Animated Movie Review: Justice League: New Frontier (2008)

Director: Dave Bullock
Distributor: Warner Brothers Entertainment
Runtime: 75 minutes
Released: February 26, 2008
Availability: On 4K Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray, and digital, streaming on HBOMax

In the 1950s, the Justice League comes together for the first time to battle a terrifying creature known as the Centre, while trying to handle McCarthyism and the distrust of superheroes because of Communism.

Most of the DC Comics animated adaptations of graphic novels usually come from recently written comics or memorable comics that are considered classic stories.

Many of the comics adapted are usually set in the year they were published, Justice League: The New Frontier (2008) is set in the 1950s and not when it was published in 2004. I like it because it shows us a unique time period in comic book history, so many of the original designs from that era are present in the story. It also gives it a unique look, which I’ll talk about later.

I did like that the story did show some politics, since it was about dealing with the real-world issues of the time, but it wasn’t preachy or saying that one side was better than the other, the message about setting aside political parties to work together is a great message that more people need to hear.

I also enjoyed seeing these characters behave in a different time period, which I think is very interesting.

The animation looks great and I like the character designs. I like the character designs because they are based on the original character designs of many of DC Comics’ heroes when they were first published. I think it makes the movie unique because it looks so different from all the other animated movies DC Comics has put out after this.

The fight scenes are also have good choreography, and all the characters make use of their skills or superpowers. It’s what makes superhero movies fun to watch, and animation can do more than some live-action films when it comes to what the animators can imagine.

The art style makes the movie unique and it’s a fantastic movie to watch and I love the animation.

The voice acting is excellent in this animated film. There’s a nice variety of voice cast and they do a fantastic job.

I really liked Jeremy Sisto as Bruce Wayne/Batman. He has a very unique voice for Batman that I’ve only heard in this movie. He was a great choice for this role.

David Boreanaz gives a great vocal performance as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern. He embodies everything that makes Hal Jordan a great character. I liked his voice work in this role.

Miguel Ferrer did an excellent job as the voice of J'onn J'onzz/John Jones/Martian Manhunter. He was a different take on the role than other voice actors and I liked his vocal performance.

Neil Patrick Harris is great as the voice of Barry Allen/The Flash. I’ve always enjoyed his voice work and he always sounds like he’s having a blast no matter what character he’s voicing.

Lucy Lawless is fantastic as the voice of Diana Prince/Wonder Woman. I really loved her voice work in this film and she was the perfect choice to voice this role. She was great and I enjoyed her voice acting.

Kyle MacLachlan is great as the voice of Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman. I liked him in this role but he didn’t get to do too much, but he was still a good choice to voice the role.

Overall, the voice acting is top-notch and I loved it. Everyone did a fantastic job in this movie. They have an all-star voice cast and that makes this movie unique because they stopped doing that after they started adapting stories for the New52, and that’s a shame because the voice acting quality also went do after that. This movie stands out because it’s unique for the voice cast. Many of the DC animated movies aren’t unless they’re based off a classic DC Comics’ story.

Kevin Manthei’s music score is very well done and I liked the music. It fit the film very well and suited the movie. It helped sell many emotional moments in the film. The soundtrack was great and complemented the movie.

One flaw of the movie is that because of the short runtime many characters didn’t have much development outside of the main characters that contributed the most to the story. I feel that if they’d been able to make the movie longer, I would have been able to see more character development for more than just a few characters.

Because the movie’s runtime is so short at 75 minutes, it feels like there’s a lot of the story that’s missing, these days DC Comics animated movies tend to have a runtime of at least 90 minutes or near that, but when they first started making these animated movies they didn’t let themselves have a long runtime because they didn’t know if they were going to sell and this is one of those movies that I wish were longer than it was, because it would have been more characters could have been fleshed out.

There is some profanity and some violence; there is blood and superhero fighting.

Justice League: New Frontier (2008) is an animated film that I enjoyed a lot. I blind bought it based only on the preview and the trailer and I loved it. I especially enjoyed rewatching it because I hadn’t watched it in a very long time.

You don’t have to blind buy it as I did, but you can rent it on digital if you want to watch it once. It is worth watching at least once and it’s very inexpensive to buy a physical or digital copy because it’s been out for so long.

DC Comics went all out with an all-star voice cast, something they don’t do with future animated movies. It’s a shame because they had a lot of television stars lending their talents to this movie and it’s also unique because it doesn’t happen anymore with their animated films.

The story is fantastic, the art and animation style still holds up and it’s a unique look for the film that none of the other DC Comics animated movies have done since.

The music is also very well done and I enjoyed it.

I loved every aspect of this film, but it’s only held back by its short runtime that I wish were longer so I could see more character interactions and development.

I love this film and I can recommend a blind buy, but if you want to give it a rental you can. It’s worth your time and money since it is inexpensive.

It’s a very well done money that I enjoyed a lot and it’s a unique art and animation that hold up very well along with a fantastic story.

I especially enjoyed the story’s unifying message, especially in the political climate where people just want to disagree on everything, especially politics. I think it’s a message people need to remember: that we can set aside political differences and work together to do something to help others.

Stream it on HBOMax if you have a subscription, it's a fun movie!

It’s a fun movie that is one that you’ll enjoy if you read stories with DC Comics’ characters and read or watch the Justice League comics and cartoons. If your local library has it see if you can borrow it, it’s been out so they might have it in their system.