Animated movie based off of the "New 52" Justice League's first comics storyline. If you don't follow comics and are unaware what "New 52" is, just look in your toilet before you flush next time -- there's your answer. The characters beloved for decades are butchered beyond belief. They're turned into nothing more than action figures macho posturing through mindless brawl after mindless brawl. Superman is a total jerk. Wonder Woman has a sword and is stabbing things right and left. They're both super violent and aggressive. It's bizarre. Oh and apparently Batman and Green Lantern are into each other. Who knew? They spend the entire movie having flirty banter. Batman even reveals his identity to him after about a half-hour of knowing him.

All of the voices are poor. No personality. Batman sounds far too nasal. Michelle Monaghan as Wonder Woman sets voice acting back a hundred years. She sounds like she's reading her lines instead of acting. Sean Astin is Shazam (formerly Captain Marvel for over seventy years -- don't get me started on that!). Astin makes "Shazam" sound like Artie Lange. The dialogue is worse than anything from a '60s comic. Painful to listen to. The use of regular actors instead of voice actors continues to be a mistake. Many of the actors here have never done voice work before and it shows. Quality voice actors are so much better than this, as the DC animated stuff from the '90s through early '00s can attest.

Wonder Woman suffers the worst, but Superman is a close second. The redesigned costumes are excrement. The animation is adequate but nothing impressive. Parents who care will probably regret letting their kids see this. There's lots of swearing to sound cool and an excessive amount of violence for a cartoon, complete with eyes being gouged out and blood and everything. Hardcore DC fanboys will probably love this. Former DC fans will think it's vomit. Casuals will turn it off. Future of DC animation is looking like the future of DC Comics -- bleak.

Waves of parademons attack and Earth's main super-heroes band together in defence somewhat reluctantly (because they don't like each other).

This animated movie tells a very simple story of a huge but unfocused invasion, fought off by well-known superheroes and Cyborg. There is some origin stuff (including Cyborg), but not enough given that these are the New 52 versions of the characters. And that means that Superman is not a character of humility and nobility, he's a brash young man driven by impulse. Wonder Woman is not a character of gravitas and depth, she is shallow and temperamental. Cosmic policeman Green Lantern, responsible for a huge sector of the galaxy, is a trivial smartar$e. And so on. These are not the characters many viewers will be expecting to see, and they needed more explanation.

The film, which has virtually no substance behind the almost non-stop action, is a wonderful example of just how misconceived DC's New 52 reboot was: just about everything which made its characters so iconic has been abandoned and replaced with something not as good. At a stroke, overall quality has been diminished by a material amount.

Lamentable.

I was particularly excited for this film for two reasons. First, I read and thoroughly enjoyed Justice League Origin, the comic off which the movie is based. Second, I am a huge fan of DC's animated universe since Batman: TAS. While "War" is not as good as "Doom" or "Under the Red Hood", it is a solid addition to a long line of great movies. Pros:

The entire movie was a visual treat. The style of animation is clearly different from other DC movies, but it's not bad, in fact I thought it was more visually appealing. From start to end, the animation delivers a clear and rich experience that definitely makes it more enjoyable.

Some have criticized War for weak plot and underdeveloped characters. They are right to some extent, for the plot is very basic with little information given on motive for Darksied's invasion. However the story is impressively accurate to its source material. So if you don't like the plot, take it up with Geoff Johns. Furthermore, we all know who each of the characters are, so an in-depth biopic of each Leaguer would be a waste of time. The comic is called Origin, and that's what this is, an origin of the Justice League so don't expect a ton of individual character development. My biggest complaint regarding accuracy would be the fact that Aquaman was replaced with Shazam. I'm as big a Captan Marvel fan as the next guy, but it was still disappointing that the king of Atlantis still doesn't get any love even after Geoff Johns did such a great job of finally making him cool. Furthermore, the personalities and even a good bit of dialogue of the characters could have been pulled directly from the pages of the comic. The dynamic between the heroes, especially Batman and Green Lantern, provided many of the best scenes, not to mention the funniest. I laughed out loud several times throughout and did not feel like the comedy, which was definitely more present here than in other films, took away from the experience of a film that is very centered on action.

Cons: Like most other reviewers, my only truly valid complaint involves voice casting. Most of the voices are adequate, and none of them are great. The best represented voices were definitely The Flash by Christopher Gorham, and Cyborg by Shemar Moore. Batman, performed by Jason O'Mara did sufficiently, but after growing up on Kevin Conroy, it was difficult to hear such a different voice coming from the cape and cowl. Steve Blum as Darksied brings a new kind of voice to the uber-powerful new god, but makes him seem more like a monster than a super intelligent being. The worst voice was by far Superman. Firefly star Alan Tudyk voices Superman, but fails to convey any gravitas or personality consistent with Superman.

Overall Justice League War received an 8 from me. While not DC's best contribution to the world of animation, but a fun, comical, and action-packed ride nonetheless. If you are a fan of DC and comics in general than it is definitely worth buying, if not it's still worth at least one viewing.