Justice League : Throne of Atlantis (2015) Review!!

Synopsis – In the aftermath of Justice League: War, the world is at peace or so it seems. When Atlantis attacks the Metropolis for the death of their king. But the Queen has different plans and requires the Justice League to find her lost son. But while they search for him, Atlantian troops; lead by Ocean Master, continue their assault. Who will win?

My Take – If you were a fan of the DC comic’s New 52 story arc Justice League – Throne of Atlantis comics or DC Animated originals, you are watching the right movie!. Its open knowledge where Marvel succeeds in live action, DC falls short! Nevertheless they continue to make up for it in the animation realm. This film is a sequel to the fairly awesome Justice League: War. Clearly this film has been made to showcase Aquaman, in order to shed his goofy image before his live action debut in Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice (2016). Yes! This is an Aquaman origin movie in all its right based off the Geoff Johns’ Aquaman (and Justice League run), not a Justice League movie. We do get to see the whole team here, but in lesser roles. As far as plot goes, it’s a pretty simple and political take place right after the events of the previous film, where the attack of Darkseid’s forces let to certain repercussions.

As a result of which the once hidden underwater world of Atlantis thrust via deceit into Ocean Master and Black Manta’s war against the surface dwellers, hence flushing the Justice League out. The film is refreshing take on the sea emperor, let’s face it, Aquaman has been one of the lesser developed characters in the DC universe. It wasn’t until Geoff Johns revived him in the New 52 that we really got an Aquaman with some kick-butt glory. This is an origin film that takes you on a journey into Arthur Curry’s life. He is a troubled young man, half human and half Atlantean. What I find great about this film is that DC is starting to realize that there is a market and interest for the other, lesser characters. We will probably never get tired of seeing Superman & Batman (of course, they have their awesome moments), but why not give other characters a shot? Flash has become a fairly popular character now thanks to the brilliantly made CW live action series. Green Lantern already had a failed chance at live action, now with Nathan Fillon voicing him in the animated front, he is pretty awesome! Time for some Cyborg love! The film takes the energy and effort to develop Cyborg further. Cyborg is having trouble adjusting to his own mechanic strength and dealing with his metallic manhood. He proclaims in one scene, “I am more machine now than man.” Towards the conclusion, sparks fly when he finds love. Shazam. The only true disappoint in the film. One of the most powerful beings in the universe, and he is just an overgrown kid who doesn’t understand his own strength and power. At least, that is how he is portrayed. We get one interesting and cool moment with Shazam in the entire film.

When he fights Orm, Shazam falls hard, and that is when Orm (Sam Witwer) stands up for a showdown against him, laughs wickedly, and then turns Shazam into a weaker kid with little and no effort. The world of magic is no match for Orm, as he quickly thwarts the inner child out of the man. Sean Austin still does a great job at playing the adult within the child voice. But I would like to think that after calling forth “Shazam!” the full-on superhero would emerge in all his glory and well, something hard-core. Again, Shazam is there because he is supposed to be there. The art of Ivan Reis and Paul Pelletier drew the vision of Johns so well and it’s amazing to see how fluid and frantic the animation/fight scenes are. Not as gory as I expected which was a shock given how extreme The Flashpoint Paradox was. The voice-cast is unsurprisingly solid and the pace never lets up. The story does have its plot holes, too-convenient moments and suffers a time from being rushed, but it’s a given as the writers shunt so much story into just over an hour. On the whole “Justice League : Throne of Atlantis” is a good watch, a bit more toned down – lesser fun than its prequel, but manages to give us a good Aquaman story in the limited time. PS: Just like the previous, the film has a very interesting after-credit scene.