Calhoun07
11-12-2001, 12:11 AM
The pilot episode was made for people like me. In all the years I've read comic books, I never really got into the Justice League of America. Not any particular dislike towards the book, I just never picked it up. While I have read an issue here and there, this is my first real exposure to the world of the Justice League, and I think that the pilot episode is made for people to start fresh from. It sets every thing in the Justice League at ground zero and builds it from there. I can see this series definately bringing in new fans and renewing the interest of some older fans who have lost interest over the years.
The show starts out on Mars, where astronauts turn up something that will ultimately threaten the existense of humanity. It really starts out with the mystery well. I won't get into much details beyond that, but I did like the mystery set up at the beginning of the pilot. As a viewer, you're left in the dark and you discover things as our heroes discover them, so there is a good element of surprise.
The first hero we see is Batman. Seeing Batman first really connects the series with the original Batman series and it's great to see the classic Batman in action again on TV. And while there has been some debate about his long ears, I hardly noticed them. In fact, I didn't even think about them for the rest of the pilot.
Superman is introduced next. Batman's investigations had taken him to a lab outside of Metropolis, where whatever it is that came back from Mars is lurking in the shadows and the Dark Knight is determined to uncover the secret. It's great seeing these two characters together again. As for Superman's look and voice, they didn't bother me at all. I feel the new voice for Superman is every bit as good as Tim was.
Flash is briefly introduced in the first part of the pilot when he appears on a TV news station to make some kind of comment about Superman. You don't see him get involved until the second part of the pilot.
You also see Wonder Woman in a cameo in the first part of the pilot as well, where she is contemplating going to help out the world during this new alien threat but her mother talks her out of it, saying the concerns of the people on Earth are not their concerns and that the Gods protect them.
Martian Manhunter is introduced in a very interesting way. He's the one who uses his telepathic abilites to draw all these different heroes together to fight the alien menace. He tells a back story which lets us in on the mystery that we saw at the beginning of the pilot, and again, I won't reveal much about the details. I just liked the way his character was introduced.
In the second part of the pilot, we not only see Flash and Wonder Woman jump into the action and help out, but we are also introduced to Green Lantern and Hawk Girl. It is revealed that the Martian Manhunter summoned them all together via telepathy. What is interesting about this scene is that this is the first time some of these characters have met, primarily Wonder Woman. This is her first time away from the normally neutral island she comes from (well, the Amazon island remains neutral, Wonder Woman was just responding to the call of Martian Manhunter). So for a viewer who never read JLA or perhaps never even really read DC comics will know who these characters are and knows a bit about their backgrounds in this scene. The show does a great job of setting things up.
The story was good, involving an alien threat of cosmic porportions that is a perfect way to bring together Earth's bold and the brave. The alien invaders reminded me of a cross between War of the Worlds and countless shape shifting aliens we've seen in dozens of stories before, but the design of the aliens is great. They maintain a mysterious and threatening presense. (And don't they act like Bin Laden terrorists? Hiding in caves and striking from secrecy?) But I still think it was a prefect way to kick off the series, and a logical way to bring all these heroes together. There are situations that put all of our heroes to the ultimate limit of their abilities in the pilot episode, and each of them face great peril, but they all come out displaying the best of their abilities in the end.
The animation is what I've come to expect from a Bruce Timm series, tho I didn't see where it really broke any new ground. Not that I am complaining, it looks top notch and is still the best animated superhero show around, but the look of the series we got from the early pic releases were of the opening montage, not from the series itself. It still felt very theatrical, and I could see this animation working well on a widescreen if they ever made a feature movie.
There were a few things that rubbed me the wrong way with this pilot episode. Well, two of them are related. It's Flash's and Wonder Woman's (and her little island, too) reaction to the alien invasion. Flash was way too relaxed and inappropriately comical and the Amazon women were too indifferent to the threat. It struck me that neither of them really gave a damn about what was going on, they had better things to do, but were there because Martian Manhunter summoned them there. But if it were left to their own wills, they would have not shown up, at least that is the impression I got. Especially with Wonder Woman. That bothered me alot. The destruction that takes place in this pilot episode makes the Sept 11th disaster look like a fender bender, and the rest of the world is up in arms and joining together to fight the common enemy, except the Amazon womem who decide it's not their concern and figure they are protected by the Gods so who the hell cares. And Flash acts like it's just another day in the park. So far, Wonder Woman and the Flash are my least favorite characters. I am not saying I am not looking forward to future episode with them, but where is the character motivation to make them stick around after the threat, and Martian Manhunter's influence, are both gone? I am looking forward to seeing the development of these two characters in upcoming episodes.
Another thing that wasn't really something that rubbed me the wrong way, but just one of those nit pick things I thought of the second time thru watching it...Why doesn't Superman stop the alien threat before it touches down on Earth? He is in the proximity, but just kind of stands there and watches the asteroid carrying the alien invasion fleet come down for a landing. And didn't he see what was in there? Or did the aliens line the asteroid vessel with lead? I know Superman was trying to tend to Batman, but he is every bit as fast as Flash. He could have easilly been out there in a matter of moments and caught that asteroid in the same way he caught that jet plane in the pilot episode of the Superman Animated Series. Of course, if he had done that, there wouldn't have been much of a story!
I don't know if this series will break any new ground, or convert any new fans to animation (tho I think it will; this series is a great place for new converts to start) but I feel it's going to be an awesome series. And even if there are flaws, I am going to focus on what makes this show great.
Overall, it was enjoyable, story, plot, and animation were all very well done. I just hope that they work on that characterization a little more.
The show starts out on Mars, where astronauts turn up something that will ultimately threaten the existense of humanity. It really starts out with the mystery well. I won't get into much details beyond that, but I did like the mystery set up at the beginning of the pilot. As a viewer, you're left in the dark and you discover things as our heroes discover them, so there is a good element of surprise.
The first hero we see is Batman. Seeing Batman first really connects the series with the original Batman series and it's great to see the classic Batman in action again on TV. And while there has been some debate about his long ears, I hardly noticed them. In fact, I didn't even think about them for the rest of the pilot.
Superman is introduced next. Batman's investigations had taken him to a lab outside of Metropolis, where whatever it is that came back from Mars is lurking in the shadows and the Dark Knight is determined to uncover the secret. It's great seeing these two characters together again. As for Superman's look and voice, they didn't bother me at all. I feel the new voice for Superman is every bit as good as Tim was.
Flash is briefly introduced in the first part of the pilot when he appears on a TV news station to make some kind of comment about Superman. You don't see him get involved until the second part of the pilot.
You also see Wonder Woman in a cameo in the first part of the pilot as well, where she is contemplating going to help out the world during this new alien threat but her mother talks her out of it, saying the concerns of the people on Earth are not their concerns and that the Gods protect them.
Martian Manhunter is introduced in a very interesting way. He's the one who uses his telepathic abilites to draw all these different heroes together to fight the alien menace. He tells a back story which lets us in on the mystery that we saw at the beginning of the pilot, and again, I won't reveal much about the details. I just liked the way his character was introduced.
In the second part of the pilot, we not only see Flash and Wonder Woman jump into the action and help out, but we are also introduced to Green Lantern and Hawk Girl. It is revealed that the Martian Manhunter summoned them all together via telepathy. What is interesting about this scene is that this is the first time some of these characters have met, primarily Wonder Woman. This is her first time away from the normally neutral island she comes from (well, the Amazon island remains neutral, Wonder Woman was just responding to the call of Martian Manhunter). So for a viewer who never read JLA or perhaps never even really read DC comics will know who these characters are and knows a bit about their backgrounds in this scene. The show does a great job of setting things up.
The story was good, involving an alien threat of cosmic porportions that is a perfect way to bring together Earth's bold and the brave. The alien invaders reminded me of a cross between War of the Worlds and countless shape shifting aliens we've seen in dozens of stories before, but the design of the aliens is great. They maintain a mysterious and threatening presense. (And don't they act like Bin Laden terrorists? Hiding in caves and striking from secrecy?) But I still think it was a prefect way to kick off the series, and a logical way to bring all these heroes together. There are situations that put all of our heroes to the ultimate limit of their abilities in the pilot episode, and each of them face great peril, but they all come out displaying the best of their abilities in the end.
The animation is what I've come to expect from a Bruce Timm series, tho I didn't see where it really broke any new ground. Not that I am complaining, it looks top notch and is still the best animated superhero show around, but the look of the series we got from the early pic releases were of the opening montage, not from the series itself. It still felt very theatrical, and I could see this animation working well on a widescreen if they ever made a feature movie.
There were a few things that rubbed me the wrong way with this pilot episode. Well, two of them are related. It's Flash's and Wonder Woman's (and her little island, too) reaction to the alien invasion. Flash was way too relaxed and inappropriately comical and the Amazon women were too indifferent to the threat. It struck me that neither of them really gave a damn about what was going on, they had better things to do, but were there because Martian Manhunter summoned them there. But if it were left to their own wills, they would have not shown up, at least that is the impression I got. Especially with Wonder Woman. That bothered me alot. The destruction that takes place in this pilot episode makes the Sept 11th disaster look like a fender bender, and the rest of the world is up in arms and joining together to fight the common enemy, except the Amazon womem who decide it's not their concern and figure they are protected by the Gods so who the hell cares. And Flash acts like it's just another day in the park. So far, Wonder Woman and the Flash are my least favorite characters. I am not saying I am not looking forward to future episode with them, but where is the character motivation to make them stick around after the threat, and Martian Manhunter's influence, are both gone? I am looking forward to seeing the development of these two characters in upcoming episodes.
Another thing that wasn't really something that rubbed me the wrong way, but just one of those nit pick things I thought of the second time thru watching it...Why doesn't Superman stop the alien threat before it touches down on Earth? He is in the proximity, but just kind of stands there and watches the asteroid carrying the alien invasion fleet come down for a landing. And didn't he see what was in there? Or did the aliens line the asteroid vessel with lead? I know Superman was trying to tend to Batman, but he is every bit as fast as Flash. He could have easilly been out there in a matter of moments and caught that asteroid in the same way he caught that jet plane in the pilot episode of the Superman Animated Series. Of course, if he had done that, there wouldn't have been much of a story!
I don't know if this series will break any new ground, or convert any new fans to animation (tho I think it will; this series is a great place for new converts to start) but I feel it's going to be an awesome series. And even if there are flaws, I am going to focus on what makes this show great.
Overall, it was enjoyable, story, plot, and animation were all very well done. I just hope that they work on that characterization a little more.