Frank Pepito
  • Home
  • Portfolio
  • About Me
  • Blog
  • Contact Me

BLOG

The Films & Figurines of DC's Animated Movies

7/16/2013

3 Comments

 
Picture
Back in 2007, Warner Bros. Animation started released direct-to-home video animated movies featuring Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and other heroes published by DC Comics. Most of the films, which each run some 70-odd minutes long, were adaptations of popular graphic novels like The Dark Knight Returns and All-Star Superman. But there are a few, like Wonder Woman and Green Lantern: First Flight, that were original scripts rooted in comic book lore.

Picture"New Frontier" figurine
As a life-long DC guy, I’ve enjoyed watching every single one as they are released. Best Buy started including an exclusive toy figurine beginning with the second title Justice League: The New Frontier. As a toy guy and as someone who also loved the original graphic novel, it was easy to decide to pick it up. Since then, Best Buy has gone and offered an exclusive toy figurine for all but one title (Batman: Gotham Knight). So guess who was a sucker getting every single one?

Picture
My DCU Movie+Figurine collection including some of the soundtracks.
Picture
This past weekend, a friend mentioned watching one of them. It was one of the ones released midway in the series. Being as old as I’m getting, I couldn’t remember if I enjoyed it or not.

I watched it again and realized it wasn't one of my favorites.

Picture
So, for my own benefit that I can have something to refer to to remind myself which films I enjoyed the most and also to introduce you kind readers to these films, below is a list of the DC Universe Animated Movies currently available to buy or rent and my ratings of each. And as it so happens this may be a good time to explore these. The next title, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, is due out in two weeks. It’s based on a story published in the summer of 2011 that directly leads into that fall’s reboot of DC Comics’ entire line of comic books. Marketed as “The New 52”, every DC Comics title was reset to issue number 1 when a new timeline resulted from the conclusion of the Flashpoint story, making Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and all the rest exist in a present day time frame when the public had only been aware of these superheroes for five years. The idea was that this rebooting of origins, simplifying of 70-odd years of back stories and even fashion makeovers of heroes’ uniforms could make it easier and more appealing for brand new readers to jump into comic books, especially given the current Hollywood environment of heavily promoted and popular summer blockbuster movies based on comic book properties.

Picture
The New 52 promotional art introducing updated looks to every characters' outfit.
Picture
Before Flashpoint, movies previously produced have mainly been from a selection of popular graphic novels written in the past thirty years. Given the nature of Flashpoint’s role in DC’s publishing work, it wouldn't be surprising at all if the film adaptation served a similar purpose, rebooting the film series to feature stories based on the world of The New 52, perhaps focusing on lesser-known heroes. UPDATE: Confirmed just this morning that, at least initially, it's the former. See more details at the end of my blog.

So maybe this is an opportune moment to chat about these existing films. If you haven’t seen any, I recommend you consider giving my favorite five of the lot a try. They’re shown with comments in CAPS. And they’re really, really good!


Picture
Film 1 - Superman: Doomsday (2007) – Good.

Film 2 - Justice League: The New Frontier (2008) – Great!

Film 3 - Batman: Gotham Knight (2008) – Okay. Released the same time The Dark Knight debuted in theatres, a collection of six original short stories presented in various anime-style animation.

Picture
Film 4 – Wonder Woman (2009) – Great! An origin story not based on a specific graphic novel.

Film 5 – Green Lantern: First Flight (2009) – Fun! An origin story not based on a specific graphic novel.

Film 6 – Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009) – Okay.

Picture
Film 7 – Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010) – Loved it!

Film 8 – Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010) – TOP FIVE

Film 9 – Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010) – Okay.

Film 10 – All-Star Superman (2011) – Great adaptation!

Picture
Film 11 – Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011) Good. Another collection of short stories featuring selected members of the Green Lantern Corps, released at the time of Ryan Reynolds’ Green Lantern film.

Film 12 – Batman: Year One (2011) – TOP FIVE!

Film 13 – Justice League: Doom (2012) – TOP FIVE!

Picture
Film 14 – Superman vs. The Elite (2012) – Not my fave.

Film 15 – Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part One (2012) – AMAZE-BALLS!!

Film 16 – Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part Two (2013) – GREAT!

Film 17 – Superman: Unbound (2013) – Okay. More interesting to watch immediately after Apocalyse since this takes place after that story.


Picture
And this just in...

As I was putting the finishing touches on this blog, Newsarama posted a tweet from Warner Bros. today confirming that the next DCU Animated movie will indeed take place in DC's New 52 universe. Justice League: War will adapt one of the first New 52 stories, Justice League: Origin, collecting the first six issues of the N52 title and describing how these seven heroes first met and how the Justice League ultimately came to be.

On the one hand, it's about time! N52 debuted almost two years ago, so it makes perfect sense to finally have the heroes' comic book looks and back stories finally align with this popular animated film series. On the other hand, I hated this story! It was mainly the personalities carved out by writer Geoff Johns that disappointed me, and how conflicts between them just felt more contrived for conflict's sake. I was also reading the solo books for The Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Batman and Superman as this story was unfolding, and because of the different writers across the books, I also became distracted when many of the heroes' personalities weren't consistent from the solo book to the Justice League book.

So it wasn't a great read for me. But what can I do? I guess just continue to hope that Best Buy goes on including figurines with each new N52 movie so my collection continues to grow. Because as I said, I'm a DC guy. I'm still gonna watch these movies!

Here's the trailer for the new movie, which goes on sale in exactly two weeks.

3 Comments

Spiders, Teddy Bears, Bats -- Oh, my! - Movies I Watched Recently

7/7/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Amazing Spider-Man
Midnight July 2, 2012
IMAX 3D @ Rave Motion Pictures 18 + IMAX @ The Promenade @ Howard Hughes Center

I'll give this 3 1/2 out of 4 web shooters. I might've given it only 3 except the teenage girl sitting next to me cried at all the right parts that a teenage girl's supposed to cry. So 1/2 point for that! The writing was wonderful, Garfield and Stone were GREAT as Peter and Gwen, and I especially like the tone of the first half of the movie. I even appreciating some of the risks and surprises they put in the story to keep us jaded and annoying comic book fans surprised. But I think The Dark Knight Rises in two weeks will be outstanding. And for the love of film scores, Mr. Horner, stop re-using your Star Trek II music in your new scores!!!! Those ten seconds pulled me right out of the film.

Picture
Ted
Fourth of July, 2012
Regal Marina del Rey 6

This movie went to so many wrong places! The kind that make you - or at least me - go, "I want to laugh, but is it okay to laugh; I don't know if other people in the theatre will be offended?"  Every opportunity to make some racial, sexual, religious or socially stereotypical remark was not missed, which sometimes made several scenes run a beat or two too long. But I was entertained. And is Seth MacFarlane a geek or what?! I mean that seriously because I don't watch Family Guy regularly and the 1980 movie Flash Gordon is a major plot device in this film, to the point of re-creating scenes and using the score from that movie to move this story forward. Also loved the original score for Ted by Walter Murphy, of cool, swinging jazz like on MacFarlane's CD. Anyway, for a matinee price, it was good.

Picture
Flash Gordon
July 5, 2012
@ home on DVD

I felt compelled to revisit this film after seeing it referenced throughout Ted. Loved it as a kid, but it hasn't aged well. On this viewing tho' I finally noticed just how game the British actors were playing their parts. I re-watched the interview with Lorenzo Semple Jr. too that's included on the DVD. He falls just short of saying people who take comic book characters seriously are stupid. I wonder what he thinks about the comic book films that've come out today.

Picture
Batman (1989)
July 5, 2012
@ home on Blu-ray Disc

Starting my look back at selected Batman films before I see The Dark Knight Rises, I begin with Tim Burton and Michael Keaton's Batman. Amazing as ever on Blu-ray, this film will never fail to entertain me. Nostalgically, it reminds me of how grateful I was to finally see a successful tonal shift from camp to dark in the depiction of my absolute favorite comic book character. Then, it has Jack Nicholson brilliantly playing the life out of The Joker! I remember there were those who felt Cesar Romero had a better laugh. Pshaw! Jack's Joker hooked you in from the start and then kept you intrigued and amazed with the character throughout the rest of the film. This Batman wasn't the perfect Batman (that one arrived sixteen years later), but Burton and Keaton's take on Bruce and Batman fit fine in the world Burton created for The Batman, at a time when there were no other successful superhero movies but one, Superman: The Movie, and that had come out eleven years earlier at the time. Plus, the sentiment in '89 was that for all that could've gone wrong with Batman, the re-introduction of this dark creature of the night was a seminal moment for the cinematic Batman. On top of that, for better or worse, Tim Burton made it okay for Hollywood to tweak classic superhero costumes. That's a pretty big deal imo too (even tho' I wasn't 100% happy with the costume change at the time).

Picture
The Flash (1990)
July 6, 2012
@ home on DVD

After watching Tim Burton's Batman, I followed it up with the pilot episode of The Flash which came out a year after the movie. Ugh, I was always able to look past the awkwardness of the pilot before, but seeing it immediately after the brilliance of Batman was a mistake.

0 Comments

    All About Me

    A fan of Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Batman, comic books, Blu-rays, Disney, soundtracks, taking pictures, theatre and...Barry Manilow!

    Archives

    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2015
    August 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012

    Categories

    All
    007
    12 Angry Men
    50th Anniversary
    70mm
    Action Comics
    Adam West
    Adventureland
    Alex Theatre
    Alien
    Amazon
    Amy Adams
    Andrea Romano
    Andrew C Robinson
    Andy Griffith
    Angela Cartwright
    Applause
    Aquaman
    Arclight Cinemas
    Ariel Winter
    Artoo Detoo
    Avengers
    Barrie Chase
    Batcave
    Batgirl
    Batman
    Batman80
    Batmobile
    Batwoman
    Beatles
    Bespin
    Best Buy
    Bill Conti
    Bill Finger
    Bill Mumy
    Billy Crystal
    Birds Of Prey
    Blaster Beam
    Blu Ray
    Blu-ray
    Boba Fett
    Bob Kane
    Book Review
    Brad Meltzer
    Brent Spiner
    Brian Epstein
    Bronson Canyon
    Bruce Timm
    Bryan Hitch
    Camp Hollywoodland
    Carl Reiner
    Casino Royale
    Castle
    Christmas Card
    Christmas Carol
    Christopher Reeve
    Cloud City
    Club 33
    Comic Books
    Comic-con
    Comicon
    Crafts
    Craig Huxley
    Creature Features
    D23
    Daniel Craig
    Danny Elfman
    Dark Horse Comics
    Dark Knight
    Dark Shadows
    Darth Vader
    Dave Avanzino
    David Goyer
    David Newman
    David Selby
    Dc
    Dca
    Dc Comics
    Dc Comics
    Dc Guy
    Death Star
    Delta Shield
    Detective Comics
    Dickens
    Dick Shawn
    Digibook
    Disney
    Disney 50th
    Disney California Adventure
    Disney Juju
    Disneyland
    Disneyland60
    Disney Parks Blog
    Diy
    Dr. No
    Dvd
    Earth One
    Egyptian Theatre
    Endeavour
    E.t.
    Fifth Beatle
    Film Music
    Film Score
    Fiona Huxley
    Firefly
    Firehouse Five Plus Two
    Flash
    Flash Gordon
    Floating Cloud City
    Folk Song
    Foodie
    For Your Eyes Only
    Francesco Francavilla
    Frank Miller
    From Russia With Love
    Frontierland
    Gary Frank
    Gene Roddenberry
    Geoff Johns
    George Barris
    George Lazenby
    George Lucas
    Golden Ticket
    Goldfinger
    Graphic Novel
    Half Marathon
    Hall H
    Hawaii Five-o
    Henry Cavill
    Henry Mancini
    Henson
    Hfr
    Hiking
    Hobbit
    Hogan's Heroes
    Hollywood Sign
    Hunger Games
    Ian Fleming
    I Love Lucy
    Imagineer
    Indiana Jones
    Infographic
    Insignia
    Invitations
    Iron Man
    Irwin Allen
    James Bond
    James Horner
    Jeff Bond
    Jeff Heimbuch
    Jerry Fielding
    Jerry Goldsmith
    Jim Aparo
    Jim Henson
    Jj Abrams
    J. Michael Staczynski
    John Barry
    John Javna
    John Williams
    Jonah Hex
    Jonathan Winters
    Julie Andrews
    Justice League
    Kermit
    Kirk
    Kyle Baker
    La La Land
    Leap Day
    Leap Year
    Leonard Nimoy
    Letthewookiewin
    Logo Design
    Lois Lane
    Longlivethebat
    Long Live The Bat
    Looney Tunes
    Lost In Space
    Lucasfilm
    Mad
    Mad World
    Magic Cube
    Main Street Usa
    Man In Space
    Man Of Steel
    Marketing
    Marshall Rogers
    Marvel
    Marvel Comics
    Marvin Kaplan
    Marv Wolfman
    Medal
    Men Of War
    Michael Keaton
    Michael Piller
    Mickey
    Mickey Ears
    Mickey Mouse
    Mickey Rooney
    Middle Earth
    Millennium Falcon
    Minnie
    Monstrous Summer
    Morton Stevens
    Mouseadventure
    Mouseplanet
    Movie Review
    Muppets
    New 52
    Newsarama
    New Year Resolution
    Nine Old Men
    Noir
    Norman Rockwell
    Norm Breyfogle
    Note Cards
    Ohmss
    One More Disney Day
    Paper Engineering
    Patrick Stewart
    Pbs
    Peter Gunn
    Peter Jackson
    Peter Weller
    Pierce Brosnan
    Plush
    Poison Ivy
    Popup
    Pop Up
    Princess Leia
    Prometheus
    Promotions
    Props
    Qmx
    Quantum Mechanix
    Radio Drama
    Relay For Life
    Resolution
    Retailer Exclusive
    Review
    Rick Berman
    Roald Dahl
    Robert Iger
    Robert Wise
    Rocketeer
    Rod Serling
    Roger Moore
    Rolly Crump
    RPG
    Rundisney
    Running
    Sally
    Sam J Jones
    Samuel Goldwyn Theatre
    Scavenger Hunt
    Science Fiction
    Scotty
    Screenplay
    Scrooge
    Sean Connery
    Secret Origin
    Seth Macfarlane
    Shane Davis
    Sheena Easton
    Sideshow
    Skywalker Ranch
    Soundtrack
    Space Shuttle
    Spider-man
    Spielberg
    Spock
    Stan Freberg
    Stanley Kramer
    Starfleet
    Star Trek
    Star Trek Insurrection
    Star Trek The Next Generation
    Star Wars
    Steelbook
    Superman
    Taco Bell
    Target
    Ted
    Thank You Card
    Theatre
    The Black Beetle
    The Case Of The Chemical Syndicate
    The Dark Knight
    The Dark Knight Returns
    The Flash
    The Life And Times Of Ward Kimball
    Theme Song
    Thunderball
    Tim Burton
    Time Tunnel
    Timothy Dalton
    Todd James Pierce
    Tomorrowland
    Tom Skaggs
    Toot Whistle Plunk And Boom
    Top Five List
    Torrance Theatre Company
    Toy
    Trail
    Trivia
    Tumbler
    Tv Theme Song
    Twilight Zone
    Unboxing
    Universal
    Vampire
    Vinyl Record
    Vivek J Tiwary
    Voodoo
    Walmart
    Walt Disney
    Ward Kimball
    Warner Bros
    William Shatner
    Wonder Woman
    Wonka
    Writing
    Yoda
    Zack Snyder

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • Portfolio
  • About Me
  • Blog
  • Contact Me