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The Infallible Fish Reviews: Batman: The Long Halloween Part Two

Posted on by neverarguewithafish

I believe in Harvey Dent.

What’s the Story?

Gotham City is changing. Carmine ‘The Roman’ Falcone’s family and illegal business operations have been devastated by a bizarre string of holiday-themed murders. While both the police and the Batman search for the killer, Carmine has been forced to new extremes to keep his grip on the city. He’s entered into dealings with the so-called ‘freaks’ of Gotham. Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and Mad Hatter each bring their own brand of insanity to the streets, but they won’t be the only ones. DA Harvey Dent is feeling the pressure, under suspicion for the Holiday killings and fighting a losing battle in the courts, the cracks are finally starting to show. What little justice there is in Gotham may, in the end, come at the other side of a coin flip, even if it costs everything…

The Review:

It’s time for judgement, and ironically (or appropriately depending on which way you look at it) I may need to flip a coin to reach a verdict here. If you want my thoughts on the first part of this adaptation, and the comic it’s adapting, then you can check out my review HERE, but let’s not beat around the bush and just jump straight into things (much like the film does). How does The Long Halloween Part 2 stand as a film in it’s own right? Honestly, it’s not good and it hurts me to say that. The voice cast is superb, perfect for each and every character, I’m quickly falling in love with this animation style and some of the character moments just shine with pure brilliance. The problem is, as great as all those elements are by themselves, when you try and fit them all together the film just doesn’t work. It’s an unwieldy beast of disjointed scenes and terrible pacing. If you do plan on watching this film, which I will still probably recommend, then please watch Part 1 and 2 together. It won’t fix all of the problems, but it might help.

Okay, let’s break this down a little bit because there is actually a lot I want to praise in this film, even if none of it is quite enough to save the whole thing. We’ll start with the voice cast who, again, the only word I have for them is perfect. In my Part One review I singled out Jensen Ackles and Naya Rivera, and while they’re still just as fantastic as they were in Part 1, this time I want to take my hat off to Josh Duhamel. His performance as Harvey Dent/Two-Face is outstanding, you really feel like he’s a man on the edge and then when he starts using his Two-Face voice, chills went down my spine. I also really love that little speech he gives at the end to Carmine about why he’s using his famous coin to decide what ‘justice’ is. It’s the character moments that make this film for me, there are some really great action sequences (like the Poison Ivy/Catwoman fight that starts the film off), but it’s the little conversations between people where this cast are firing on all cylinders.

Unfortunately, as great as the majority of the scenes are by themselves, it’s once you start stringing them one after the other that things come apart. In my previous review I mentioned that I was worried they were going to rush through elements of this story and that’s exactly what happened. The beginning of this film either blitzs through or just plain skips over several issues of the comic and, as sacrilegious as it feels to say, I think they should have just left it all out entirely. As much as I adore any time Poison Ivy gets on screen, or the brief Scarecrow nightmare sequence which is the best animated sequence in this film, they add little overall. There’s some minor plot beats that you need from their appearances, but I really think the time would have been better spent on showing Batman investigate the Holiday killings. Once we reach the halfway point it feels like this film forgets there’s even a serial killer on the loose, abandoning the little title cards it established for each killing in the last film and at the start of this one. There’s just too much stuff that it’s trying to do and it detracts from the moments that really needed the focus.

That brings me to the ending, and I need to talk about the comic one more time. I said in my previous review that The Long Halloween comic isn’t perfect, and it’s the ending where I feel it really falters. Honestly when I first read the comic it was the resolution to the big mystery that was my only disappointment with the story. Not with who the Holiday killer turned out to be, that made sense (and was a lot less convoluted than Hush’s mess of an ending), but I had to mull it over for a long time. The ending leaves a lot open to your interpretation and you have to really go back over things and work out the logistics on your own, the comic gives you no help in that regard, which I can argue both for and against. No, what bugs me is the lack of a cathartic ending, which I guess this is meant to be a grand tragedy and so it should be bitter sweet, but Batman never confronts the true Holiday killer. In this film though, that’s changed. Batman does indeed have a final conversation with the killer and, honestly, I’m not sure which is better. On the one hand, it makes things clearer and allows the killer to dig into their motives a little more, but it creates a giant plothole in that Batman just walks away from the killer with no real explanation as to why. Just a line would have done, there wasn’t enough evidence to convict them, he wanted to respect Harvey’s wishes, heck even a ‘I’ll be watching’ would have sufficed, but no.

The Verdict:

In the end, Batman: The Long Halloween Part 2 is a film that leaves me in two minds (again either ironically or appropriately depending on your point of view). It has some fantastic moments, a terrific voice cast that excels with every line delivered and a great look to it, but the parts are definitely stronger than the whole. All together this film feels disjointed, trying to give its attention to too many plot elements without putting its focus where it should be. It’s a shame as with the proper care and time I think this adaptation could have been one of the best in Batman’s history, but cutting it up as two movies probably wasn’t the way to go about it.

Chris Joynson, aka the Infallible Fish, is a writer, blogger and lover of animation living in Sheffield. The blog updates every Friday or you can follow me on Twitter @ChrisGJoynson.

The Infallible Fish Reviews: Batman: The Long Halloween Part One

Posted on by neverarguewithafish

I believe in Gotham City.

What’s the Story?

Gotham is a city as broken and corrupt as they come. Carmine ‘The Roman’ Falcone is the indisputable and untouchable boss of crime, with a stranglehold on everything from the Mayor’s office to the justice system, but that’s all about to change. Three men are working to bring him down. Captain James Gordon, one of the few honest cops in Gotham. New District Attorney Harvey Dent, a man stood at a precipice even if he doesn’t see it yet. Batman, the dark knight who has sworn an oath to save his beloved city. Of course nothing in Gotham is ever simple and the war on crime is complicated by a string of bizarre murders. Members of the Falcone family are being murdered each and every holiday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas one after the other. Gotham is changing, an empire is falling and everyone is a suspect. It’s time to learn to be a detective, Batman.

The Review:

The Long Halloween is probably one of my favourite Batman comics and, by extension, one of my favourite comics in existence. It’s not perfect, but Jeph Loeb’s noir-soaked world and Tim Sale’s amazing art are what I think of when I think of Batman (alongside everything from Batman The Animated Series of course). For me, it’s not just a story about the early days of Batman and the fall of Harvey Dent (sorry, spoilers for any non-Batman fans), but it’s about the transition of Gotham. We watch as the city moves away from the more traditional organised crime to being a place plagued by costumed and theatrical crime. I’d recommend it whether you’re a Batman fan or not.

With all that being said, I’ve been waiting for an adaptation of this story for a long time. We’ve had pieces here and there, Nolan’s Batman trilogy took a heavy influence from this comic (I’m pretty sure everyone who’s seen The Dark Knight will recognise the scene with the huge pile of money and, yes, that comes from Long Halloween). But this is it. Finally. The full adaptation of The Long Halloween to the screen, or the first part at least with the second due for release shortly. So, how was it? Honestly I have mixed feelings.

There are parts of this movie that I love. I’m still very much enjoying the new animation style that the DC Universe animated movies have adopted (see my review of Justice Society: World War II HERE, to read more about that). The action scenes are fast and fluid, though I did notice a couple of the more quieter scenes looking a bit stiff and awkward. I’m assuming this is down to the rushed release schedule for these films, which is a shame. If any story deserves the time and money to get it right, it’s a work as seminal as The Long Halloween. That brings me to the voice cast, who are all fantastic. Jensen Ackles is perfect for Batman and my only hope is that he gets more to do in Part 2, which brings me to Naya Rivera who unfortunately passed away last year. I’m using the same word again, but she is perfect as Catwoman and it’s a tragedy that we’ve lost her.  

Moving on the plot and, again, I feel like I’m stuck in a positive/negative sandwich. Adaptation-wise it’s very faithful, there are some cosmetic changes but on the whole a lot of effort is put into maintaining the core of the story. Scenes are extended from the comic, we get a bit more action, characters talk more about what they’re feeling and where they’re at. There is a really adorable scene with a young Barbara Gordon that both melted and then broke my heart. The problem is that a lot of this feels like filler. To a degree I can argue that it’s leaning into it’s noir roots and building atmosphere and tension, which it is, but I also can’t escape the fact that a few seconds shaved off of each scene would have really helped this movie (I think this is the first time I’ve wanted one of these animated movies to actually be shorter).

I think the core issue is that the majority of this film is set up, necessary set up, but we’re very much moving things into place and laying out breadcrumbs (sometimes with the subtly of a sledgehammer). I am a little worried for Part 2, this film covers the first 4 issues of the story, there’s 9 left to go. If the next film is rushed I am going to be sorely ticked off. What it all comes down to is that, honestly, I think this film is probably better off watched alongside Part 2 when that comes out at the end of July, I can’t give my full judgement until I’ve seen that. So, I’ll see you then.

The Verdict:

In the end, Batman: The Long Halloween Part 1 is the set up to something that could be truly great, or a disaster in the making. It’s hard to tell at the minute. It’s an incredibly faithful adaptation, taking it’s time to add depth and action in-between the scenes that were already there, unfortunately this does slow down the pacing of the film and it isn’t helped by some lacklustre animation in parts. The voice cast are superb though, breathing new life into this age-old characters and the story is still as great as it’s ever been. Honestly I’m reserving my final judgement until Part 2 is out, so come back when I review that film and we’ll see if this was worth it.

Chris Joynson, aka the Infallible Fish, is a writer, blogger and lover of animation living in Sheffield. The blog updates every Friday or you can follow me on Twitter @ChrisGJoynson.

The Infallible Fish Reviews: Justice Society: World War II

Posted on by neverarguewithafish

We live in a society…a justice society.

What’s the Story?

Barry Allen, aka the Flash, is just trying to have a nice, normal picnic with his girlfriend in Metropolis, of course he’s a superhero and that doesn’t last long. One minute he’s teaming up with Superman and fighting Brainiac, the next he’s in World War 2, punching Nazis alongside heroes he’s never heard of. Those heroes would be Wonder Woman, the Flash (Jay Garrick), Hawkman, Black Canary and Hourman, the Justice Society of America, a secret team of super-powered beings sent by the US to combat the Nazis menace in Europe. Their current mission is to find someone who can decode a secret message that will tell them Hitler’s next big plan, while Barry tries to work out how he’s going to get home. Not everything is as it seems though and the Justice Society are in for a lot more than they bargained for. This is war after all and not everyone is going to make it out alive.

The Review:

And we’re back to the DC Universe animated movies! It feels like it’s been an age since I reviewed one of these films, even though I looked at Wonder Woman Bloodlines just last year (you can check out the review HERE). Part of that is down to my general lack of enthusiasm for these films lately. While I’ve enjoyed the majority of the ones I’ve seen, I have to admit that barring a few stand outs (like Death of Superman and Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), none of them really hold a candle to DC’s early output of animated films. That might just be changing though. The DC Universe animated movies have undergone a bit of a revamp, there’s a new animation style, a reboot of the universe and, going by this one, a level of care and attention that’s been missing from these films for a while now. Justice Society: World War II isn’t a film that’s going to change the world, and clearly someone was watching the first live action Wonder Woman movie before penning the script, but it’s a great, fun romp that shows a lot of promise for the future.

Before we get to that though, first let’s talk about that new animation style. I have to admit that when I first saw the trailers for this film it took me a while to get used to the new look. I’ve never watched Archer, but that’s exactly what this style reminds me of, the strong outlines combined with the characters designs really give this film a unique look (not counting the previous Superman movie which also uses this style, but I haven’t watched that film, yet). The film looks good throughout, though when it comes to the action sequences that ramps up to spectacular. The action, of which there is a lot, is fast, fluid and full of impact, leading to one heart-pumping sequence after another, especially towards the end of the movie when all the stops get pulled out. Black Canary gets some particularly gorgeous sequences showing off her powers.

Speaking of the characters, let’s talk about them. Part of what surprised me most about this film being released is that there’s some obscure heroes in this roster. The Justice Society isn’t a superhero team that’s made it’s way into popular consciousness yet, despite getting a couple of appearances on TV (They had a two-parter in Smallville and are a big part of the current Stargirl show). I mean, yeah, there’s Wonder Woman, Flash and Superman to draw people in, but, be honest, how many of you have actually heard of Hourman before?

The film does a good job of introducing all of its characters and giving them a few moments in the spotlight, even if it never goes that in depth with any of them. You might not understand the whole of Hawkman’s deal, but through the writing and the terrific voice acting you’ll get a sense of his personality and what he’s like. Which is all you need for this one film. It’s the little quiet moments I love the most, whether it’s Jay and Hourman acknowledging the fact that it’s usually them that has something go wrong with their powers, or Black Canary worrying about how our Flash (Barry) has no idea who they are when he’s meant to be from the future. It humanises all the characters and that makes me care when they dive into the next action sequence.

As for the story, it’s a fun action romp as I said. Most of it is an excuse to get to the next action sequence and, as I mentioned before, there’s a lot of parallels to the first live action Wonder Woman movie. Maybe it’s just me, but seeing Wonder Woman in a World War, jumping around a village while fighting German soldiers, some plot specific things later on and the fact that Stana Katic is clearly doing a Gal Gadot impression, it just rings a lot of bells for me. Putting that to one side though, there’s a lot of fun elements to this film and a fair few surprise appearances by characters I was not expecting to see (Fair warning, if you buy the physical DVD or Blu ray, don’t look at the back cover as that will give one of the surprises away).

There’s also a twist I didn’t see coming and, while I don’t think it was strictly necessary, it’s a fun wrinkle in the adventure. The last thing I’ll say is that, while this is a standalone film and you can easily watch it independent of anything else, there’s also a real sense of laying the groundwork for something here. I mean outside of planting the idea in Barry’s head about some sort of Justice Club for Superheroes, there’s a few plot points that could, and I think will, come back in a later films. It’s got me excited about these films again and if they want to take the approach of standalone films that gradually build towards something than I am all for it!

The Verdict:

In the end, Justice Society: World War II, is a great deal of fun. It’s not going to the change the world or break any moulds, but it’s an exhilarating thrill ride, with a fair number of surprising twists and spotlighting a few characters that could really use it. Plus you get to see Wonder Woman and the Flash punching Nazis and who doesn’t love stuff like that? There is a lot of action in this film, all of it great, but the film also takes the time to give us quieter moments between the characters to humanise them and let us get to know them. This could really be the start of something wonderful and I am all for it. If you haven’t checked this out then make sure you do!

Chris Joynson, aka the Infallible Fish, is a writer, blogger and lover of animation living in Sheffield. The blog updates every Friday or you can follow me on Twitter @ChrisGJoynson.

The Infallible Fish Reviews: Wonder Woman Bloodlines

Posted on by neverarguewithafish

Blog Wonder Woman Bloodlines Review Title

“If you seek to harm it or my friends, you should have a weapon.”

Well, we’re back to the DC Universe animated movies and, hold on, what’s this? A movie that stars neither Batman, Superman nor does it focus on some variety of Justice League? You mean we’re actually going to give another hero the spotlight all by themselves? Has the world gone mad! I joke, but yes, DC finally got off their backsides and animated another Wonder Woman movie (it only took ten years and the success of a live action film to get them to do it!). I’ll admit that this was a film I had been waiting a long time for, I mean the original animated Wonder Woman movie was a lot of fun and I still adore the live action version (and I’m very much looking forward to the sequel whenever that arrives). Having said that, there’s always been the question of what Wonder Woman story you adapt into a film.

I mean once her origins are out of the way then Wonder Woman really doesn’t have any seminal stories that jump to mind, by which I mean something along the lines of a Dark Knight Returns or Death of Superman level of story. There have been many great Wonder Woman stories told over the decades, but her stories have never quite seeped into popular consciousness like Batman and Superman’s have (admittedly those two have only seeped in because of constant exposure over the years, but the point still stands. Ask Joe Bloggs on the street to name a Wonder Woman story and they will struggle). Wonder Woman Bloodlines chooses to solve this problem by adapting several stories at once and fusing them into one, though I’d say the biggest contributors are the origins of Silver Swan and the ‘Eyes of the Gorgon’ story.

There’re so many little nods and bits of Woman Wonder history tucked away in this film, without it ever feeling like you’re missing out on the joke. If you know who Ferdinand is then that’s great, otherwise you can just sit back and smile at the fact that Diana now has a minotaur chef and who wouldn’t want one of those. There’s almost a whole host of Diana’s greatest enemies here to throw down with her throughout the film, we’ve got Silver Swan, obviously, but we also get Cheetah, Giganta, Dr. Cyber, Dr. Poison and a couple of others I won’t mention for spoilers sake, but if you’re a Wonder Woman fan you’ll know who they are the second certain names are mentioned.

What’s the actual story though? Well, unfortunately, we start off in a familiar place with Wonder Woman’s origin being repeated, yet again (note to DC, and of course I know the higher ups of a giant comic empire are going to read this, please stop rehashing the origins of your most popular heroes, especially when they’ve had a successful film out only recently. You can trust your audience to know who Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman are. If I see Batman’s origin one more time, I swear…). Anyway, the film does claw back some points by making Diana’s origin somewhat relevant to the ongoing plot, namely her feelings of guilt and regret for disobeying her mother, even if it was the right thing to do. With Diana now banished from Themyscira she needs a new place to stay and she finds that with Dr. Julia Kapatelis and her daughter Vanessa.

Julia is fascinated by ancient cultures, especially the Amazons and so lavishes attention on Diana, planting the seeds for a festering jealousy in Vanessa, which will be our central conflict for the film. We’ve also got Dr. Cyber and Dr. Poison working together alongside other noted villains for their own nefarious schemes, drawing Vanessa into their orbit and transforming her into the deadly Silver Swan. If Diana wants to save Vanessa she’ll need to find her way back to Themyscira, battling the likes of Cheetah and Giganta along the way, before a final clash against an enemy she long thought dead.

I enjoyed this film, a lot, but it does have its problems. Pacing has to be the biggest issue, but in an odd way because this film never felt rushed, but there are definitely scenes that went by too quickly while others dragged on for just a little too long. I think it comes down to the fact that this film just tries to pack in too much at once, there’s a lot of action and a great number of characters, so much that the plot is constantly having to keep moving in order to stay ahead of everyone. All those villains I mentioned, it’s great to see them in animated form, but the majority of them are just there. They get cool action scenes, but you never learn what makes them tick. Honestly if it wasn’t for the excellent voice cast I seriously doubt I would have cared as much about the internal struggles of both Diana and the rest as much as I did. There’s a really great, meaty story here, but the pacing just robs it of so much depth.

The film makes up for this though by being incredibly fun. From some great one-liners and witty banter, to the action, which as I mentioned there’s a lot of, but it is so glorious. I love the fights in this film, not only are they brilliantly choreographed, but they’re exactly what a superhero fight should be, witty and exhilarating and, well, fun. That being said, the climatic battle of this film is one of the most brutal fights I have ever seen. I mean I thought Superman vs. Doomsday was a bloody match, this is insane and I wish I could describe it to you, but that would spoil things. Just go see it, please.

All in all, while Wonder Woman Bloodlines is not the best Wonder Woman film, it is still a lot of fun. From the multitude of great action sequences, to witty banter and a chance to see so much lore and villains from Wonder Woman’s rogues gallery finally put up on screen, any fan of Wonder Woman needs to see this film. Heck, if you’re just curious about Wonder Woman and want to see more of her I’d recommend this film. The original animated Wonder Woman is probably just that bit better and the live action one certainly is, but if we get enough people to see this film then maybe, just maybe, we’ll convince DC to keep making more Wonder Woman films, and that is a cause worth fighting for.

Chris Joynson, aka the Infallible Fish, is a writer, blogger and lover of animation living in Sheffield. The blog updates every Friday or you can follow me on Twitter @ChrisGJoynson.

Infallible Fish Reviews: Batman Hush Review

Posted on by neverarguewithafish

Blog Batman Hush Review Title

Hush Batman. Hush

Okay, this is one of those reviews where I don’t quite know where to start, or how personal I should get. I have a lot of mixed feelings regarding the source material of this adaptation, but at the same time a movie should really stand by itself and be entertaining without any prior knowledge. So here’s what I’m going to do, the first part of this review I’m going to try to review the movie just as a movie and keep my opinions of the comic out of it, then I’ll look at this as an adaptation afterwards. That’s the fairest way I can think to do this so let’s get on with it.

Batman Hush is the latest of the DC Universe animated films, it’s set in the same continuity as the Death of Superman/Reign of the Supermen films (there’s even a few cute little nods to those films), and, overall, it’s an enjoyable action romp. There’s plenty of fights, by which I mean the film is mostly combat, the story has a large cast and the majority of them get to show off just how good they are at fisticuffs at one point or another. Also, while the animation is DC’s usual standard and house style for these movies, I was impressed by how well choreographed a lot of the fights were. I wish this film had a bigger budget to make some of these scenes more epic, but damn some of these fights were worth the price of admission alone.

That being said, I feel the action is a detriment to this film at times. The story isn’t that complex, it’s basically about a  mysterious villain who knows who Batman is, manipulates various members of the rogues gallery into striking at the Caped Crusader in both physical and emotional ways, until the big reveal when he takes on Batman himself. As I mentioned though, there is a large cast to this film and there are a lot of set pieces that it needs to get through and, with as short as these DC movies often are, that’s going to have an impact on the pacing. Some moments are perfect, while others aren’t exactly rushed, all the necessary elements are there, they just needed an extra moment or two to properly breathe and build the right atmosphere.

That builds into another problem for the film and that’s our main villain, Hush himself. Now I’m not going into spoilers (I’ll save that for the adaptation portion), but he is kinda lacklustre in this film. He spends so much of the film as a figure in the shadows, manipulating events from the sidelines, and as a result we never really get to know him or to gauge how much of a threat he himself is. Sure the villains he throws towards Batman are well established, we know what they can do and how they can hurt the Dark Knight, Hush not so much. Then you get to the actual reveal of who Hush is and my reaction was ‘oh, it’s that guy’. I like the idea of who Hush is in this film, but with the execution, I never found him a threat, which is a problem when he’s meant to be our master villain.

Let’s end this section on a positive though, the relationship between Batman and Catwoman. A large chunk of this film is dedicated to developing their relationship, we see them grow closer, open up to one another and there’s the moment where you think that this time, this one time, we’ll get a happy ending. Then of course it all comes crashing down because Batman is a tragic hero and that ain’t ever going to change (especially not with the cyclical nature of comics). All of that is handled really well by the film and if you’re a Bat/Cat shipper then this film is for you. There’s a lot of great scenes between the pair and this film really is about their love story before anything else.

That brings me to the adaptation side of things. Batman Hush, the comic, is one of those seminal comics that I’ve seen on a lot of people’s ‘Best Batman Stories’ or ‘Batman Comics You Must Read’ lists, it’s well regarded and well loved. I don’t think I’ve ever read anyone complain about the story before, which makes me nervous because I do have complaints. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot I love about Batman Hush, Jeph Loeb writes a fantastic Batman and Jim is nothing short of phenomenal on art. There are plenty of big blockbuster moments that I adore and, as a popcorn read, I adore Hush. However the comic is trying to be more than that, it’s trying to have a compelling mystery and it falls into a trap that a lot of mysteries do. The villain’s scheme is so far reaching, so perfect and detailed that there is no way anyone could ever pull it off without the writer twisting the narrative into some really convoluted shapes. The last few issues of this story break my suspension of disbelief into tiny pieces and throw them to the wind, because nobody would be able to get away or set up all the stuff that Hush does and a lot of the explanations come right the hell out of nowhere.

Thankfully that’s something this adaptation fixes. The story is greatly streamlined, with several characters that would take too much time to explain exercised from the story (sorry Jason Todd fans) and many of the more convoluted plot elements either cut or changed to make more sense (a lot of my issues with the ending of the comic are fixed in this version). The stuff it does keep is very accurate to the comic, some shots directly copying panels, though they lack the impact of Jim Lee’s artwork, and there are numerous lines lifted wholesale and put into the dialogue, which I enjoyed. Of course there are some changes, a lot of the smaller ones I’m perfectly okay with. Swapping out Huntress for Batgirl makes sense, she is the more recognisable hero. Swapping out Killer Croc for Bane I’m less sure of, but I guess it’s for the same reason.

That brings me on to the big change though, and that’s the identity of Hush. Spoiler coming in three…two…one…Thomas Elliot is not the bandaged bad guy in this film, which plays into the lacklustre reveal of who it actually is for this film. Like I said, I like the idea of Hush in this film, but we don’t get enough time with the guy for the moment to have the impact it needs to. In the comic, though Hush’s identity wasn’t revealed until the very end (which did make the finale a bit anticlimactic as he was bumped off as soon as we learn who was under the bandages), we did spend a lot of time with Thomas. We saw him interacting with Bruce, there were numerous flashbacks of their childhood together, letting us know who this guy was. Hush in this film? Not so much. I think it really comes down to a change in focus decided upon by the creators. Clearly they wanted the focus to be more on the Bat/Cat relationship, which left little time to explore Hush. It does mean the film loses a whole load of adaptation points, but if you like the Batman/Catwoman relationship I think you’ll like this film fine. Comic book purists not so much.

In the end, Batman Hush is a fun, action adventure with plenty of action and a good exploration of the Batman/Catwoman romance. If either of those things sounds to your liking then check this film out. If you’re after a comic book accurate adaptation or a deep exploration of our titular villain, then you’re going to be disappointed. I’d suggest looking up the ‘Heart of Hush’ comic as that’s my favourite Hush comic.

Chris Joynson, aka the Infallible Fish, is a writer, blogger and lover of animation living in Sheffield. The blog updates every Friday.

Infallible Fish Review: Justice League vs. The Fatal Five Review

Posted on by neverarguewithafish

Blog Justice League Fatal Five Review Title

Bravery is not the absence of fear, but acting despite it.

As much as Marvel deserves every accolade going for its cinematic universe (seriously Endgame was such a perfect culmination of the whole Infinity Saga and I’ve never had quite a cinema experience like it and maybe never will again), but it’s not the first company to put together a connected superhero universe outside of the comics. Let’s talk about the DCAU (DC Animated Universe), spanning across Batman the animated series, Superman the animated series, Batman Beyond, Static Shock and Justice League/Justice League Unlimited (I get iffy with whether the Teen Titans should be included since it had a different style to it and they never got to do any crossovers with the other shows so I’ll leave them off the list for now), but the DCAU is the reason I love superheroes. The shows it encompasses were my introduction to superheroes and while I also watched all of the Marvel cartoons as well, these are the ones I keep coming back to (and the reason I’m a DC fanboy). Why am I rambling on about this instead of the movie I’m meant to be reviewing? Well, because to me, this film feels like a lost episode of Justice League Unlimited (with added swearing and a fair amount of blood, but I’ll come back to that) and I feel that was very much the intention.

The nostalgia is certainly strong with this one, outside of the fact that the art style is that of the DCAU with classic Bruce Timm designs, we’ve also got Kevin Conroy, Susan Eisenberg and George Newbern reprising their roles as Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman respectively. Add on to that the soundtrack, which either outright plays the old themes or comes up with new arrangements of the classics, and I was a kid again, watching a brand new episode of Justice League Unlimited and I loved it. Seriously, after Batman the animated series, Justice League Unlimited was my favourite cartoon of the DCAU (the Cadmus arc is one of the finest story arcs in cartoon history as far as I’m concerned), with Batman Beyond and Static Shock close behind it. This film also follows in the spirit of the Justice League Unlimited cartoon and introduces us to a whole host of new heroes (some of whom I’ve never met before and am definitely going to look into more after watching this).

I suppose it’s about time I talked about the actual plot though and, as I mentioned it covers several areas of DC that I’m not that familiar with so forgive me if I get stuff wrong (I’m a DC fanboy but there’s only so much trivia I can store in my head, at least until I upload my consciousness to a supercomputer and absorb the internet and you will all bow before me! Sorry, went a bit super villain there, not sure why.) Anyway, we start off in the 31st century, where three members of the Fatal Five (including a guy who disintegrates everything he touches with his hand, a guy with an axe that can cut through anything and someone I have mentally dubbed ‘half-Metallo’) break into the headquarters of the Legion of Superheroes and steal a time machine. Luckily one of the Legionnaires, Star Boy, tags along for the ride and manages to seal the Fatal Five inside the time machine, on the downside, he’s now stuck in the past, a past that doesn’t have the medicine he uses to keep himself mentally stable. Oops. Luckily Star Boy runs into Batman. Unluckily he’s naked and going on about how he’s from the future, so he’s shipped straight to Arkham.

That brings us to our other starring hero, Jessica Cruz, Green Lantern. Now I’ll hold my hands up here and say that I know very little of Jessica Cruz, the fact that she’s a Green Lantern is about as far as my knowledge of her goes, I’ve never read a comic that features her before and after watching this movie, that feels like an oversight on my part. I have no idea how accurate the movie’s origin is for her, but the Jessica Cruz we get in this film is dealing with a whole heap of trauma and anxiety and it not only makes her a very sympathetic character, but it’s always good when mental health issues get talked about, we need more of this. Anyway, back to the plot, the Justice League accidentally releases the trapped Fatal Five, Oops, and they go after Jessica, wanting to use her to free the remaining two members of the Five, with Star Boy breaking out of Arkham to try to warn/help Jessica and convince her that, despite what she thinks of herself, she is quite possibly the bravest lantern going.

There’s a lot to love with this film for a DC fan like me, the animation is great, the characters are all on point and a lot of fun and the action is fantastic, however, that brings me to the problems with this film and, honestly, they’re the same problems that I have with the majority of DC’s original animated movies. One, it’s too short. I get these are done on a budget and it takes a lot of time and effort to animate stuff, but would an extra ten to twenty minutes really kill DC? Everything is there in the film, we see the bond develop between Jessica and Star Boy and they get a few minutes to mull over their issues, but that’s it. I just fell like the film needs a few extra minutes to breathe, to show us more of how Jessica and Star Boy cope, and it would make those moments were they shine all the more powerful.

Two, violence and language, now this film is by no way the worst offender, there’s only a couple of swear words and some of the more violent deaths are often quick or quickly moved off screen, but they are there (we see Superman lying in his own pool of blood). I’d be okay with this if it was necessary for the plot, but it’s not, so much of this film is trying to feel like the Justice League Unlimited cartoon and then Jessica will say s**t and I’m completely snapped out of the moment. Just because the main audience for this film is going to be fanboys like me who grew up on the cartoon doesn’t mean you need to insert blood and swearing to any decree, we get it, we’re an adult audience now, but inserting that stuff doesn’t make your product more adult, it makes it juvenile and frankly insulting so DC (and I know you’re reading this), stop it, just, stop it.

All in all though, I did enjoy Justice League vs. The Fatal Five, my small complaints about the language and violence aside, this film has been a great nostalgia trip for a fanboy. I’ve got to hang out with old friends I adore and got to meet some new icons who I hope to get to know better. If you’re a fan of the Justice League Unlimited cartoon or just fancy getting to meet a wider range of DC heroes then check this out.

Chris Joynson, aka the Infallible Fish, is a writer, blogger and lover of animation living in Sheffield. The blog updates every Friday.

Infallible Fish Reviews: Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Review

Posted on by neverarguewithafish

Blog Batman vs TMNT Review Title

Ninja…Turtles?

Okay, I’ve talked about my love of Batman before on this blog (he is my favourite superhero and I devoted a whole month to him a few years back), but in the almost five years of writing this blog, I’ve never talked about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which this movie finally gives me a chance to rectify. I fell in love with the Heroes in a Half Shell when I was a kid, their original cartoon was one of the tent poles of my childhood. There was so much to adore, cool character designs, comedy and ninjutsu action, not to mention that I’m pretty sure the TMNT is where my love of pizza started. Now putting fun-loving giant turtles into the same film as the grim Dark Knight may sound odd at first, but it actually makes a lot of sense.

Not only are there multiple, successful, mini-series that crossover these two beloved franchises, but I think they actually fit together rather well. I mean on the surface there’s the fact that both sets of characters have been trained by ninja masters so that gives you plenty of epic martial arts fights, but on a deeper level both franchises are chameleons. What I mean by that is you can take a character like Batman and drop him into a noir-soaked detective story or a globe-trotting adventure, he can fight demons and aliens and be back in time to punch a gangster. Batman can adapt to any situation and the TMNT can do the same. You can play them as goofy and silly, or dark and serious (just take a look at some of the comics for some of the more mature storylines), the franchise has been going for a long time now, with multiple iterations, each with their own style. Both of these franchises can adapt and survive to anything you throw at them and that makes them perfect for one another.

On to the movie though, and I suppose the best place to start is with the story that brings our favourite characters together. It’s a very simple story and, honestly, that’s exactly what it needed to be. Shredder and the Foot clan have come to Gotham for a secret deal, stealing experimental technology from across the city. Of course this brings them into conflict with Batman and when the Dark Knight hears about four mutant turtles running amok in his city, well, he’s not going to stand for that either. One major shell-whooping later and the turtles and the Caped Crusafer are ready to team up and take on the combined forces of Shredder and Ra’s al Ghul as they transform the inmates of Arkham into mutated monsters and plan to tear the whole city apart, because that’s what Ra’s does. It’s a simple, easy narrative, but that leaves room for all the great interactions and moments we as the audience want to see, which is the key to any good crossover. Whether its fights like Batman vs. Shredder or watching Donnie and Batgirl debate whether to refer to the green goop as mutagen or ooze, this film is packed with everything I wanted to see upon hearing the title.

Every character gets a moment to shine and, almost as importantly, a moment to interact with one another. I never knew I needed a scene of Mikey in the Batmobile, but my life is more complete now because I have it (then again, Mikey’s reaction to first seeing the Batmobile is priceless “What do you think something like that costs?” “My soul probably, since I’d pay that.” We all would Mikey, we all would). That’s something else I wanted to bring up with this film, and probably my favourite aspect of it, the dialogue. This is a really witty, funny script and none of the jokes feel forced, every line is just a natural zinger, whether it’s Commissioner Gordon longing for his retirement to literally anything that comes out of Mikey’s mouth. (The line that gets me the most though comes from two unnamed background characters as Mikey bursts into a pizza place and we overhear the conversation “I think we should see other people.” “But I don’t like other people.” I don’t know what it is about that line, but it had me in hysterics. Also I promise I’m going to stop quoting the film now, because I could seriously do that all day there’s so many lines I love). Also credit to a really terrific voice cast, well, except for the voice for Robin, but that’s only because that’s not the voice I’ve ever pictured Robin having. I get what they were going for, it just took a lot of getting used to.

Speaking of getting used to things, let’s talk animation. When I first saw the trailers for this film I was worried about the art style, it’s very reminiscent of The Batman cartoon and I thought it’d take me a while to get used, but surprisingly I adapt fast. I love the use of colour in this film, especially when the characters are just a silhouette with a single highlight colour, but the best of this film from a visual standpoint is the fights. The fight choreography in this film is the best I’ve seen in along while, you feel the weight of every hit and I’ve already mentioned the Batman vs. Shredder fight, which is amazing, both times, but every fight is great.

I could talk about this film all day, but it’s just going to be me gushing more and more and then I’ll start quoting it again so maybe it’s best I leave it here. If you’re a fan of Batman or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you need to see this film. It’s everything I wanted from a crossover, its witty, smart and immensely enjoyable. It has every moment and interaction you could hope for and I completely forgot to mention how much I love the soundtrack. This is not only the best batman film that DC has put out in a while, but one of the best DC Universe films I’ve seen in a long time. Cowabunga dudes!

Chris Joynson, aka the Infallible Fish, is a writer, blogger and lover of animation living in Sheffield. The blog updates every Friday.  

Infallible Fish Reviews: Reign of the Supermen Review

Posted on by neverarguewithafish

Blog Reign of the Supermen Review Title

Superman Lives!

You know, it feels good to get excited for DC’s original animated films again. Heck, it feels good to be excited about all their movies, but we’ll stick to their animated stuff for now. Reign of the Supermen is the DC Universe’s latest offering and is a follow on to The Death of Superman (you can read my review of that film HERE). Can Reign stand in the same spot as its predecessor? Can it climb to the same highs that had me calling Death one of my favourite DC films in recent memory? No, not a chance, but it gives it a darn good try and I appreciate that. Considering the storyline and all the elements that this film had to juggle, this could have ended a lot worse than it actually did and I had a lot of fun with this film. It’s still going on my list of favourite DC animated films, just nowhere near as high as The Death of Superman.

Let’s break this down though and the best place I can think to start with is the story, so what is it? The film starts six months after The Death of Superman (and you should really watch that film before watching this one) and while a lot of people are still mourning Superman, as well as the ‘missing’ Clark Kent, life goes on. Also four new ‘Supermen’ have turned up to try and fill the void left by the Big Blue Boy Scott. We’ve got Superboy, a genetic clone of Superman, and others, that while strong is also way too cocky and with a bit of an ego problem (not surprising when you consider who his other ‘dad’ is). Next is Steel, an ordinary man who wears a robotic suit with a rocket-propelled hammer (I don’t care what anyone says, ever since I saw Alita rocket propelled hammers are the coolest weapons in existence to me). Then there’s the Eradicator, a strange being with all the power of Superman, but who’s a little overzealous when it comes to dispensing justice, let’s just say ‘resistant’ needs adding to his dictionary. Finally we have Cyborg Superman, a man who claims to be Superman and he certainly says all the right things, but he’s not all that he seems.

That brings me to this films biggest problem – it has too many characters. Don’t get me wrong, it does the absolute best it can with the run time it has, but this film really needed to be two hours or something to pack in the story arcs for each of these characters. You get the sense of who these people are, but you never really get to know them. Take Steel for example, I can tell you that he’s a good man, trying to live up to the legacy of a man he admired, but I feel like I’ve just read a character summary and don’t really know what makes him tick. Why did he decide to build his suit? Did he just come up with the idea, or has been working on it for a while? Does his boss know he’s probably using STAR labs equipment and materials to build his super suit? Did he learn to shut the bathroom window to stop people sneaking into his lair? I don’t know. I have similar issues with the Eradicator. He’s there to protect Kal-El and anything Kryptonian, okay, why is he going after Luthor and Intergang then? Why does he feel the need to get involved at all? Surely he should just standby in the Fortress, but no. I could understand him going after Superboy, seeing as he’s a clone and Kryptonians have a dodgy history there, but that’s never brought up.

Let’s talk about Superboy, him and Cyborg Superman are the two Super-Replacements we get to know best. Their arcs are squeezed in amongst all the other characters and action scenes, but we at least get a sense of who these people are. I like Superboy’s arc, starting out as a cocky little gremlin but slowly having that knocked out of him over the course of the film, he’s a good kid deep down, he just needs to let go of his arrogance and I like that it’s Lois that recognises that. As for Cyborg Superman, I can’t really talk about him without going into spoilers and the fact that a lot of his core motivation is saved up for the reveal of who, and what, he really is, but he makes for a great end boss. His motivations are understandable, if completely crazy.

Let’s talk about the other characters though. Lex is a little too petulant for my tastes, but everyone else does well with the brief bits their given. The Justice League scenes are still my favourite as I love the banter and the sense of camaraderie I get from them. However it’s Lois that steals the show for me. I wish more time was given to her investigation into the ‘Supermen’ and her interviewing them, or just a couple more scenes of her dealing with or pushing aside her grief. Her scene with Wonder Woman is another favourite of mine. I think it comes back to this film’s central flaw, it pushes character too much to one side in favour of plot and action. The action scenes are great, but there are a lot of them. Whereas The Death of Superman was a slow build to a final confrontation, this is more of a high-speed race as we go from one confrontation to another. Frankly I think it’s amazing that the film feels as cohesive as it does considering all the story elements, but the action and breakneck plot rob the story of the emotions it needs to really knock this story out of the park.

All in all I like Reign of the Supermen, but I don’t love it as much as it’s predecessor. It lacks the emotion and heart that the previous film had, replacing it instead with action, however good the action scenes are. That being said this is a very enjoyable film, the plot never really slows down, but it doesn’t feel rushed either. It gives you the information that it wants to give you and then moves on. The fights are epic, the banter is witty and there’s some really nicely animated sequences in here. My only wish with this film is that there was another twenty minutes or so that it could use to really dig into its story, but as it is, this is a fun film and a decent follow up to The Death of Superman.

Chris Joynson, aka the Infallible Fish, is a writer, blogger and lover of animation living in Sheffield. The blog updates every Friday.  

Infallible Fish Reviews: The Death of Superman Review

Posted on by neverarguewithafish

Blog Death of Superman Review Title

“I’m just a guy from a small town who tries to do the right thing.”

Superman! I have to admit I wasn’t all that enthused when I heard DC were adapting the Death of Superman into one of their original animated movies (again), for several reasons. Don’t get me wrong the Death of Superman storyline in the comics is one of the classics (that I’ve never read. I feel like when I admit that there should be a knock at the door with some cloaked figure asking me to hand in my ‘DC Fanboy’ card, but it’s true.) There are a couple of reasons that I’ve never read it, one I’ve already seen a million adaptations of it (from the ‘you’re doing this way too early’ of Batman V Superman to the heartfelt of the Justice League cartoon’s ‘Hereafter’ two-parter. As a side note go watch those episodes, crazy Vandal Savage is the best Vandal Savage). Two, it basically boils down to a big fight, Doomsday is an unstoppable killing machine and that’s it, he’s a threat not a character and I’m really not interested in him in the slightest. No matter the incarnation the fight is always suitably epic, and however much I love a good fight, it takes more than that to make an interesting story.

That brings me to point three, Superman. Again I’m waiting for the knock at the door, but I’ve never been the biggest fan of Superman. I certainly like him a lot more than when I was a kid. Back then he was one of my least favourite superheroes, he was just a goody two-shoes with every superpower going, I was way more into heroes like Batman and Spider-Man. Flawed characters that I could relate to (and obviously I had a lot in common with a traumatised billionaire and science genius with the worst luck ever). It was only when I started getting into comics properly when I was in college that I came to appreciate Superman more. It’s not about his powers, but his personality. To paraphrase the Richard Donner Superman film, he is the light to show the way and I get that now. Heck we can use all the hope and optimism we can get nowadays. Why am I rambling on about all this and not getting to the actual movie, well, this movie actually means a lot to me now that I’ve seen it and I’m going to say something at the end of the review that I want to give proper context for. Enough blathering on though, let’s get to the movie.

The Death of Superman is DC’s second attempt at making this story into an original animated movie (Are they called DC Universe movies now?), the first being Superman: Doomsday which tried to cram two major story arcs into a 72 minute film so you can guess how well that went. This version is focused purely on the titular death and it is so much the better for that (the other arc is getting its own film in Reign of the Supermen, but I’ll come to that once I’ve seen it). Where this film excels is in its writing and it’s almost like getting a comic book writer (who is familiar with all of the characters) to write a comic book movie was a good idea. The pacing of this film is excellence, its starts out slow, but it uses that time to build character and the importance of what’s about to happen. We see how much Superman means to Metropolis, all the people who cheer for him, or stop to take a photograph or even those who worship him, you get a real sense of what he means to this city.

Also the writing gives us a great deal of warmth and wit to each and every character. Everybody talks like a normal person, or at least a relatable person, you get so much of people’s relationships just from the way they interact, Lois bemoaning Cat trying to get the scoop on her love life to Flash making fun of Batman going to a parent-teacher evening. You get the sense that these are actual people with lives all their own and that’s something that’s been missing from DC films, well except for Wonder Woman and Shazam so far. What this adds to the film is that you feel genuinely involved when all these people you’ve come to know over the short run time suddenly get their backsides handed to them by a monster like Doomsday and when Superman eventually steps into the fight, you know what it means to the people of this city to see their hero, their icon, batted and bloody fighting this thing.

Okay let’s talk about Doomsday. I still don’t think he’s an interesting character, but if you’re going to use an unstoppable killing machine as your main antagonist then this film is a blueprint for how you use him. Again it’s the slow build as Doomsday works his way up the ladder, starting by taking out grunts and civilians before mowing his way through the Justice League up to that final fight with Superman. Unstoppable is the best word for Doomsday; it’s hard to watch all these seasoned heroes getting utterly hammered by this monster, constantly building the threat so that when he does get to Superman you are worried. That final fight is brutal too, you see Superman bloody and bruised, his costume torn up and staggering all over the place, just trying to find a way to stop this monster that only seems to get stronger. A lot of the best action and animation is saved for the final fight and it’s really worth it.

Let’s talk about the animation for a second, when it comes to the action this is a pretty great film. It’s DC’s usual standard when it comes to these films, and I like all of the character models and designs. The only slight gripe I have is when it comes to more static or background shots. That’s where I feel a bit of the budget was saved, which is understandable, these films don’t have infinite budgets. There’s just a couple of awkward shots when characters are far off or standing still for a long time, not to mention all the empty streets. When it counts though this film is really good looking.

The central pillar of this film is really the relationship between Lois and Clark, as it should be. They have great chemistry and banter in this film (again I really like the writing in this film). It’s been done several times, but I like seeing how Clark struggles with revealing his secret to Lois (and the eventual reveal is both heart-warming and hilarious). This film never forgets Clark’s human side and that he’s Clark first, Superman second, that’s something writers forget at times.

In the end The Death of Superman is one of the best Superman, no, scratch that, one of the best DC films I have seen in recent memory. It’s smart, it’s funny, it’s knows it’s characters and has some really great writing. If you’re going to watch any Superman film, make it this one (as well as, you know, the two Richard Donner Superman movies).

Chris Joynson, aka the Infallible Fish, is a writer, blogger and lover of animation living in Sheffield. The blog updates every Friday.  

The Infallible Fish Reviews: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

Posted on by neverarguewithafish

Blog Teen Titans Judas Review Title

Pain is what makes a hero.

Okay, I have to just take a moment and give thanks once again to Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (see my review here) for renewing my optimism about the DC original animated movies because without that I never would have seen this film. So many of the recent DC animated movies just mire themselves in darkness, whether that’s through excessive violence or even a dark and muted colour pallet ‘cause they think that’s what people want. Newsflash! Not everybody wants that! These are super heroes, you’re allowed to let a little light into proceedings. That’s not to say that Teen Titans: The Judas Contract is in any way kid-friendly, it’s not. Leaving aside some of the subject matter of this film for a minute, it has a pretty high body count and there’s a couple of gruesome deaths, though in most cases we’re spared some of the graphicness of the deaths by either only seeing the result or it happening so quickly that we don’t focus on it. Also the language in some scenes, but then again considering the characters involved and the situations, some of the language feels entirely appropriate.

What stops me getting annoyed at graphicness in this film as opposed to other DC films is that this film has a better balance. It’s very much just something in the background and isn’t rammed down your throat like other films. Instead the focus of this film is exactly where it should be, on the characters and the story, which is what I’m so thankful for. On the character side of things, I haven’t gotten around to seeing the previous film Justice League vs. Teen Titans, yet, but this group of Titans very much feels like a team.

Robin (Damian Wayne) is still surly and way too full of himself, but he’s calmed down a bit since his earlier film appearances and he actually compliments people and offers support to his team mates, even if he does do it in his own special way. Beast Boy is the joker of the pack and way too obsessed with social media (which I can completely see happening to the character). I also would like to commend his voice actor. The scene between him and Terra on the beach and that ending monologue, just damn, unless Kevin Conray and the rest of the old DCAU voice actors are in the mix I don’t normally expect that level of punch to the voice work in these movies. Blue Beetle is struggling with the alien scarab that has attached itself to his back and has a tendency to attack anyone that comes within three feet of him, but also manages to find a way to be a hero without his powers. Starfire is now the leader of the Titans and I have to say that’s not something I’ve seen before, but it really works for the character. It makes me wish this was a TV series and not a movie so I could see more of her in this role. I also like that we get to see a stable, loving relationship between her and Nightwing which is something we don’t see often enough in superhero shows and films in my opinion. Then there’s Raven who, while she’s perfectly serviceable in the film, doesn’t really get much to do. I’ll get to Terra, the new girl, in a minute.

All of the characters interact well and while I would have liked a few more scenes of them all just interacting so we could really see how they play off of one another, I’ll take what I can get. Also it’s good to seem them working as an effective fighting force. There are plenty of action scenes for the team to show their stuff, but the action is mostly there to keep the pace going, a lot of this film is about character. Every member, aside from Raven, gets something to do. Robin gets to have a few choice words with Deathstroke when he turns up. Starfire and Nightwing get to further their relationship while also working out how to lead the team without stepping on one another’s toes. Blue Beetle tries to find a way to get his scarab more accustomed to being around humans so that he can actually see his family in person. These little arcs that run through the story help to humanise the characters and are handled in a pretty mature way, there’s no conflict for the sake of conflict, every problem feels like a natural one that would come out of the situation. I only wish the film had another ten minutes or so, so that we could explore them a bit more because outside of character work they don’t really have that much affect on the main plot.

Speaking of which, Terra. She’s new to the Titans and is a trouble kid with, literally, earth-shaking powers. Now I’m going to try avoiding the plot twist with her character, even though it does come fairly quickly in the film and it’s pretty much famous for comic fans, but I won’t say specifically what it is, but if you want to avoid even a hint of spoilers skip to the next paragraph. There are two ways to do Terra’s character, in the comics she was a complete and total psychopath and in the original Teen Titans cartoon she was more of a tragic figure. Here the film tries to go for somewhere in the middle, though leaning more towards the cartoon version and honestly I think that’s for the best. Terra is an incredibly damaged character, we get flashbacks to her back-story and it is messed up to say the least (and part of the reason this film is not kid-friendly). You can’t help but want the Titans to get through to her, but in the end her pain is just too much and it buries her. Also I just want to applaud Terra’s voice actress. Not only does she give one of the best performances throughout, but those painful, anguish-filled screams at the end, dear lord they were good. I’m surprised the actress has any voice left after that.

When it comes down to it, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, isn’t perfect, but it is good. The main plot of the film is rather generic, evil cultist wants to capture the Titans so he can absorb all their powers, but it’s the characters, the acting and the writing that save this film. The Titans work as a team while also dealing with their own personal problems. The main arc of the story though comes down to Terra’s and it’s a wonderful exploration of a damaged character struggling to overcome the pain of her past. As Beast Boy says, pain can make a hero, like pressuring creating a diamond, or it could just grind you into dust (seriously go watch the beach scene with Terra and that ending, both are worth it.) Also it helps that all of the fight scenes are punchy and energetic. I enjoyed this so much more than I was expecting and you might too so go check it out.

Chris Joynson, aka the Infallible Fish, is a writer, blogger and lover of animation living in Sheffield. The blog updates every Friday.