Written by Ernie Altbavker
Directed by Matt Peters
Joker (re Superman killing him): "Now that's .... a punchline."
Well, this was inevitable in the animated adaptation stakes. After covering the likes of Flashpoint, The Dark Knight Returns, The Death Of Superman etc, another infamous dark DC story/alternative take had to be covered and Injustice seemed ripe for the picking.
If you're familiar with the story through both the games and yearly comics, this adaptation will be something of a mixed bag for you. Some key elements are retained, others are changed and there's an undeniable sense of things just being rushed all over to get to where this particular movie ends, note wise. Yup, it's the definition of a mixed bag.
Superman (Justin Hartley) finds himself overjoyed with the possibility of becoming a father, only for the Joker (Kevin Pollak) and Harley Quinn (Gillian Jacobs) to trick him into accidentally killing Lois Lane (Laura Bailey) and devastate Metropolis. Superman reacts to this by killing the Joker and by doing that simple act, this movie sets up a downward spiral for the Man of Steel.
With Batman (Anson Mount) trying and repeatedly failing to get Superman back to the light as the Kryptonian abuses his powers and turns the world into a police sate with Wonder Woman (Janet Varney) enabling his destructive behaviour, it's everyone else who suffers as a result. If you thought Justice League Dark: Apokolips War was a bit too bloodthirsty, then you really have problems with this one.
This movie doesn't shy away from characters such as the Flash (Yuri Lowenthal), Nightwing (Derek Philips) and even Cyborg (Brandon Michael Hall) all getting caught in the crossfire between the trinity but it's the machinations of an opportunistic Ras Al Ghul (Faran Tahir) that somewhat bring the team back together along with Superman meeting up with alternative versions of himself and Lois courtesy of Mr Terrific (Edwin Hodge).
This movie clearly is the start of an ongoing story and I'm not entirely sire where the second part will go now that the tyrannical Superman seems to be out of the way. There's a good use in supporting characters such as Plastic Man (Oliver Hudson), Robin (Zach Callison) and Catwoman (Anika Noni Rose) as well as Harley's rapport with Green Arrow (Reid Scott) but far too many characters in this movie are largely wasted or too quickly killed off.
- Justin Hartley has previously played both Green Arrow and Aquaman in the Smallville. He's a good actor but one of the weaker voice actors for Superman.
- Nice team effort from the trinity, Plastic Man, Catwoman and Harley Quinn to take out Amazo.
- The next animated movie will be Catwoman: Hunted, due for release in February 2022.
- Chronology: I assume present day. The Earth 9 Superman referred to this world as Earth 22.
Injustice had some decent moments but overall, it made for a disappointing movie. It felt too rushed in parts and too many characters were just there to be killed off and add little to the plot. However, it's clear this wont be a one off event and hopefully the next movie will be a marked improvement.
Rating: 6 out of 10
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