Warner Animation does it again with their latest release featuring the heroes of DC Comics. Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs Bizarro League (that’s a mouthful) continues the successful partnership that DC and Lego have had for a number of years. It all began with the Lego Batman video game and even included DC Comic heroes playing important roles in The Lego Movie last year. This time around those Lego DC Heroes get their very own story, in their very movie.
Justice League vs Bizarro League features the talented voice cast of Nolan North (voice of Superman/Bizarro), Troy Baker (Batman/Batzarro), Diedrich Bader (Green Lantern/Greenzarro), Kari Wahlgren (Wonder Woman/Bizarra) and Khary Payton (Cyborg/Cyzarro). While most of these Lego (and really, anything DC) revolve around Batman, Justice League vs Bizarro League sets his role as more to more of a comedic one putting the story focus on others.
This is really more a story about the relationship between Bizarro and Superman. It does an impressive job at relating some very deep and adult ideas to a young audience and may even get a few adults to think twice about how they treat people. The film is designed and written with kids in mind, but adults will no doubt be entertained by the incredibly high production quality of the entire film and release. The Blu-ray edition looks crisp and colorful, and while it doesn’t match the level seen in The Lego Movie, for a straight to video release it looks fantastic. If they gave the film a longer run-time (it sits at 49 minutes) and fleshed out some of the story elements I would have gladly watched this in theaters.
This original story sees Superman’s clone, Bizarro, visiting metropolis and trying to do good deeds in his unique way. As is usually the case chaos and destruction aren’t far behind as Bizarro always hears the opposite of what is said, says the opposite of what he means, and does the opposite of what is right without knowing why people, and Superman especially, don’t like him. Superman is pushed to the edge by embarrassment when the people of Metropolis begin to mistake Bizarro as Superman’s twin brother. This not only leads to some great gags, but it causes Superman to send Bizarro away to live on his very own, very square, Bizarro world.
As time passes back on earth things are going smoothly in a Bizarro free Metropolis as the Justice League is out protecting the world at large. It’s nice to be able to see some of the lesser and more obscure Justice League members get some screen time in cleaning up the streets. Many will appreciate seeing Green Arrow, Hawkman, and Plastic Man show off their respective skills, even if it’s only for a few short minutes. What I really like is how they included the lesser known Green Lantern, Guy Gardner as this League’s main Green Lantern. Not only that, but the movie plays up on the fact that his ego is larger than life and leads to some ongoing jokes between himself and Wonder Woman.
Just when things seem to be settling down Bizarro makes a surprise return, stealing the duplicator ray that created him. This leads to him creating his own Bizarro League, but not for the reasons you may think. Just as quickly as they showed up back on Earth this Bizarro League heads back home without so much as a fight. We eventually learn that Darkseid has been siphoning the energy from Bizarro world and that Bizarro himself just wanted help saving his planet. The Justice League must come to terms with facing their complete opposites and team up and save both worlds from the onslaught that is Darkseid.
While it only runs 49 minutes, the team behind the project filled it to the brim with content and with a story that puts an original spin on the long running Bizarro character. Not only that, but the movie comes filled with a number of extra features that make it a pretty great value. You’ll of course get a Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD version of the film, but a cool Batzarro minifigure that Lego collectors will love. You’ll also get the Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Batman: Be-Leagured TV special which serves as a sort of prequel to this adventure and bumps the run-time of the film to that of a full feature if watched back-to-back. But what I really enjoyed is the included Me Am Bizarro: The League of Opposites feature that goes into great detail on the making of the film, the story behind Bizarro, and what this Bizarro League really means to the Justice League.
As it stands, Justice League vs Bizarro League is a laugh out loud comedy that is one of the most fun family films released this year. It’s also one that leaves viewers with a cliffhanger ending that is sure to set up a lot of fun future adventures. The jokes come a mile a minute and you’ll catch yourself repeating lines and gags from the film with friends and family. The entire thing may be a little short, but I really can’t recommend Justice League vs Bizarro League enough. The film is available February 10th in a Blue-ray/DVD/Digital HD combo pack that includes an exclusive Batzarro minifigure.
You can order a copy of Justice League vs Bizarro League on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/1DNY7bC
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