Back in 2013, Warner Animation was finishing up work on Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox when they decided to move in a new direction with their DC films. Rather than only keep churning out standalone movies, they decided they were going to create a DC Animated Movie Universe that would loosely connect certain films to one another as a part of an overarching storyline. Since the entire series was not really planned out in advance, there have been films released of varying quality that do not always cleanly connect in continuity or even voice acting. A storyline that has mostly been maintained in the background is the impending final conflict with the ultimate baddie, Darkseid. Justice League Dark: Apokolips War finally delivers on that long awaited battle by serving as the culmination of fifteen films worth of build-up.
Justice League Dark was an enjoyable departure from some of the standard fare that had come out up until that point with the focus on the mysticism of John Constantine and his crew. This pseudo-sequel is really only a continuation in name only, but appropriately titled due to the highly adult and violent nature of this finale. After multiple failed attempts by Darkseid to invade Earth, the Justice League, led by a fired up Superman, decide to launch a preemptive attack on Apokolips, the planet ruled by Darkseid. There is some resistance to this plan, especially from brand new member Constantine, but Superman is tired of waiting for the next strike. The Teen Titans stay behind on Earth as the Justice League head to Apokolips, where they are met with a devastating ambush. Two years later, a washed-up Constantine is tracked down by a Kryptonite-burdened Superman and shell-shocked Raven to attempt to make one final stand against Darkseid.
There is a lot of content jam-packed into this film, but the execution leaves something to be desired. At 90-minutes, the film serves as the longest entry in the DCAU, but, with the stakes so high, you really need a longer runtime to let the film breath and ratchet up the emotional impact. Nearly everyone you would want to see in a DC animated movie makes an appearance from the Green Lantern Corp to Bane to a really fun role for King Shark. A brief appearance is mostly all you are getting from a lot of these characters, though. Everyone is put through the wringer during this movie, and the amount of lives lost is truly staggering; one gut punch after another. You truly feel like the situation is helpless in the face of someone as powerful as Darkseid, yet more character moments interspersed among the nearly non-stop fighting in the second half of the movie could have given you Endgame-level gasps of emotion.
Despite the desire for more from this movie, what is provided is immensely entertaining and moves along at an incredibly efficient pace. While not quite Mortal Kombat levels, the violence is extremely visceral with beloved characters getting ripped apart and decimated in the most brutal ways. This movie is definitely for an adult audience. The vocal performances tend to run a little flat, but the movie mostly seems concerned about the quality of the action. The film does provide a well-executed lesson on not giving into anger even when things are tough. There are some good twists and turns throughout the movie, and you have to admire that it does not wrap up in some unbelievable way. In the end, this serves as a powerful sendoff to a series of films that has brought a lot of joy to fans of DC. While it can be tough to say goodbye to this iteration of these characters, let us all hope that these films keep pushing the boundaries of animation and taking interesting chances.
Video Quality
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War comes to 4K UHD Blu-Ray with a 2160p transfer upscaled from a 2K native source. This disc provides some nice improvements over the Blu-Ray in certain areas including more vivid, natural colors and the elimination of any digital artifacting. The use of HDR yields some very pleasing enhancements to the dynamic colors on display, and the disc provides much deeper black levels for a cleaner viewing experience free of black crush. The animation style of this series has not always been my favorite, but this disc provides excellent line detail, which gives the characters more definition. The Blu-Ray disc looks great, but those with a larger display will likely find the 4K UHD Blu-Ray a more enjoyable experience.
Audio Quality
This release boasts a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that more than gets a workout during this fight-heavy film. There is an immense amount of activity in the low-end which will cause your room to shake pretty consistently throughout this presentation. Dialogue is often accompanied by a heroic score or all manner of sound effects, but all of the information comes through clearly with getting muddied. The track engages all of the channels with panning effects and sounds of destruction that really makes you feel like you are in the thick of the action. Warner Bros. knew what they were doing with this track, so those with a good surround sound setup should have fun with this one.
Special Features
- DC Showcase- Adam Strange: A sixteen-minute animated short focusing on the character of Adam Strange. We meet him during a particularly rough time on an asteroid mining colony with flashbacks to better days used to flesh out the character. It’s a solid science-fiction tale that shines a light on a character that would not have gotten the opportunity otherwise.
- Darkseid – New God, Classic Evil: A 15-minute deep-dive into the character of Darkseid from his initial appearance in the comics to this film. It’s a lot of fun to understand why Jack Kirby created the character in response to world events and how the design has mostly remained unchanged over the decades. This is a very enjoyable feature.
- Audio Commentary: Directors Matt Peters and Christine Sotta, executive producer James Tucker, and screenwriter Ernie Altbacker all sit down to discuss crafting an ending to this particular series of films. Everyone clearly loves these characters and they discuss the different motivations for specific choices in the movie. It’s informative throughout and rarely provides any dead air.
- Sneak Peek – Superman: Man of Tomorrow: An eight-minute look at the upcoming direct-to-video animated feature based on an original story. Voice actors featured in the movie such as Darren Criss, Zachary Quinto, and Alexandra Daddario, give quick insights into the film. The animation looks really nice and the creators seem to be introducing some fun elements like Lobo!
- Justice League Dark Preview: An extended eight-minute look at the previously released Justice League Dark with interviews from the creators and the cast.
- Batman & Harley Quinn Preview: An extended eight-minute look at the previously released Batman & Harley Quinn with interviews from the creators and the cast.
- From the DC Comics Vault – Justice League Action, “Zombie King”: Season 1, Episode 7 of the 2016 series Justice League Action. This is a fun episode that includes Swamp Thing, Batman, Constantine and Zatanna taking on Solomon Grundy as he raises the dead. This series is way more lighthearted than the movie.
- From the DC Comics Vault – Justice League Action, “Abate and Switch”: Season 1, Episode 4 of Justice League Action. This episode finds Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman teaming up with Constantine, Green Arrow, Shazam and Plastic Man to take on the Demons Three and Black Adam. This series is only available on DVD so it’s cool to see some episodes in HD.
- From the DC Comics Vault – Teen Titans, “Nevermore”: Season 1, Episode 6 of the early 2000s Teen Titans series, which focuses on Raven. This is a good episode to include considering it delves a bit into the relationship between Raven and her father, Trigon. The series is currently available on Blu-Ray through Warner Archive here.
Final Thoughts
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War is an overall satisfying conclusion to an epic storyline filled with tragic moments and exhilarating action sequences. The movie could have used an additional half hour to flesh out some of the characters a bit more, but there are obviously budget constraints for direct-to-video films such as this one. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provides an excellent A/V presentation and some truly worthwhile extras that greatly enhance this package. Any fan of these movies already knows they have to pick this up to round out their collection. Recommended
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
