Justice League: Throne Of Atlantis is the latest in the line of DC animated movies. Based on a fairly recent story arc within the comics, it deals with a Justice League that isn’t an entity. As the film opens we have a submarine in the middle of nowhere attacked and its crew slaughtered. The government would like The Justice League to look into it, but the only one who is at the headquarters is Cyborg, who tells the government liason the league doesn’t actually exist.
As Cyborg is investigating the submarine we see Arthur Curry distraught over recently burying his father. Of course something is a little different about this guy. If you know your comics you know that Arthur Curry is the alter ego of Aquaman. He doesn’t realize it himself though.
You can imagine how things will end, with the Justice League becoming an actual entity. We have Superman, Shazam, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Cyborg, and Batman involved in this story. At just over an hour we don’t get a lot of time to develop the personal interactions on a level that you might expect, but we do get glimpses of the personalities. And do stick around for a post-credits scene.
This is a “new 52” era story. This mean we are getting characters that are at the beginning of their careers. The Justice League is still forming. Superman and Batman haven’t fully formed their antagonistic friendship yet. Things are still new. It’s like yet another origin story, this time centering on Aquaman. The problem is, and this is part of the problem with DC’s “new 52” is the reboots aren’t a solid and definitive thing, which means it is hard to be invested in the characters and story. It’s a decent story, but since it seems DC doesn’t know where it wants to take its characters in the comics, maybe making original films would be better.
Special features are decent, starting with a featurette focusing on the two villains featured in Justice League: Throne Of Atlantis. This just just over 10 minutes. Then there is a much longer one on the audio of the film and creating the film’s score. It is possible to also watch the film with just the score, which is cool. A ComicCon panel is also present. Then there’s a (very) short prequel scene which is presented not as the deleted scene that it is but as its own item. Dumb. Should have just been included in the film. Two episodes of “Batman: The Brave And The Bold” are included, along with an episode of “Justice League Unlimited” (go ahead and guess who is heavily featured). The real treasure is the episode of the 60s “Aquaman” cartoon. Oh, then there’s the sneak peek at Batman vs Robin, the upcoming animated film that will act as a sequel to Son Of Batman.
If you are a fan of the DC universe Justice League: Throne Of Atlantis is worth checking out. It may not be for everyone, particularly more “casual” super hero fans.