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Chris Eberle
Lex Luthor and his secret ally Darkseid decide to form a Legion of Doom to bring the greatest criminals together in an effort to take over Earth and rid it of the Justice League. Their first caper is to attack the government’s secret Area 52 to kidnap a powerful shape-shifting alien. After luring the Justice League to the site of an impending nuclear reactor meltdown, our heroes are framed and banished from the planet. Just when it seems that they will be lost in space forever, help comes from an unexpected place and the showdown to save Earth begins.
2015, Color, Not rated, 1 Hr 17 mins
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio
Starring: Dee Bradley Baker, Troy Baker, John DiMaggio
Directed by Rick Morales
Rating
Violence: Cartoon, OK for kids
Sex: No
Language: No
Animated films like this are a great way to introduce kids to classic comic book heroes like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and several other newcomers. The fact that they are in LEGO form adds to an already fun presentation. The whole package has a Saturday-morning cartoon feel even down to the full orchestra playing in the background. I was reminded of the original cartoon version of The Justice League that was on TV during the Seventies.
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Of course the backdrop and the humor has been updated with nods to many new things familiar to kids of today. There’s a great video-game sequence in the Hall of Doom that that had me checking to see if my PlayStation was on. And there are plenty of positive messages sprinkled throughout the dialog. I think any kid over six years old will enjoy the story, the action and the presentation. If you’re a sci-fi buff, listen carefully for the voiceovers from Tony Todd and Mark Hamill. One warning: if you watch the commercial for LEGO Dimensions that plays before the film, you’ll want one!
The CGI image is pretty much perfect in every way; not surprising since it’s never been passed through a lens. The only flaw is occasional banding in areas with subtle color gradation. It looked to me like a compression artifact. Kudos go to the animators who created a cool orange-peel texture on all the LEGO characters. During close-up shots you can really see it. It reinforces the fact that everything you’re seeing is made of plastic.
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Even though this is essentially a kid’s cartoon, no effort was spared on the sound design quality. The DTS-HD Master Audio encode is a tour-de-force from beginning to end. Action scenes have great slam and impact and the dialog has great depth and clarity. The music is balanced just right as well.
The only bonus features are a 20-minute documentary on the film’s sound design and a trailer.
