Review
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis is a sequel to last year's Justice League: War and an origin story, all wrapped up into one movie. Cyborg, The Flash, Shazam, Green Lantern, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman are not the team everyone thinks they are. When Orm, prince of the mythical undersea kingdom of Atlantis, instigates war with the surface world over the death of his father, the king, they are brought together once more. All the while, Arthur Curry mourns his father but discovers he is the true heir to the throne of Atlantis and the only hope for peace.
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis is inspired from a story arc of the same name from DC Comics' "The New 52" relaunch but is more original than it is a direct adaptation. The movie begins with a sub technician aboard a U.S. Navy submarine thinking about his son when the crew is ambushed and slaughtered by Atlanteans in the Marianas Trench. The movie revisits Cyborg at S.T.A.R. Labs, still undergoing reconstruction, and Colonel Steve Trevor who is now the government liaison to the Justice League. Super Seven didn't stick for too long. Test groups. Victor Stone is jilted from his dream of still being human and wakes up to Sarah Charles, now a Doctor, who has finished checking on him post-upgrade. An interesting shift from War, Cyborg is now the one ignoring his father. Trevor alerts Cyborg about the downed submarine and wants the Justice League to be called in. Cyborg convinces him to keep it discreet for now and reveals there is no Justice League. Nobody is checking in or coming around to the temporary headquarters.
The movie jumps to Athens and revisits another sub-plot from War, the budding romantic relationship between Wonder Woman and Superman. Wonder Woman reflects on the history of the area and Superman offers a way to deal with the present. Instead of continuing on to the other known heroes, the movie takes to shifting between the origin story of Arthur Curry in Mercy Reef, Maine and the Justice League's growing involvement. Arthur drowns his sorrows at a bar and talks to lobster about his father's passing. Arthur picks a fight with a group of men who want to eat the lobster. Far from a barroom brawl, it soon becomes clear there's more to Arthur than what it seems. Namely super strength and invulnerability. All the while, Arthur is unaware he's being watched by Mera and separately by Dr. Shin and someone named David... but back to the overarching story. Cyborg investigates the submarine, learns its missiles are missing, and barely escapes a battle against a unit of Atlanteans. Arthur staggers back home to the town lighthouse and gazes at a photo of his parents. Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Cyborg has called a meeting but only Shazam and The Flash have shown up. Flash proposes using the old methods. He gets Green Lantern from his day job at Ferris Air Base while Cyborg and Shazam locate Wonder Woman and Superman on a date which was already interrupted by a certain intrepid reporter.
In a rather comical nod to War, Green Lantern once again horns in on Batman's stomping grounds and messes up one of his operations - this time chasing down intelligence on the Scarecrow. Working together without having to punch someone, the Justice League performs a crime scene investigation of the submarine and Cyborg's assault and zero in on Atlantis. And fittingly, intrigue follows. Orm and his adviser Black Manta want to preserve Atlantis' safety by taking over the world but Queen Atlanna wants to maintain peace through diplomacy. Atlanna wishes to have her first son Arthur brought to her side to help bridge this peace. Right around the 28 minute mark, the pacing speeds up and action takes the forefront with Black Manta destroying an Atlantean village under the guise of a submarine while Atlanteans sent by Manta kill Dr. Shin and assault Mercy Reef. Mera's power are put on display and she quickly proves to be a formidable force. Batman and Superman investigate Shin's home and learn of the existence of Arthur Curry and his connection to Atlantis. Arthur, meanwhile, is force fed the nitty gritty about his ties to Atlantis and is dressed up in his stepfather's royal garb. Naturally he freaks out but once more a shift in pacing to action when The Trench are sent to assassinate Arthur. The stories begin to combine as the Justice League locates Arthur and helps dispatch the rest of The Trench.
Forced to accelerate his plans, Orm stages a coup and murders Queen Atlanna. The Justice League are captured and used as scapegoats while Orm and Atlantis invades Metropolis. The League, Mera, and Arthur save the day. Everyone agrees the Justice League is a good idea and start taking it seriously. Cyborg alludes to ideas about a "watchtower" and Arthur is dubbed Aquaman as he accepts membership. The credits roll as 'extra scenes' of Aquaman and Mera taking on a Trench incursion are shown like in Son of Batman. As in War, a teaser for the next Justice League movie, is next. But instead of Amanda Waller, Lex Luthor approaches Orm outside his Belle Reve cell and makes him an offer.
The core dynamic that drives this movie is that of father and son. Mainly, it is what the father's absence creates. Not the son coming to terms with his father. The movie opens with a naval officer thinking about his son whom he admits now idolizes the Justice League. Another more relevant shift in roles, is the dynamic between Cyborg and his father Silas Stone. In Justice League: War, Silas was the workaholic who ignored his son's phone calls. In Throne of Atlantis, Cyborg is now the workaholic and the one who coldly ignores a phone call from dad. This gives way to the main dynamic of how the movie's main hero and villain reacts to the death of his father. Arthur Curry feels alone and lost, unsure of his place. Orm plots revenge and seizes power. Ultimately, we see Arthur, Orm and Cyborg step out from their sheltered relationships with their fathers and come into their own. Arthur becomes the superhero Aquaman and king of Atlantis. Orm becomes the villain Ocean-Master. Cyborg becomes the soul of the Justice League, the connection that holds the heroes together.
As if there were anymore room for more sub-plots... romance! Something that probably came easily to him when he was just "Victory" Stone, Cyborg falters with Sarah Charles, a prodigal S.T.A.R. Labs intern in Justice League: War and now a full fledged doctor. But in better spirits at the movie's end, Cyborg scores a date with Sarah. Those who aren't familiar with the first issues of Justice League probably wouldn't know that Sarah is about the same age as Cyborg and may find the pairing odd. Continuing from War, Superman and Wonder Woman's relationship continues to flourish. While Wonder Woman looks back to the past with the days of the gods looking down on the people of Greece, Superman keeps her grounded in the present with an all too similar guise. Glasses. Then there's the love that cannot be between Tom Curry and Queen Atlanna coming full circle with Arthur Curry and Mera.
Since this movie does have "Justice League" in the title after all, it was a pleasant and welcome sight to see the heroes working together before the big fight. Not just that but seeing how each members' area of expertise provides them to each contribute to the investigation of the downed naval submarine and Cyborg's assault. Batman's analytical eye and attention to small details, Wonder Woman's analysis of strategy and knowledge of Atlantis, Green Lantern's assessing the barrel roll tactic, Flash's notes on the effect of sound and physics, Shazam's encyclopedic recollection of TV shows, and later Superman's investigative eye and Cyborg's ability to record, scan and process all that data. Of note, it was great to see some growth with Superman and Woman. We given a better glimpse of classic Superman - as the voice of reason with convincing Aquaman after the Trench battle, appearing as Clark Kent, and investigative with finding Shin's shredded papers in the aquarium. Wonder Woman once again was gifted with another amazing fight sequence when she saved Jimmy and Lois but in terms of personality, she was less roughshod in this movie than previously in War. However, in contrast, the Justice League's subdued effectiveness against Orm in the two confrontations left much to be desired. While understandably it was to highlight Arthur, it wouldn't have hurt to see the Justice League try to fight in tandem together instead of lining up like bowling pins one at a time.
One of the original highlights of the story is making this movie an origin story for Aquaman. In contrast to Aquaman in The New 52 and well...all animated appearances for that matter, Aquaman is already Aquaman and King of Atlantis. Instead of including Aquaman in Justice League: War, he was "saved" for Throne of Atlantis. Beginning at rock bottom in his life, Arthur Curry had no idea he was half-Atlantean, no idea Atlantis existed, nor did he know of his royal bloodline. Lost and alone, Arthur only has memories of his mother watching him underwater and some odd abilities. For this movie, Arthur also serves as the perspective of the audience - having all this backstory on Atlantis and his birthright suddenly thrust upon him. There's even a story behind his costume! Granted it is a 72 minute movie and you got to push it to Act 3, at times it was hard to see Arthur quickly adjusting to the revelations, his fighting prowess against Atlanteans and The Trench gleaned from drunken bar room brawls, suddenly using his intuition to telepathically summon sea animals, his ease with talking to a bunch of superheroes, playing a role and winning over Atlanteans with a post-Outrageous speech, or having the tact to understand the benefits of joining the Justice League. That seems like a lot of issues with characterization but we're dealing with two movies a year and not 4 episodes a month. It was the same deal with Cyborg's origin in War - angst-ridden guy with dad issues to superhero. Hopefully, in the third Justice League movie, something else will be tried. Or not. Shrug.
Orm, like Arthur, is a different than how he appeared in The New 52. The comic version was more tragic and even sympathetic. This Orm even willingly ceded the throne to Arthur at one point. Unfortunately, in this movie, Orm was stripped down to a couple dimensions and his xenophobic tendencies were emphasized. In a way, he served as a poor man's Loki. He even used "mewled" for goodness sake! And sure, with the Trident, Orm was overpowered to a fault. But the silver lining is they didn't throw him off a cliff or boom him into the center of the planet. And the choice of keeping him alive already pays dividends with the end credits teaser.
Black Manta turned out to be the real threat. A master manipulator, it was a welcome surprise to watch Manta work over Dr. Shin and Orm. Preserved was his intent to plunder Atlantis but something that went unanswered was why Orm trusted Manta so much when Manta seemed to be 100% human. Such was the case to a lesser extent in The Flashpoint Paradox. Manta's defeat was spectacular but since there was no blood or severed limbs, there's hope he will return. Plus, he's an arch-villain, you don't off an arch-villain. They're always back for more. Except for Ra's al Ghul. And probably Deathstroke. Forget it. Unless there was an oxygen tank floating around underwater.
Speaking of, when underwater scenes are used in animation it's always interesting to see how it is depicted. In Throne of Atlantis, it was great seeing the treatment of floating hair and the clothing designs such as Atlanna's drapery. The amount of callbacks were really entertaining. Several elements in Throne of Atlantis mirror what happened many years ago on the Justice League animated series in the Aquaman episode "The Enemy Below" which also involved a downed submarine, something dangerous gets stolen, the League getting ambushed in Atlantis, and Orm instigating war with the surface world after staging a coup. More recently, it was really cool seeing some designs revisited from the alternate timeline in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. The Atlantean soldiers, the Atlantean tanks and Ocean-Master bear similar designs. As does General Lane. Like in Justice League: War, some Young Justice designs were co-opted for this movie. Cassie Sandsmark's design from Young Justice was used for the girl in the diner that was trying to get Shazam's attention. The Army soldiers in Metropolis resembled the Marines from the Young Justice episode "Fail Safe." Bibbo's design is recolored and used for the Mercy Reef bartender. Once again, Sarah Charles' design borrows from Dr. Roquette's in Young Justice. Another pleasant surprise were the Superman characters appearing, namely Lois Lane, Sam Lane, John Henry, Jimmy Olsen, and Lex Luthor. Likewise, it was surprise to see Dr. Shin used but unfortunately quickly killed off.
Going back to The Flashpoint Paradox, it was fun noticing points of divergence in this new continuity. In The Flashpoint Paradox, there was an Atlantean invasion of London. In Throne of Atlantis, Metropolis. In The Flashpoint Paradox, Aquaman uses the Trident to stab Cyborg's exposed chest panel and Superman stays by his side as he dies. In Throne of Atlantis, Orm uses the Trident to stab Cyborg and reveal his exposed chest panel and Batman revives him. In The Flashpoint Paradox, there was adultery when Aquaman cheated on Mera with Wonder Woman. In Throne of Atlantis, Atlanna cheated on her King with Tom Curry. Both were a pretext of the respective invasions. Even Cyborg's latest look in Throne of Atlantis is closer to the look in The Flashpoint Paradox. And I swear the sound effects for Mera's water manipulation and Cyborg's sound blast were pinched from Super Friends. And with James Tucker as Supervising Producer, it didn't hurt to add in a callback to Aquaman's "Outrageous!" line from Batman: The Brave and The Bold animated series. Also nice to see the Great White Shark summoning was also "saved" for Throne of Atlantis.
In Throne of Atlantis, the cons were fewer than in War. Which is a good thing. A common gripe I've seen is that the Trident of Poseidon was too overpowered and made the Justice League look like putzes. It did spectacular things. It reduced Shazam to a child, resisted Cyborg's tech, took out Green Lantern's construct, and resisted Superman's heat vision. Yes, it was setting up Arthur for the final showdown with Orm. Those familiar with it in the comics should know it's one of the most powerful magical artifacts but I think the fault was in the movie, the Trident wasn't thoroughly explained enough like the rest of the Atlantis lore. The scale of danger with Orm's invasion fell flat. Instead of battering Metropolis with the tidal wave, Orm parts it and reveals the army - which didn't do much devastation to the city compared to the invasion in War. A minor quibble was the Justice League even Batman, though with a scuba mask on, was able to survive underwater in Atlantis. I was under the impression the water pressure would crush them at the depth Atlantis was at but I guess the city's techno-sorcery was at work and created a suitable artificial environment for them. To be fair, in the comic, Batman did comment his suit could withstand extreme pressures and his regulator could adapt amid Aquaman's doubts he could survive at the bottom of the ocean. In terms of characterization, while it was great Aquaman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg got the spotlight -- it was a bit of a disappointment that The Flash, Green Lantern, Shazam, and Batman were static characters and not much changed with them for better or worse. For Batman, it's understandable with him having his own movie each year.
While the movie is only inspired by the comic, it was fun to try and see what was cherry picked from comic and what was changed around the fit the movie's structure. In the comic, Clark offers glasses to Diana in Smallville - Clark's hometown. In the movie, it's done in Athens - more or less in Diana's domain. In the comic, Cyborg kept passing on the upgrade to add environmental protection and replace his lung. In the movie, it's already done by the beginning. In the comic, Silas Stone is the one talking to Cyborg while Sarah is mentioned once. In the movie, Sarah Charles is the one talking to Cyborg while Silas comes up a few times. In the comic, Batman is chasing Scarecrow's men in the Batboat after they kidnapped a witness. In the movie, Batman is chasing them in the Batplane after city hall was threatened. In the comic, Clark and Diana eat at a high end seafood grill. In the movie, they eat at an Indian restaurant and Lois later chides Clark for not going high end. In the comic, the Watchtower already exists. In the movie, Cyborg is only thinking about building one. Cyborg's line about keeping his brain and heart intact is preserved. Several heroes are banished in pods to the dark waters. The assassins sent after Shin are still named Drift One. Orm is sent to Belle Reve. Vulko, Comissioner Gordon, Harvey Bullock, Tula, Thomas Morrow, Element Woman, Green Arrow, Black Lightning, Vixen, Zatanna, Goldrush, Hawkman, Black Canary, Firestorm, Atom, Silas Stone, Amanda Waller are omitted. Green Lantern, Flash, Atlanna, Black Manta, Sam Lane, Jimmy Olsen, John Henry Irons, Sarah Charles, and Tom Curry are added in.
The casting is as strong as always courtesy of the experience and skill wielded by Andrea Romano. Returning are Jason O'Mara is Batman, Christopher Gorham is Flash, Shemar Moore is Cyborg, and Sean Astin is Shazam. Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Superman were recasted with Rosario Dawson, Nathan Fillion, and Jerry O'Connell respectively. All three did superb jobs with their characters but I couldn't help but miss Michelle Monaghan, Justin Kirk, and Alan Tudyk's portrayals. Kirk in particular. Fillion can do unrepentant douche but Kirk really sold the New 52 unrepentant douche. Newcomers Matt Lanter as Aquaman, Sam Witwer as Orm, Henry Lennix as Black Manta, and Sumalee Montano as Mera were fantastic and fit right in seamlessly.
The bonus features were a very strong and diverse balance. This was the best selection in this line since a long time ago. There's the standard 10 minute sneak peek, 11 minute featurette and select episodes but the real treats is the option to see the movie with only the soundtrack playing, a 30 minute look at making the soundtrack, a short that sort of does it all, and a recording of the Throne of Atlantis panel from New York Comic Con 2014. I always wanted a behind the scenes look at how Frederik Wiedmann works and seeing the score being recorded. The short stars Nightwing and Robin. It finishes the Scarecrow subplot, ties the Justice League and Batman movies together better, provides a glimpse of fighting skills, and teases the next film, Batman vs. Robin. Before the short, producer James Tucker provides commentary and hopes of reviving the DC Showcase shorts program. The short is 45 seconds but in total with Tucker's commentary, it is 3 minutes and 50 seconds long. More shorts sounds like a great idea to me. There's always a demand for more content. Coming under 27 minutes, the panel recording is becoming more prevalent in home entertainment releases and is great for archiving purposes instead of saving a YouTube link or downloading it as a mp4. Bonus episodes from the DC Vault were a nice mix of classic and modern animation taking from the Aquaman animated series and The Brave and The Bold. Some might find the Justice League Unlimited "Far From Home" choice out of place but I think the reasoning was this episode and the movie both shared the saddened superhero finding their rightful place. The only glaring omission in the special features was that there was no commentary track for the movie.
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis is an outrageously entertaining sequel to War again anchored by an origin story. The Blu-ray is a highly recommended purchase due to the balanced selection of special features that has long been absent in the line. Audio, video quality, music, and animation are of the high caliber we are accustomed to. The voice cast, screenwriting, story, and special features are a vast improvement going into year two of the animated New 52 continuity. It's the Aquaman movie we've all been (somewhat) patiently waiting for.
Rating
Main Feature: 4 out of 5
Special Features: 4 out of 5
Average Rating: 4 out of 5