TV – Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Season 1: B

B

After seeing the abysmal movie they released to introduce the series, I’d never given the show a chance. The animation and the plots are slow and deliberate, taking time to spell everything out, often a bit too simply. It has some terrible voicework at times, especially the battle droids, who are beyond annoying. And of course Jar Jar is as awful as ever. But it also has some great characters, most of which are the Jedi Masters like Plo Koon and Kit Fisto. In fact, the episodes showcasing the Jedi Masters are easily the best ones. There are the occasional cool ideas, like space mantas, or fun nods to things barely mentioned in the films, like gundarks or the Angels on Iago. But there also quite a few boring or lame episodes, and pretty much all of them feel like filler, with no central mysteries or plot threads to keep you engaged. Perhaps later seasons will correct this.

Movie – Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox: A

A
I always have a good time visiting alternate reality worlds, and Flashpoint’s was another fun one. I’m also partial to stories that load up with cameos from minor characters and Flashpoint delivered in that respect too. The action was good and plentiful, and I enjoyed The Flash as the main character. The animation seemed a bit cheap, but if that is what’s required for DC to keep putting out more quality animated movies, I can live with it.

Movie – Superman vs. The Elite: B+

B+
Superman’s power level changes, annoyingly, with each writer to fit their plot. But in cases where the plot is intelligent enough, that is forgivable. I’m still not sure if this film falls into that category. Its plot was certainly predictable, but wasn’t awful. It touched on a relevant superhero subject in a smart, if unoriginal, way. The members of The Elite were quite interesting conceptually, but other than the leader, none were fleshed out in the least. Felt like a decent episode of an animated series, but not quite movie quality. The competence of the animation was in line with everything else; functional, but not note-worthy.

Movie – Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1: A

A
Dark Knight Returns is such an iconic comic, and this animated adaptation certainly showed reverence and faithfulness. The animation and voice work were each smooth and on point. Part 2 should be equally entertaining.

Movie – Hulk Vs.: B

B
Hulk is pure brainless smash time. Sometimes this is wildly entertaining. Sometimes it is exceedingly boring. The Hulk vs Thor segment was dull and poorly conceived, while Hulk vs Wolverine contained several well-portrayed characters (best of which was predictably Deadpool) and seemed to delve more into the conflicting nature much more maturely. Still plenty of good smashing though.

Movie – Green Lantern: Emerald Knights: A-

A-
DC should continue the short-story style. Batman: Gotham Knight was good, and the shorts attached some of their other films were pretty great too, especially The Spectre. Emerald Knights was hit and miss, but with the multi-story format, this is forgivable. Several were fantastic, and the voice work was superb, aside from what at first seemed terrible casting for Kilowog, but not terrible enough that I noticed for long.

Movie – Batman: Year One: C-

C-
Batman Begins took a lot from the same source comic, and did a much better job with it. Bruce Wayne/Batman’s voice was so similar to Gordon’s it was confusing during inner monologues for either character. The art was decent but not great and the story lost all poignancy with the conversion to animation.

Movie – Afro Samurai: Resurrection: B+

B+
This movie-sequel just didn’t capture that familiar absurdity that the original miniseries did. The weak plot and pointlessly resurrected characters lost their appeal, and the forcibly inserted new characters were scraped from the bottom of the writer’s creative pool. Still some great action scenes though.