squeamish man! Color me curious about what

occurred with Batman’s other villains though. I can’t help but hate this form of

Superman, and his moment of getting in touch with Konohana Lucia didn’t help.

Ignore that last part and don’t look anything up. That’s for me to know and you

people to forget about like you never read it. Oh wait, I almost forgot.

Nananananananananananananananana FATMAN!" ~Wickle

"The Dark Knight Returns movies have great atmosphere to them and have interesting

premises. I ranked the first higher because the second movie has some dumb moments

for liking. Batman and Gordon being able to get Gotham back in order is fine but

it's ridiculous that apparently they're the only people in the entire United States

that can get order. Also, the fight between Superman and Batman felt out of place

and just reeks of fanboyism." ~JONA


 * 1) 5 - Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (92 points)

scarlet - 3 Snake - 6 prof - 7 Vis - 7 JONA - 8 Karo - 8 red - 14 Wickle - 17 Charon - 22

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"The biggest advantage the Justice League has over the Avengers is the concept of

the pantheon - the Justice League is a representation of the Greek Olympians

perched high above humanity, protecting and guarding the weak. Therefore, only the

Justice League could really face the darkest form of itself in a film that on its

surface is action-packed but at its core is quite thought-provoking." ~scarlet

"Crisis on Two Earths is one of the more imaginative entries in the DC animated

canon. The character of Owlman is a stand-out as he waxes philosophical about

nihilism and free will. It’s really well done. The rest of the cast is what you

would expect from these characters by now. Strong plot makes Crisis on Two Earths

really worth watching. " ~Snake

"That was a nice opening. And Johnny Quick had such a great voice. Plus Wonder

Woman bringing the Invisible Jet back was %$^*ing hilarious. Overall a very

entertaining movie to watch." ~prof

"This is a very interesting concept for a movie…one where you basically take the

Justice League…all paragons of good…and you put them in a position where they have

to square off against evil versions of themselves. It’s an interesting concept to

me, especially since the result of having these pairings and alternate universe

shenanigans is seeing some fun moments from the classic Justice League characters.

Batman squaring off against his James Woods-voiced clone is a pretty cool fight,

especially since the real reason why Batman IS a hero is because he holds himself

to a high standard of never killing. And Owlman is the antithesis of that. Beyond

that, you’ve got some fun from Superwoman, who is my favorite kind of psychotic

villainess, plus Martian Manhunter getting lucky. It’s very solid." ~Vis

"Just an awesome film with an exciting premise. James Woods as Owlman was a great

performance and there were a bunch of good action scenes. " ~JONA

"I do love me some good ol' mirror universe hijinx, even if it is something too

often done. J'onn's storyline and the antics of Evil Batman were the best parts.

Also, way to emasculate Aquaman, Bruce. You are the only person in the room without

superhuman strength, you shouldn't be talking." ~Karo

"Justice League goes to an alternate universe where they are all evil. While there

is plenty of fighting between counterparts, ultimately this turns into a Batman

story(On both sides) showing how cold and calculating he can be as the need arises.

Batman at a glance can feel out of place in the Justice League with the lack of

real powers, but I think this gives a nice glimpse at what he brings to the table.

Not particularly deep at times, this movie still provides a more than satisfying

climax." ~red

"Three things. 1) The credit music was awesome (much like every intro song in these

movies), 2) I came to the revelation that OoT is basically like the DC universe in

that it creates a split timeline. 3) “Maybe you’ll meet a girl like her” “With my

luck, she’ll be evil” It’s funny ‘cause he fell for Rose Wilson. Sure, she’s kind

of an anti-hero at most, but it’s still funny." ~Wickle

"I'm not a huge fan of the alternate reality/time travel stuff, but this one tends

to hold together the best, in terms of making sense at least. Not all the alternate

reality characters are terribly interesting, but Owlman is certifiably crazy and I

find it interesting he gets Wonder Woman's counterpart rather than Superman's. A

couple of issues I had with this one were the cameo appearances of heroes like

Aquaman and Martian Manhunter's weirdo romantic side plot. It didn't really do it

for me." ~Charon


 * 1) 4 - Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (85 points)

Wickle - 2 Snake - 3 Karo - 4 scarlet - 5 JONA - 7 Vis - 11 charon - 17 prof - 18 red - 18

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"There’s only two things that explain my “love” for this movie. Trapped in Time

showed I absolutely hate travelling in time to change things, and this played that

part too, so why? The alternate universe contained some of the most bizarre things

that made me curious to the very end. I even had to make sure I was write on what

happened to Martha Wayne, to the point that literally after finishing the movie I

looked at the wiki to do research on that world. Learned some differences from the

movie, wanted to see who that masked dude of the rebellion was (still don’t know

him), etc. Also I nearly teared up when Bruce did." ~Wickle

"A million times better than the comic its based on. Action-packed and epic, filled

with a million cool cameos, some of the best animation I’ve ever seen, and it’s

just overall well-written with no filler to speak of and even the smaller

characters getting memorable parts. " ~Snake

"This is titled 'Justice League' for some reason when it is actually about the

Flash. Thankfully, the Flash's idiot brigade of villains is dispatched quickly and

we don't see them for the rest of the movie. Most of the story takes place in this alternate future where Barry's mom didn't die

and the world got f***ed up as a result. Because it is a 'dead timeline', they can

(and do) kill off most of the cast without consequince. Honestly, the only issue I

have with this movie is explaining how the events before where Barry changed things

got messed up as 'like a sonic boom, only TIME', because that is really f***ing

stupid." ~Karo

"The only problem with this film is that there's just not enough time to spend on

every concept and character. This reintepretation of the entire DCU could've easily

become an entire animated series with countless unique and interesting heroes and

villains, all changed in ways you'd never expect." ~scarlet

"An awesome premise with great action and it was nice to see some emotion with

Barry and his mom" ~JONA

"I’m a huge fan of Donna Noble from Doctor Who, and one of my favorite Donna

episodes is one called “Turn Left”. In that episode, Donna is in a car with his mom

and has to make a choice between turning right and continuing along the way she

intended, or turning left, and starting a new life with a new job. And because of

that ONE change, the Doctor dies and Earth gets wrecked. That’s what happens in

this movie…and it’s not handled anywhere near as well…but that’s not terrible.

Flash goes back in time to save his mother, which creates a time ripple that alters

history and leads to the destruction of Earth, and then he has to save the world

with help of alternate universe Batman, Superman and Cyborg. The plot is a LITTLE

weird, what with a flimsy explanation as to why Flash is responsible for the world

going to s***, but still, alternate universe movies are always pretty awesome."

~Vis

"Flash's first feature of course deals with the element of time travel. There's a

lot going on here but even as the longest film there's a lot left unexplained.

While I ultimately do like the film's underlying message of, "Accept what you

cannot change, have the courage to change what you can and wisdom to know the

difference". Being an alternate reality, it gave DC the ability to do things they

normally wouldn't with their big time stars death wise. A Batman moment even

manages to stand out in this film, not often you see him cry." ~charon

"Need to run faster! The alternate universe stuff was fun. Good movie. It suffered

from the time limit though. They just really didn’t show enough of the alternate

world for me to really enjoy it." ~prof

"The first of two time travel movies in a row. The worst thing about this movie

that the twist at the end that Barry went back in time is just handled so

lackluster. Nothing really implies that he wanted to go back in time early in the

movie, it just kind of happens. Then you have the problem of him having his

memories but no memory of wanting to go back in time. Its just so arbitrary and

runs into all the problems time travel always has when it isnt executed perfectly

(And rarely is it done so). The way reality was screwed up made for some

interesting storylines, but the time travel aspect just drags this down." ~red


 * 1) 3 - Justice League: The New Frontier (84 points)

scarlet - 1 prof - 2 charon - 4 Wickle - 5 JONA - 6 Snake - 7 Karo - 11 Vis - 23 red - 25

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"One of the best comic book films released this decade, Darwyn Cooke's The New

Frontier casts a backward look at some iconic DC Comics characters by returning

them to the '50s-giving-way-to-'60s setting that kicked off the second great age of

superheroes. While New Frontier was at least partly about how cool characters like

The Flash and Green Lantern looked filtered through Cooke's streamlined, jet-age-

inspired illustrations, it worked on a deeper level as an examination of why those

times produced those particular heroes. (Or, in the case of Golden Age leftovers

like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, how the times reshaped the icons.) With an

eye toward contemporary relevance, Darwyn Cooke somehow made power rings, lonely

Martians, Cold War paranoia, and the threat of nuclear annihilation all make sense

together. With The New Frontier, Cooke, animation veteran Bruce Timm, and others

convert the comic into a 75-minute animated film. While the book's epic scope feels

a bit reduced in translation, it still is capable of introducing a sprawling cast

of characters, and it has time enough to rush to the world-threatening finale that

inspires the heroes to band together for the common good. This isn't a collection

of origins stories. This is one origin story - the origin of superheroes.

Many of the scenes are drawn directly from Cooke's art, which makes an easy leap to

animation. (Cooke worked in cartoons for years, and he provided some of the

storyboards, which doesn't hurt.) The voice cast, which includes Neil Patrick

Harris as The Flash and Lucy Lawless as Wonder Woman, has also been chosen

carefully, and a coda set to the John F. Kennedy speech that gives The New Frontier

its title ends it memorably. Here, DC's heroes and villains provide visuals for

Kennedy's idealistic sentiments, embodying the principles and failings of the times

and the country that inspired them. It's the whole project in miniature, in other

words." ~scarlet

"Holy %$^* that intro. Holy %$^* this voice cast. It is rather interesting to have

the main guys around in the 50’s though. But anyways. Holy %$^* this is a dark

movie. I %$^*ing loved it. I thought nothing could beat my previous #1 but this

pulled it off. Just….GODDAMN. Everything was amazing. It was a %$^*ing beautiful

world. And those voices man. The story could have been horrible and I would have

still loved just to watch and listen to it. But then it was a great story also. And

then that ending…. Pretty much perfection. " ~prof

"Going into this project I expected to rate and rank animated films based on which

superhero I liked best was in them, which film's animation I preferred or how well

the story was told overall. I wasn't expecting a film with a driven message behind

it. This one reminded me a lot of Studio Ghibli, since there's an inherent message

here about peace, unity and brotherhood. From the publics fear of the superheroes,

to Wonder Woman's fear of men to people's fears aliens this film is a period piece

that speaks to equality for races, genders and beliefs. While none of the

characters stand out as great, there are still good moments but my appreciation for

this one has a lot to do with what message it preaches." ~charon

"It made me want to watch the Justice League. Music, just having everyone together…

that one guy I claimed as a favorite character that died like a boss, etc." ~Wickle

"A great look at how the superheroes would fare in an older time. I'll admit that I

can't say I really appreciate this movie as much as others but the characters are

great in it, it had a nice mature tone and the battle between The Centre and

everyone was awesome." ~JONA

"The New Frontier is a great movie that has a great message about American freedom

and the need for heroes (not just super), and does it with the right amount of deft

and subtlety to make it work. Still, it’s not without its problems. I don’t feel

like any one hero gets enough development, and I feel like some points were hand-

waved over too quickly or just plain not needed, like or Superman’s glossed over

relationship with Lois Lane. Still, the hopeful message of this film make it a real

stand-out piece and a nice send-up to comics of old. " ~Snake

"I realize that this is the first Justice League movie, and they needed to

introduce all the characters and do some worldbuilding, but I feel that having so

many storylines going on all at once maybe hurt the movie a little bit. Also I like how Aquaman showed up after the battle was over and was all like 'hey

guys, I didn't help at all and I am completely useless! Can I join?'" ~Karo

"I like the setting of this, because I find it interesting to picture all of these

superheroes in the golden age of the 1950s (with the prejudices and problems that

come with that setting, a la the opening sequence of Watchmen). As such, it’s

interesting to watch all the characters kinda adapting to their new roles as heroes

in society, or adapting to their newfound lives and powers. However…my problem with

this movie is that it feels like it lacks a solid plot. There’s a big bad guy…but

it never feels like it has a real motivation or personality, and it shows up so

late in the film, after the first 3/5 are all origin stories. I get that they

wanted to develop the Justice League’s origins. I just feel they could’ve created a

more credible threat and reasoning for the superheroes to be teaming up is all."

~Vis

"And this is where Scarlet murders me. Seriously though, The New Frontier has a few

good segments, but it just stretches itself too thin. It tries to fit in a bunch of

origin stories in for some, and then some random stories for others. If theres a

standout to me, this is Wonder Woman at her worst in this entire set of movies. She

begins by setting up a slaughter and then gets to randomly crash her awkward

invisible jet a bit later all while playing minimal role in an overstretched plot.

The Centre is built up to be this big unifying threat but ends up being...an island

with dinosaurs. At least dinosaur island was thrown in early in the movie, but the

Centre climax at the end is a bit of a downer. The movie just doesnt have enough

focus to ever make itself feel meaningful, everyone just kind of ends up together

and the island is defeated because we got a Green Lantern origin story sort of.

Just never has enough of a focused plot to be enjoyable as a whole movie." ~red


 * 1) 2 - Batman: Under the Red Hood (67 points)

charon - 1 snake - 2 Vis - 3 JONA - 4 Wickle - 4 Karo - 10 red - 10 scarlet - 12 prof - 21

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"In my opinion, a better done "former Robin resents Batman" story than Return of

the Joker. I don't think Jason Todd is the most beloved character ever, but I

personally thought he showed great potential to be an interesting character. Unlike

in the aforementioned movie he wasn't merely traumatized and unlike Damian he

wasn't simply raised this way; he followed Batman's advice and lived the teachings

of his master. He died for his trouble. It's easy to see where he's coming from and

I think it makes him a highly identifable and sympathetic character. I like that

the angle simply does not get resolved as well, as this is one instance where

resolution was the wrong route to go." ~charon

"This storyline is a million times better than the comic it’s based on. It is also

one of the best Batman adaptations ever made. The characters are all well-

established and gets you right into the flawless storytelling, with Joker being

particularly strong and well-voiced for a non-Mark Hamill role. Flashbacks are well

used to create some great emotionally charged scenes throughout the movie. And of

course, an excellent climax really sells the movie through and through. " ~Snake

"This is a lot like Doomsday in that it really explored the darker aspects of what

Batman does, and the impact his work has on the people around him. The whole movie

starts out by literally KILLING a version of Robin after he has the ever-loving

s*** beaten out of him by Joker, and everything from that point on is about the

consequences of that one moment. Watching one of the former Robins come back as an

antagonist was actually pretty cool, because it showed how Batman is basically

taking these young, impressionable kids and he’s giving them combat training that,

if they’re not up to handling with the same discipline as Batman…it can turn them

evil in a way that won’t end well. Plus the underlying storyline is pretty

interesting: a hero who wants to stop crime by basically taking control of it and

preventing it from going overboard." ~Vis

"The dynamic between Batman and Red Hood was really enjoyable and the movie ended

up pretty touching at times." ~JONA

"Yeah… Jason Todd is a character I can understand his morals and respect him…

literally after watching Superman vs The Elite. After reading and watching that

storyline and understanding what’s wrong with that attitude, and yet I can respect

someone who has it? Why? Because I have that ideal. By the time this is over and if

you’ve read all my write-ups, you may understand the core of my character. We’ll

see." ~Wickle

"I was a bit worried when I saw someone other than Hamil playing the Joker, but the

new guy does a good job of doing his own take on the character. Red Hood's

character was pretty cool. Not really a fan of the whole zombie thing, but ehhhh."

~Karo

"Another sad Robin and Joker story with Jason Todd as the victim. This movie takes

a little while to get rolling with its main plot, but when you finally get the

three together at the end of the movie it is spectacular play with Batman and his

morals. Unfortunately this movie ends on a bit of an unsatifying note, as Batman

seemingly rescues Jason from the explosives but somehow ends up totally seperated

from him, while the Joker who was left right near the explosion is simply under a

rock. It doesnt care to explain where or how everybody got to these places and it

seems pretty arbitrary. It feels no need to even hint to us the fate of Jason

despite the fact that there will never be a sequel or any sort of continuity based

on this film. This is a major storytelling flaw at one of the most important

moments of the movie, and it really just left me angry when I Was done with this."

~red

"Everyone is going to have great things to say about this film - and there are

great things to say about it - but I find certain aspects of this film distressing

as a comic book reader. When you adapt a story, adding in characters and removing

characters should keep in spirit with the story. Amazo, however, does not belong in

the Batman corner of the DCU. Including it in UtRH is a sign that the highers-up at

WB don't respect the mythos or structure of pre-existing stories. Furthermore, the

changes to the story just make it look more and more like Captain America's Winter

Soldier storyline. And the push on the Winter Soldier-lite story just shows that DC

is afraid to embrace what makes DC, well, DC... as opposed to pushing a piece of

standard Marvel fare." ~scarlet

"Score 7.7/10

Eh not that great. Good but not great. " ~prof


 * 1) 1 - Batman: Assault on Arkham (29 points)

JONA - 1 Karo - 1 Snake - 1 Vis - 1 scarlet - 2 prof - 3 red - 3 Wickle - 3 charon - 14

Gauntleteer Reviews:

"The most fun I've had watching these movies. The Suicide Squad had great chemistry

with each other and I just loved the chaos of it. It's not exactly a deep movie but

it's fantastic for what it is." ~JONA

"I think that this alone of all of the entries on the list doesn't feel like a

direct to video movie. Easily the most solidly written story out of all of them.

It's sort of an Ocean's Eleven with superheroes. All the characters are good and

work well with each other, though Harley and Deadshot are standouts. The somewhat

overused Joker is here again, though he is not nearly as good as most of his other

animated incarnations. Also I don't understand why they all fought at the end over

the helicopter. there was plenty of room for everyone! I was very surprised the

writers let Deadshot do what he did at the end, even if the fat c*** had it

coming." ~Karo

"I’m not too worried about the upcoming Suicide Squad movie because we already got

the perfect Suicide Squad movie right here. I mean, what more could you want?

You’ve got Deadshot going at it with Captain Boomerang, squad members dying left

and right, traitors, a twisty plot. It’s amazing! Batman wisely takes a back seat

for this movie to give the true stars a chance to shine. Even Riddler and Joker are

amazing in this. I wouldn’t expect anything less from the Arkham series." ~Snake

"Okay, this may be recency bias or whatever, but I don’t really care: I love

villains. To me, a well-written villain is the best part of ANY comic book movie,

and Batman has the best of the best (though maybe I’d feel differently about Flash

villains if he got more movies about himself). And taking a group of villains that

I, Harley aside, had never heard of…was kinda awesome as they all played off one

another really well and it’s always more fun to see a group of self-serving smart-

ass bad guys trying to work together towards a common goal, as opposed to a group

of heroes like the Justice League. Plus, Harley was a goddamn star in this movie,

both being a great source of fanservice, and just insane comic relief. This movie,

more than any other, makes me actually want to read comics, which I think is a

testament to how much I liked the movie, and how awesome I found the very concept

of the Suicide Squad." ~Vis

"A fantastic little story that takes the spirit of Ostrander's Suicide Squad and

drops it into the immaculately styled Arkham game series' universe. Tons of

excellent cameos really give the feeling of a universe to DC, with snappy humor and

likeable bad guys turning this into a bit of a caper without becoming too goofy."

~scarlet

"I really liked it mostly being from the perspective of the villains and seeing

just how goddamn much Batman scared them. Then Batman with the swap to own them at

the end. It was great. Surprisingly not censored also. Quite bloody and even a

middle finger plus s*** said. And look I am sorry but when they try to censor that

kind of thing it bugs me. So yeah amazing movie." ~prof

"I was a little bit torn on how to rank this one, as I wasnt quite happy with the

massive split off in the end of the movie. In the end, I settled for it not

mattering that much, because these characters all played so damn well off each

other, even if some of them got kind of a raw deal in the end(poor King Shark). The

way they latch onto each other or squabble or fight for power, it all just plays

really well. You get that this is a band reluctant but forced to work together, and

the differing personalities make for constant entertainment. The whole dirty bomb

thing was a little underwhelming throughout, but the characterization made this

movie a constant enjoyment." ~red

"Yahtzee. Seriously, good to meet the Suicide Squad. Even if I hated King Shark

until “USA! USA!” because… well, we may or may not have already read about my

squeamish nature after something else. And dude is basically a horror flick. Rest

of the squad? Harley is a wack-job and it’s never a problem, Deadshot is excellent,

Killer Frost is lesser to Captain Cold, Black Spider… eh. Batman posing as him was

excellent. As of Boomerang, I’ve seen worse, but he was kind of annoying through

this. You almost have my entire ranking of them through that… unsure where I put

Shark though. Ahead of KF probs. Sad for the Aussie though, “an ice pun, really?”

was a fantastic quote." ~wickle

"This probably should have been advertised as a Suicide Squad film, since I had no

idea it was until I started watching. Though I feel they did a bit heavy on the

cameos as well as on deaths of villains, Deadshot was very cool and Harley is

always enjoyable as well. This one was shockingly racy though... actual sex scene

taking place and several moments of massive cleavage for Harley and Killer Frost. I

found the latter's cute little thing with Shark a nice touch, though as I said it's

a shame they elected to slaughter so many of the villains here. I still quite

enjoyed it though, Deadshot here is one of the few characters that didn't get

(completely) upstaged by the presence of Batman." ~charon