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| Sunday, March 2, 2008 09:23 PM |
| (Last updated on Sunday, March 2, 2008 09:25 PM) | | On the Viewer - Justice League: The New Frontier |
 by Fëanor |
EverMike and I were both really looking forward to the straight-to-DVD release of the animated film adaptation of Darwyn Cooke's truly fantastic graphic novel, DC: The New Frontier, so I picked it up on Tuesday (the day it came out), and we got together Wednesday night to watch it. Poppy decided to sit in, too. I think we were all pretty pleased with what we saw.
You can see my impressions of volumes 1 and 2 of the New Frontier graphic novel here and here. It's probably one of my favorite comics of all time. The basic overarching concept is to bridge the gap between the Golden Age and Silver Age of DC comics; to explain where all the Golden Age characters disappeared to, or why they changed, and to further explain why and how the Silver Age characters appeared. But it also ends up being a lot about America and how it changed during the '50s and '60s.
The movie - Justice League: The New Frontier - is a pretty faithful adaptation of the book, probably due in large part to the fact that the book's creator, Darwyn Cooke, was intimately involved with its production. Of course, a series of cuts had to be made, as well as some small changes (starting with the title - sticking "Justice League" up front was probably just their way of trying to attract people to the movie who had never heard of New Frontier; thankfully it doesn't suggest any real change in focus for the story). Some of the cuts are disappointing - it would have been great to see the scene in which a young Hal Jordan comes seeking the autograph of Chuck Yeager, or the scene in which the old, magical heroes get together and make the conscious decision to sit out the climactic battle, because they know this must be the young people's fight - but nothing truly essential is left out, and what the film does adapt it adapts very well indeed. The animators have simply copied Darwyn Cooke's fantastic artistic style and put it into motion, so visually the film is pretty much perfect throughout - even the packaging and DVD menus are spot-on beautiful. As for acting talent, it's an all-star cast: David Boreanaz as Green Lantern, Miguel Ferrer as Martian Manhunter, Neil Patrick Harris as the Flash, Keith David as The Centre, John Heard as Ace Morgan, Lucy Lawless as Wonder Woman, Kyle MacLachlan as Superman, Kyra Sedgwick as Lois Lane, Brooke Shields as Carol Ferris, and Jeremy Sisto as Batman. Some of those voices took a little getting used to, but ultimately they all work pretty well. It helps that all of Cooke's best dialogue has been kept, including Wonder Woman's great rejection of Superman ("There's the door, space man.") and one of Batman's most bad-ass put-downs, delivered to the Martian Manhunter ("I have a $70,000 sliver of a radioactive meteor to stop the one from Metropolis. All I need for you is a penny for a book of matches." Holy crap, I love Batman).
I was afraid that if the film kept the book's meandering, multi-layered plot, but cut it down, it might become very confusing, especially for those not familiar with the DC universe. But it all still fit together for me. It's poppy who was the real test of the film's ability to tell a story, however, as she is mostly unfamiliar with the comics. And she enjoyed the film and never felt lost, so I'd say New Frontier passes with flying colors.
My only problem with the film, besides the fact that it's missing a couple of scenes I was really hoping to see, is that it occasionally falls flat or descends into melodrama, especially during the climactic scene in which Superman gives a big speech that's supposed to build everybody up. I don't know if it's MacLachlan's delivery or what, but the speech just doesn't work; it's corny, and it doesn't feel at all as if it warrants the cheers it gets from the crowd. Still, except for a few moments of that sort, the thing is just brilliant. I'm very glad I bought it, especially since it's the Special Edition, which is loaded with extra features, like a making-of documentary, and episodes of the Justice League cartoon show, one of which was written by Warren Ellis!!
In conclusion, New Frontier continues to rule, even in its new, video format. And that ending still puts a tear in my eye. |
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