Justice Society: World War II review: ‘The New Frontier’ of the new DCAU

3/5

Story:
While trying to aid Superman battle Brainiac in the present timeline, Barry Allen aka The Flash is accidentally sent to an alternate timeline where the Justice Society members comprising of Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Black Canary, Hourman, and Jay Garrick/The Flash are battling Hitler and his Nazi army. Barry decides to help this team of superheroes whilst figuring out the means of returning to his timeline.

Review:
The DC Animated Movie Universe (DCAMU) began its run with the critically acclaimed Justice League the Flashpoint Paradox and concluded with another R-rated classic Justice League Dark: Apokalips War reset the DC Universe similar to how the New 52 comic book series was reset to the Rebirth series over the last few years. It essentially launched the new universe of animated movies called the Tomorrowverse with Superman: Man of Tomorrow as its first film, soon followed by Batman: The Long Halloween part of its lineup. The animated film Justice Society: World War II is designed to set up the new Justice League in the same vein as Justice League: War did for the DCAMU.

The creative heads behind the project have followed the same animation style and character design from the previous films of the newly formed Tomorrowverse. The thick character lines drawn for the animation might require some getting used to but it soon begins to enhance the viewing experience of the audience. However, the lesser appreciated aspect of the creative production style is its vibrant sound design. While the overall aesthetics may not be as appealing as the stunning visuals in Batman: The Long Halloween, it nevertheless has a certain vigour that closely matches the aforementioned animated films.

The excellent voice cast perfectly captures the essence of these iconic characters, perfectly blending them with their modern iterations whilst keeping them relatable to the 40s time period. While stories and reimaginations about World War II have been tried and tested over the years with multiple interpretations, adding superheroes into the mix opens up multiple possibilities with respect to exhilarating storytelling. Justice League: The Animated Series executed a two-part episode about World War II to perfection in the early 2000s. Justice Society: World War II may not have been able to emulate the excellence of Bruce Timmy’s acclaimed animated series, but it still manages to hold its own with a compelling storyline.

The Flash is yet again the central character in establishing and concluding various animated as well as comic book universes. The choice of using The Justice Society from the golden age of comics to kick-start this new universe is an interesting choice as it gives some of the relatively lesser-known characters of the DC universe a moment to shine. The costumes of these characters are faithful to the source material but it is a step back when compared with the more modern costumes and suits from recent years.

The film’s overall quality has been hindered ever so slightly by its inability to give meaningful character development to some of its leading stars. This has ultimately cost the animated film to excel like some of the other acclaimed films from DC. The lack of a more memorable antagonist has also worked against the film.

Verdict:
The animated film is a well-rounded addition to DC’s new animated universe called the Tomorrowverse. However, a few shortcomings shackled the film in reaching its full potential.