- Directed by Sam Liu
- March 29, 2019 (WonderCon Anaheim) / March 30, 2019
Voice Cast
- Batman-Kevin Conroy
- Superman-George Newbern
- Thomas Kallor/Star Boy-Elyes Gabel
- Jessica Cruz/Green Lantern-Diane Guerrero
- Wonder Woman-Susan Eisenberg
- Miss Martian-Daniela Bobadilla
- Mr. Terrific, Kilowog-Kevin Michael Richardson
- Saturn Girl, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy-Tara Strong
- Brainiac 5-Noel Fisher
- Emerald Empress-Sumalee Montano
- Mano-Philip Anthony-Rodriguez
- Tharok-Peter Jessop
- The Persuader-Matthew Yang King
- Two-Face-Bruce Timm
- Bloodsport, Salaak-Tom Kenny
The Fatal Five travel to the present day to free their imprisoned leader and cross paths with the Justice League.
I’m a bit of a sucker for a time travel story. I admit it. That doesn’t mean I think every time travel story is good but it’s a fun concept that can craft weird or interesting stories from plots that are otherwise pretty straightforward. And that’s what happens here. The idea of a group of super criminals going to free their leader is not that special but with the element of time travel added in it becomes something more entertaining by allowing characters that would not otherwise meet to interact.
While the Justice League is in the title the focus is much more on newly minted Green Lantern Jessica Cruz who herself is a relatively new character to the DC universe. While ultimately good and gifted with strong will (the necessary ingredient for all great Green Lanterns), she has personal issues which make her life difficult. Toss in the duties of an interstellar police force and she is barely holding it together.
Her issues somewhat parallel the other significant character Star Boy who is a member of the 31st century super team called Legion of Superheroes. He follows back the members of the Fatal Five who seek to free their leader the Emerald Empress. Unfortunately he’s a schizophrenic and without his future medicine to stabilize his condition he becomes unbalanced and it becomes difficult for him to properly communicate what his mission is.
During the course of the story Jessica learns exactly what it takes and comes to accept her role. Star Boy, on the other hand, truly embraces his name in full. They do a good job of building both characters with the others (i.e. Justice League) being background players and providing inadvertent humor though Miss Martian does seem to get more time than the more established JL characters.
I found the ultimate disposition of Star Boy moving. It’s that kind of ultimate sacrifice moment that packs a punch only when the character is done well enough for the audience to really care. During the course of the movie he became rather sympathetic. I’m not saying I was in tears, but I found it emotional enough to be moved.
According to Bruce Timm who worked on this and other great examples of DC animation, the events of this story occur following Justice League Unlimited. In other words this is essentially a series reunion. And even if that was not stated it is a rather nice standalone story that one could see fitting in with that series.
The big question initially is why must the Fatal Five time travel and what exactly is this key they keep talking about? The answers come slowly though given the focus on Jessica Cruz you should figure out she somehow connects to SOMETHING they are after or concerned with. There’s plenty of action and plenty of excitement and they give Jessica as well as Star Boy a good character arc. Jessica comes into her own and Star Boy, well, truly embraces his name.
The language used by the characters is certainly more mature than Justice League or Justice League Unlimited. But they are not used just because they can. They use it when appropriate but it still feels like a fit for either series.
Justice League vs. the Fatal Five is a great time travel mash up story between two superhero groups that would not otherwise meet. It has plenty of excitement, great animation, and a very good story. Another fine addition to the DC animated catalog that I highly recommend!
Warren Watched A Movie 