Justice League: Doom is an animated superhero film loosely based on Mark Waid's JLA story arc, "JLA: Tower of Babel". The movie was adapted and written by Dwayne McDuffie right before his death in February 2011 and is directed by Lauren Montgomery. While not a direct sequel to Crisis on Two Earths, the film uses the same character designs by the Lead Character Designer, Phil Bourassa. It was released on February 28, 2012.[1] The film also features various actors reprising their roles from the DC animated universe and Green Lantern: Emerald Knights respectively.[2][3] It is the 13th film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line.
The film is dedicated to McDuffie's memory.
Plot
The film revolves around Vandal Savage's plot to exterminate the greater part of the human population and start a new civilization. To ensure that the Justice League is unable to stop him, Savage hacks into the Batcomputer and steals contingency plans devised by Batman
to bring down his team mates should they ever go rogue. Savage
assembles a group of supervillains with personal vendettas against the
heroes and pays them richly to simultaneously attack the members of the
League using lethal variations of the plans.
The villains each do their part to take out the Justice League:
- Batman is informed by Alfred Pennyworth that the bodies of Thomas and Martha Wayne have been exhumed and are missing. When Bruce Wayne arrives at his parents' graves, he is ambushed by Bane. The emotional distraction is enough to grant Bane the upper hand and render his adversary unconscious. Bruce is then placed into his father's coffin which is reburied. He wakes up to the horrifying prospect of dying of asphyxiation next to his father's corpse.
- Martian Manhunter, in his human identity of John Jones, is celebrating his birthday with his colleagues from the police force. He receives a drink from a mysterious woman, who is actually Ma'alefa'ak in disguise. The drink is laced with magnesium carbonate, which is poisonous to Martian biology. The Manhunter's body is capable of curing itself, but only by sweating out the magnesium which is highly flammable. Ma'alefa'ak uses a lighter to set his enemy on fire (the Manhunter's only weakness), leaving him to burn alive without the possibility to extinguish the flames.
- Wonder Woman is attacked by Cheetah who scratches her arm, sending nanorobots into her bloodstream. The microscopic machines attach themselves to her brainstem and begin broadcasting directly into her visual and auditory sensors. This fools Wonder Woman into thinking that everyone in her vicinity is a duplicate of Cheetah. The illusion is designed to exploit her competitive nature, by sending her into a never-ending battle. Since she would never surrender, she will force herself to fight until she suffers an epileptic seizure or a heart attack.
- The Flash is lured into a trap by Mirror Master, who pretends to be robbing a train. The villain then uses a hologram of an elderly woman to create the illusion that he had a hostage. The whole scenario is only intended to trick the Flash into placing his arm into a booby trap that attaches a bomb to his wrist. The bomb will explode and kill everyone within three miles if the hero tries to remove it or if he does nothing. The only way to prevent the explosion is to run and never decelerate.
- Green Lantern is called upon by the FBI to deal with a group of terrorists who have taken hostages into a salt mine. However the truth is that both the terrorists and the hostages are sophisticated androids. The entire setting is part of a complex deception that fools Green Lantern into thinking that innocent lives are lost due to his overconfidence. The hero is also exposed to a synthesized version of the Scarecrow's fear gas that undermines his will. Finally, Star Sapphire shows up and exploits his fears, convincing him that he does not deserve the power he wields. Green Lantern renounces his ring, without which he cannot escape from the collapsed salt mine. The weakened hero resigns to his fate.
- Superman is lured to the roof of the Daily Planet by a disillusioned former employee, who threatens to commit suicide by either jumping off or shooting himself. Superman tries to talk him out of it and almost succeeds when the employee unexpectedly shoots the hero instead. It is then revealed that the suicide ploy was meant to trick Superman into lowering his guard, that the former employee was impersonated by Metallo and that the bullet was made of kryptonite, the only material that can harm the hero. A fatally wounded Superman falls from the top of the building to his death.
Batman comes close to accepting his fate but, motivated by the memory
of his father's murder, is able to dig his way out of the grave. He
soon realises that the League has been attacked using his own
contingency plans. With help from Cyborg, he saves his team mates one by one.
The Justice League retreats to the Watchtower,
where Batman reveals that he was the real mastermind behind the
attacks, having studied the others for physical and psychological
weaknesses. He also reveals that he had a contingency in place should
the Batcomputer ever be hacked: a tracing algorithm hidden in his files.
This enabled the League to track down the Legion of Doom.
The villains are subdued, but the heroes fail to prevent Savage's
scheme to orchestrate an apocalyptic cataclysm with a powerful solar
flare. Using information obtained by Cyborg, Batman devises a last
minute plan and the League barely manages to save the Earth. The World Court sentences the immortal Vandal Savage to life imprisonment without possibility of parole.
In the aftermath of their victory, the Justice League votes to add
Cyborg to their roster. Superman calls for a vote on Batman's continued
membership in the team, following the revelation of the latter's breach
of trust. Batman defends his plans and expresses no regret over his
actions, ultimately resigning voluntarily.
In the final scene, Superman entrusts Batman with the kryptonite
bullet but not without first questioning him about Bane's attack. It is
revealed that exhuming the bodies of Thomas and Martha Wayne was
Savage's idea, but that Batman did have a contingency plan in place
should he himself go rogue: "It's called the Justice League".
Voice Cast
- Kevin Conroy - Bruce Wayne / Batman
- Tim Daly - Clark Kent / Superman
- Susan Eisenberg - Princess Diana / Wonder Woman
- Nathan Fillion - Hal Jordan / Green Lantern
- Carl Lumbly - J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter (credited), Ma'alefa'ak J'onnz / Ma'alefa'ak (uncredited)
- Michael Rosenbaum - Barry Allen / The Flash
- Bumper Robinson - Victor Stone / Cyborg
- Carlos Alazraqui - Bane
- Claudia Black - Barbara Ann Minerva / Cheetah
- Paul Blackthorne - John Corben / Metallo (credited), Henry Ackerson (uncredited)
- Olivia d'Abo - Carol Ferris / Star Sapphire
- Alexis Denisof - Sam Scudder / Mirror Master
- Phil Morris - Vandar Aag / Vandal Savage
- Dee Bradley Baker - Officer In Charge
- Dana Delany - Lois Lane
- Grey DeLisle - Queen (uncredited)
- Robin Atkin Downes - Alfred Pennyworth (credited), Jack (uncredited)
- Brian George - Mayor
- David Kaufman - Jimmy Olsen
- Juliet Landau - Ten
- Jim Meskimen - King
- Andrea Romano - Batcomputer Voice
- Bruce Timm - Ace
- Danny Jacobs - Special Agent Porter
Production
The film was first announced at WonderCon 2011 that the JLA: Tower of Babel storyline will be adapted as a direct-to-video movie, which was written by Dwayne McDuffie right before his death.[4] The character designs were done by Phil Bourassa, the lead character designer of Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths and Young Justice, storyboards were overseen and animated by Telecom Animation Film.[5] During the casting process of Justice League: Doom, voice director Andrea Romano expressed an interest for the cast from various media to reprise their roles as members of the Justice League.
Differences between the comics and film
There were some differences between the "JLA: Tower of Babel" storyline and this film that were sighted.
- The records of the Justice League are stolen from the Batcomputer by Mirror Master (on Vandal Savage's behalf) instead of Ra's al Ghul.
- Plastic Man and Aquaman were not featured.
- Barry Allen was in Wally West's place.
- Hal Jordan was in Kyle Rayner's place.
- There are also differences in the methods used to take out each member of the Justice League.
- Martian Manhunter was poisoned in the film. In the comic, his skin was coated with nanites which turned his skin into magnesium.
- Green Lantern was exposed to Scarecrow's fear gas in the film, used on Aquaman in the comic. In the comic, Green Lantern is rendered blind via post-hypnotic suggestion.
- Wonder Woman was also poisoned in the film with a poison that caused her to see everyone as Cheetah. In the comic, a nanite is injected into her ear that puts her in a virtual reality battle with an evenly matched opponent.
- An explosive bracelet is put on Flash in the film. In the comic, he was shot with a special "vibra-bullet" that caused him to experience seizures at light speed, making 22 minutes feel like months of pain.
- A kryptonite bullet was used to defeat Superman in the movie. In the comic, he was exposed to a special type of red kryptonite that made his skin transparent, causing him to experience a power overload.
Reception
The film has received an overall positive response and holds a 77% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. [6]
IGN gave the film a 7 out of 10, calling it "An immensely enjoyable
thrill ride, but also an occasionally frustrating and short adaptation."[7]
Home media
The Blu-Ray
combo pack includes Featurettes only for Blu-Ray called “Guarding the
Balance: Batman and the JLA”, a mini-Featurette called “Their Time Has
Come: Cyborg and the DC Universe’s New Diversity”, while both Blu-Ray
and the 2-Disc DVD edition has "A Legion of One: The Dwayne McDuffie
Story", a Sneak Peak at Superman vs. The Elite, and two bonus episodes of Justice League: "Wild Cards" part 1 and 2.
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