DC Direct To Video Animated Films

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I thought these were at least worth talking about. To be honest, they've really been a mixed bag for me. I wouldn't put any of them on par with the likes of Mask of the Phantasm or Return of the Joker, but there are some that are of admirable quality and worth a re-watch. I'll give my ratings on all of the ones that I've seen so far, and very brief thoughts on them:

Superman: Doomsday (3/10)- As their first effort at this, I thought that this was terrible, given how little they got me to care about a character that I loved in the DCAU shows

Justice League: The New Frontier (9/10)- I haven't read the original comic, and I hear that this movie cut a lot out from the original source material; that said, I still really liked it, despite it admittedly feeling a bit rushed

Batman: Gotham Knight (6/10)- The quality varies by short, but it's an OK feature, overall

Wonder Woman (9/10)- I really liked this one; it was a good origin story

Green Lantern: First Flight (7/10)- It was fun, but kind of forgettable as well

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (8/10)- This one just had a really good character dynamic between Batman and Superman

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (5/10)- The concept has been done elsewhere and quite frankly done much better (BTBATB did it much better, for example)

Batman: Under The Red Hood (6/10)- Points for excellent fight scenes and John DiMaggio as The Joker, but overall this just fell a bit flat of its potential for me, mostly due to the relatively weak second and third acts

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (5/10)- It was cool having the DCAU JL voice actors reprise their roles for this, but other than that it was pretty by the numbers and rather boring, IMO

All-Star Superman (5/10)- Alright, let me just say that Dwayne McDuffie is a great writer, and as one of his last projects I wanted to rate this higher, but I have to be honest and say that the script was just a mess; perhaps if this had been split into a series of shorts or a mini-series like it was clearly meant to be, it would have faired better, but it just felt too disjointed as it is; I will say that it definitely had the right tone for a good Superman movie, but it lacked any proper coherency, IMO

Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (N/A)- I still have yet to see this series of shorts

Batman: Year One (10/10)- This is by far my favorite feature; it's also the shortest one (not counting individual shorts) at just under an hour, but the time is used efficiently; it's an excellent origin story with stellar animation and fight scenes, and it really gave me a whole new appreciation for Commissioner Gordon as a character, while reminding me of why I love Batman in the first place; consider this to be my personal favorite

Justice League: Doom (6/10)- This was just another forgettable one, IMO; I liked the idea of the plans to destroy them coming from data stolen from Batman's computer, but some of the plans themselves were just kind of stupid when you stop to really think about them

Superman vs. The Elite (N/A)- Another one that I have yet to see

The Dark Knight Returns Part I (8/10)- I don't care for the art style, but other than that it's a solid story with a really good take on an older but still fit and fully functional Bruce Wayne/Batman

The Dark Knight Returns Part II (9/10)- I think this is even better than the first part thanks to the conflict with the Joker, and later on with Superman; it feels a bit disjointed in terms of plot compared to the first part, but it also had me more invested in the characters

Superman: Unbound (N/A)- And this is the last one that I haven't seen

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (7/10)- I enjoy the Flash, and while it wasn't as much just his story as the title would lead you to believe, it was a well-done movie that executed a tired and cliche concept in a relatively fresh way; and I liked seeing a reality with Thomas Wayne as Batman, and how he was different from Bruce's Batman

Justice League: War (5/10)- This felt like a DBZ movie; lots of action to go around, but very little time spent on character development or even giving you a reason to care about anyone in the first place; I just didn't find myself enjoying it

Son of Batman (4/10)- The most recent animated DTV by them, and it's the worst one since Doomsday, IMO; Damien has absolutely no growth or character arc; he's an insufferable brat throughout the entire thing and then just decides to change at the end just because the script told him to; it's a great concept executed poorly; once again, I point you to TBATB to see this character done much better

And those are my thoughts on the films up to date. I'll try and watch the ones that I missed so that I can give you all my thoughts on them as well.

[LumRanmaYasha]

The DC dtv movies are a mixed bag for me. The only ones I enjoyed were Wonder Woman, Justice League: The New Frontier, The Dark Knight Returns I & II, and Batman: Year One. I thought Gotham Knight and Justice League: Doom were decent, though. I haven't seen any of the ones past DKRII, and from everything I've heard about them, I don't really plan to.

[gunswordfist]

I need to find a wiki page with the order that these films came out so I can watch them. I'm sure they have them all on my brother's Netflix that I watch on my 360 and I've been meaning to catch up.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The DC dtv movies are a mixed bag for me. The only ones I enjoyed were Wonder Woman, Justice League: The New Frontier, The Dark Knight Returns I & II, and Batman: Year One. I thought Gotham Knight and Justice League: Doom were decent, though. I haven't seen any of the ones past DKRII, and from everything I've heard about them, I don't really plan to.

I'd say GLFF and Public Enemies were decent. The rest of the shorts besides the ones that you mentioned have ranged from mediocre to bad, though.

[Avaitor]

I've only seen the first 4, Crisis on 2 Earths, and All-Star Superman, and of those, I agree with you 100%.

I kind of lost interest after a little while, so I haven't been keeping up. I do want to see the Green Lantern movies and Batman: Year One eventually, though. I do have to say that I'd be more interested if Warner/DC was willing to make some movies for more than just Bats, Supes, and the League. From what I've gathered, Wonder Woman and the first Green Lantern were even among their better sellers (the second GL wasn't as much, but as a tie-in to the Ryan Reynolds movie, what did you expect?), so I don't get why they're afraid to make more full-length films for the rest of DC's heroes.

[Spark Of Spirit]

The only one I saw was Under the Red Hood because I wanted to see the character not completely stupid like he was in the comics. Truthfully, I liked how they handled him there and actually made him more anti-hero than villain.

I haven't seen any of the other ones, since I keep getting mixed reactions to them all.

Otherwise, there was another botched attempt at the Death & Return of Superman in Doomsday. Why they can't make a good adaption of this, I don't know. There's more than enough material and creative people at DC to really make something great. They just can't seem to do it. What a waste of potential.

[gunswordfist]

They should just actually call it the Death & Return Of Superman and try again. Also, make sure the voice acting doesn't suck this time.

[talonmalon333]

I thought Wonder Woman was very good. I've only seen a few of these movies, but that was the one that stood out to me.

[gunswordfist]

I love Wonder Woman. Either that or Crisis On Two Earths is my favorite. I also love New Frontier.

[Avaitor]

As someone who's never been much of a Wonder Woman fan, I do recommend it. This is probably the closest to a good movie for her that we'll get, too.

[gunswordfist]

It is good and yeah, you don't even have to like her to enjoy it. I've never been given a reason to before that movie.

[Daikun]

The cast for Batman's next DTV was announced.

Kevin Conroy is back (although he plays Thomas Wayne, not Bruce) and Weird Al is the villain.

[Daikun]

Coming May 12...

[Spark Of Spirit]

If this is the only way I can get Red Robin and Nightwing together, I guess I'll take it.

[Avaitor]

Mark Hamill is back as the Joker!!!

I haven't seen any of these besides the ones I mentioned previously, but this is something that I could get behind.