Wow! Amazing! I've read Darwyn Cooke's graphic novels so I guess I was preconditioned to like it. But even if I didn't, I still would have said wow! I really began to well up at the end hearing JFK's inaugural speech. I wish, oh how I wish they could have made it a series. It would be a better fit on Fridays with the Clone Wars than Secret Saturdays or Ben 10 In Name Only. Anyone else saw it? Thoughts?
Just Saw Justice League: The New Frontier!
- Thread starter blockaderunner
- Start date
I like The Secret Saturdays! 
But you're right, Justice League: The New Frontier would make for a great show.
But you're right, Justice League: The New Frontier would make for a great show.
I LOVED the New Frontier and its portrayal of the characters. Somehow doing it as a period piece offered something fresh I think, and Cooke's portrayal of the characters as a whole felt very true to who they all are, particularly the Big Three, despite how little they were actually in it. ('For the one from Metropolis I have a $30,000 sliver of meteor... for you, I only need a penny for a book of matches.' Classic.)
I love that Hal, J'Onn and Barry were dead center in the plot, and, after having gotten used to J'onn's 'JLU' origins, it was nice to see a retelling of his classic origin that seemed surprisingly logical and plausible. Also, I liked the omission of Abin Sur's spaceship and how his death ties in with the destruction of the Flying Cloud. I read the book after seeing the movie and while I prefer some of the cut material and rearranged parts particularly regarding the space mission, it's an excellent excellent film. That final scene gives me chills every time... I mean, I almost cried the first time it was so powerful. I too wish it was a series.
Instead we get 'Clone Wars.'
I love that Hal, J'Onn and Barry were dead center in the plot, and, after having gotten used to J'onn's 'JLU' origins, it was nice to see a retelling of his classic origin that seemed surprisingly logical and plausible. Also, I liked the omission of Abin Sur's spaceship and how his death ties in with the destruction of the Flying Cloud. I read the book after seeing the movie and while I prefer some of the cut material and rearranged parts particularly regarding the space mission, it's an excellent excellent film. That final scene gives me chills every time... I mean, I almost cried the first time it was so powerful. I too wish it was a series.
Instead we get 'Clone Wars.'
I thought it was so-so. I think that it suffered from having so many characters and not really knowing who to focus on. If they'd made it longer & given it more time to flesh out one of the main characters (probably Hal Jordan) to make him a real lead character, it would have been a lot better.
MeanJoePhaser
Admiral
The lack of a villain stank. The alien menace shit is twenty-years past tired. They did it on Justice League, they did with THE BATMAN team-up season opener and finale.
Also, the JFK speech = wankfest.
Not the best animated DC movie, that goes to Mask of the Phantasm.
I thought Gotham Knights was kinda blah. Not sure they should've gotten Conroy back, he didn't quite mesh with the feel of it.
Also, the JFK speech = wankfest.
Not the best animated DC movie, that goes to Mask of the Phantasm.
I thought Gotham Knights was kinda blah. Not sure they should've gotten Conroy back, he didn't quite mesh with the feel of it.
I think Diana facilitating the murder of unarmed prisoners of war is rather out of character.
I enjoyed the film and the comic both quite a bit. I liked the conceit of having everyone appear in 'real time', according to when they appeared in the comics (well, OK, that might be stretching the point a bit in regards to the Losers, who appeared in later DC war comics, but you know what I mean). That turned out to be an interesting perspective from which to view things vis a vis the real world... seeing an evolution from the 'greatest generation' (the Big Three and the JSA) through the Cold War paranoia of the 50s through to the JLA and JFK's titular New Frontier.
Hal Jordan was a good choice to lead the story along, he (in his initial incarnation) being a contemporary of the Mercury Seven--kind of the closest analogue to what super-heroes would have been in that time and place, men who were first tested in the Korean War era and then went on to be Tom Wolfe's 'single combat warriors' in the space race. The Silver Age comics DC produced were singularly apolitical in that regard (compared to Marvel's Silver Age stuff, which was indelibly linked to the Cold War--which inspires me to mention the brilliance of Jon Favreau's decision to update Iron Man's earliest incarnation from the Cold War/Vietnam to the War On Terror, which worked really really well), though you have to imagine that the presence of a Justice League of America would have been a huge influence on the Cold War (at this point we start getting into Watchmen territory, though). At any event, it draws an interesting analogy.
I'll be frank, though, I think that the juxtaposition of JFK's speech with the iconic imagery of Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter facing off against a giant starfish was the most affecting moment for me--a great payoff to the story. Fanboyish as hell, but there it is.
--g
Hal Jordan was a good choice to lead the story along, he (in his initial incarnation) being a contemporary of the Mercury Seven--kind of the closest analogue to what super-heroes would have been in that time and place, men who were first tested in the Korean War era and then went on to be Tom Wolfe's 'single combat warriors' in the space race. The Silver Age comics DC produced were singularly apolitical in that regard (compared to Marvel's Silver Age stuff, which was indelibly linked to the Cold War--which inspires me to mention the brilliance of Jon Favreau's decision to update Iron Man's earliest incarnation from the Cold War/Vietnam to the War On Terror, which worked really really well), though you have to imagine that the presence of a Justice League of America would have been a huge influence on the Cold War (at this point we start getting into Watchmen territory, though). At any event, it draws an interesting analogy.
I'll be frank, though, I think that the juxtaposition of JFK's speech with the iconic imagery of Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter facing off against a giant starfish was the most affecting moment for me--a great payoff to the story. Fanboyish as hell, but there it is.
--g
RobertScorpio
Pariah
Good post Elscoob...and I agree. The fact that the JSA appeared, if only for a brief moment, made this movie a winner. I read the graphic books and felt way to much was edited out. It should have been a three-hour dvd movie, imo....
Rob
Scorpio
A three hour direct to DVD animated movie just isn't practical on a decent budget. They did a great job within the constraints and from what I gather, all edits and changes were done with the consultation of the original writer, so it was hardly arbitrary. Besides, those who felt it was already somewhat unfocused, exactly how would adding a dozen new plot threads improve the focus?
The story was disjointed. It kept wandering from character to character with no strong storyline to act as an anchor. There were too many heroes, and there was too much "need" to give too many of them a backstory.
I liked the visual style, but that's just about all that I liked.
I liked the visual style, but that's just about all that I liked.
To be fair, the original comic was called DC: The New Frontier. Thus it was about a wide array of characters. The original comic's focus was even more scattered.
I personally thought that it was disappointing that the John Henry sub plot was abandoned. It was a powerful tale in the comic and provided a realistic look at the dark side of that era.
^^I'd say that was my biggest problem with the movie version -- the dark side was so underplayed. We were told about McCarthyism and paranoia and intolerance, but we weren't shown very much of it aside from a couple of token scenes. Of course those of us familiar with history know it was there, but it's still not very good story structure to leave out so much of something that's so important to the story. And younger viewers who aren't up on their history would probably find it pretty confusing.
How can you not like a film that has Lucy Lawless as a taller-than-Superman Wonder Woman? Also that bit when she crashes the invisible jet, which you coan only see because the inside is splattered with her blood? What other animated movies have dared to do that without being exploitative and somehow made it tasteful? Not many.
As someone who grew up reading the golden age Wonder Woman (for some strange reason), I prefer her to be only 5'8" or so. I loved most of the characters in The New Frontier, but Wonder Woman wasn't right to me at all.
