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| Title: | LEGO: Justice League – Attack of the Legion of Doom |
| Genre: | Children/Family |
| Starring: | Troy Baker, John DiMaggio, Mark Hamill, |
| Certificate: | U |
| Picture: | 1.78:1 |
| Audio Format: | Dolby Digital 5.1 |
| Subtitles: | English, Spanish, Italian French, German, Dutch. |
| Runtime: | 1 Hour 14 mins |
| Extras: | Featurette. |
| Studio: | Warner Home Video |
| Release Date: | Oct 19 2015 |
| See If You Like: | LEGO Batman: The Movie, |
Prepare to meet your… DOOM.
Continuing the trend of so-far strong, straight-to-DVD, animated LEGO movies, the latest; LEGO: Justice League – Attack of the Legion of Doom; is every bit as fun and silly as you’d hope.
Picking up with The Justice League (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Green Lantern, The Flash, and Cyborg) being very much on top of things; having basically cleaned up the planet, and eliminated any major criminal elements they happened to come across; we then see the inevitable escalation; super-villains banding together to form their own anti-Justice League, The Legion of Doom. As if that weren’t bad enough, they also break into a secret government lab and enlist the help of an unsuspecting alien (best known as Martian Manhunter to DC comic fans) who thinks they’re the good guys, and uses his immense powers to thwart the efforts of The Justice League.
There’s a huge cast of recognisable characters included (especially to comic book fans, and Lego collectors); with a selection of DC’s best making up The Justice League, and Lex Luthor leading a host of baddies which also includes Sinestro; Gorilla Grodd; Captain Cold; Black Manta; and Cheetah, and with appearances from everyone to The Joker, Catwoman, Deathstroke, and Lois Lane, every taste and fan is catered for.
It also helps a number of recognisable DC voice artists return to lend their vocal talents to characters they’ve already made their own; not only do we get Mark Hamill back as The Trickster and Sinestro, but Troy Baker as Batman; Nolan North as Superman; Josh Keaton as Green Lantern; Khary Payton as Cyborg; James Arnold Taylor as The Flash; Grey Griffin as Wonder Woman and Lois Lane; and John DiMaggio as both Lex Luthor and The Joker, meaning the voice talent is both extremely strong, and suited to the world, not to mention what many young viewers have come to expect to hear.
Each character is also given plenty of time to shine individually; while the main story revolves around Cyborg’s attempts to prove himself to the group, you also have Green Lantern and Flash squabbling over their affection for Wonder Woman, Batman attempting to hold onto his position as leader, Sinestro subverting Lex, and much more. Meaning there’s plenty to get to grips with, with young and older viewers alike.
But don’t be thinking the new LEGO: Justice League movie will be too high-brow for the kiddywinks. Oh no. It’s still chock full of the silly, slapstick, banana-peel, humour we’ve come to expect and love from the Lego brand. There are plenty of slips, trips, falls, and daft prop gags, there are stretched-out puns, crazy plot elements, and deliberate silliness which makes it a hugely funny watch throughout; for the little ones, and (though you’ll deny it) you too.
It’s far from the most in-depth film, doesn’t have the production values of The Lego Movie, and is unlikely to win many awards but, it’s a great watch, an hour and a half of fun, and given the enjoyable, well-meaning, positive storyline and the low price point, LEGO: Justice League – Attack of the Legion of Doom is a fantastic buy for a young-un (or those young at heart Lego/comic book fans) – even if it is essentially one gigantic toy commercial.
Extras:
The sole piece of bonus content included on the LEGO: Justice League – Attack of the Legion of Doom comes in the form of a featurette exploring the world of sound design in this heightened, comic, LEGO world. A surprisingly engaging, informative, and fun piece to watch, it never dumbs down the subject matter or panders to it’s largely child-based audience, but remains accessible to both children and adults alike.
The Bottom Line:
It’s no Pixar-rivalling animated epic, but it doesn’t pretend to be. What this movie does (aside from sell toys), and does well, is give kids an hour-and-a-half of pure unadulterated fun; there’s a decent plot, solid production values (given it’s a straight-to-DVD animated release, there’s a remarkable amount of care and effort put into making this the best Lego DC movie it could possibly be), a great voice cast, and plenty of fun to be found in the catwalk of recognisable DC characters, and the non-stop silly humour. LEGO: Justice League – Attack of the Legion of Doom is a great film you’ll actually look forward to watching with the kids, and one which comes highly recommended – it even comes with an exclusive Lego Trickster mini-fig!
Matt Wheeldon – @TheMattWheeldon.
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Buy from Amazon.co.uk | Buy from Amazon.com |
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