‘Injustice‘ is a DC Comics animated film adaption of the video game developed by NetherRealm Studios. It is directed by Matt Peters and made by Warner Bros. Animation.

After discovering Lois (Laura Bailey) is pregnant, Superman (Justin Hartley) finds Batman (Anson Mount) in Metropolis looking for Joker (Kevin Pollak) and Harley Quinn (Gillian Jacobs). Superman realizes that Joker has kidnapped Lois and gets infected with fear gas laced with Kryptonite. Thinking he is fighting Doomsday, Superman kills Lois and his unborn child, unwittingly causes a nuclear explosion, destroying Metropolis. Afterward, Superman takes a dark turn, killing the Joker and forcing the Justice League to side with him. He slowly starts to lose control, forcing his rules on the world, leading to the death of Nightwing (Derek Phillips) at the hands of Robin (Zach Callison). Batman works with Green Arrow (Reid Scott), Catwoman (Anika Noni Rose), Mr. Terrific (Edwin Hodge), and others to stop them before Superman, Wonder Woman (Janet Varney), and Cyborg (Brandon Micheal Hall) became the villains they want to stop.

The movie claims to be “based on” the Injustice: Gods Among Us video game, but it deviates so heavily from the source material, they could almost do a sequel using the game. It starts out using elements from the prequel comics, but it eliminates characters that were in that game including Atom, Flash, Green Lantern, and others to replace them with different ones. I honestly do not understand why. That does not mean the movie was bad, but it was not the best either.

While I did not mind them using the prequel comics for the set-up, they started to go all over the place in terms of pacing when they get to where the game’s story would start. They introduced Ra’s al Ghul, probably to replace Black Adam and I did not get why that decision was made. Also, the magical heroes are just kind of referenced through Shazam, but then we never see them again. Several played roles in the games, so it made no sense to not use them. With this in mind, I missed the scene of Alfred punching Superman from the comics. I honestly think they wanted to do their own “evil Superman” plot and just used the game as a springboard.

Now, the movie does have its good parts. It does a decent job of showing Superman’s descent into becoming a dictator and how the Justice League dissenters counter his arguments. Aside from the fast pacing, I did think they did a good job of framing certain scenes such as Harley Quinn poking fun at Green Arrow’s “Arrowcave.”

Except for the way they drew the character’s knuckles (with weird dark lines), I thought the animation was good. Everyone had their standard costumes from the video game and they were illustrated well. I did think their design of the Joker made him look a little old, but outside of that, well done.

As for the voice cast, it was competent. I do not know why they did not get the original cast. I mean Kevin Conroy was the voice of Batman for the game and he is my favorite Batman actor, but Anson Mount did a decent job. He, like the rest of the cast, did not stand out, but they did their jobs. Now, for Harley Quinn, since Arleen Sorkin retired from the role that she basically formed, DC Entertainment has not found anyone who can replace her. Gillian Jacobs was less annoying than others, but she, like many others, just cannot seem to nail it.

Bottom line, Injustice does not capture the gravitas of the game, taking too many liberties with the story and an incredibly fast pace. That being said, it is still a decent animated film and has some good points to enjoy.

PARENTAL CONCERNS: Bloody violence, Some foul language

FAVORITE QUOTE: Maybe we’ve all earned a second chance.

Check out the trailer below:

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