Justice League Dark Apokolips War is very much what the title suggests, a war on Apokolips. The home planet of Darkseid is our movie setting for most of the run time. What I liked about the story here is how it doesn’t mess around. The opening 5 minutes to the movie tells us exactly what is happening and what the Justice League must do. We are then treated to 85 minutes of all out war. Battle after battle and death after death with some real shocks along the way.

apokolips war

ANIMATION 

Flawless in the Warner brothers, DC universe style. With its own unique image there doesn’t feel to have been much development over the years but the subtle changes are there. The main improvement I have seen throughout these movies which was very evident here was the speed of the action. Fight sequences have become incredibly slick and smooth which rockets along at a high tempo. With a higher age rating the punches hit that much harder. A level of brutality you might not be used to in the DC Animated Universe.

apokolips war

CAST

Once again the Justice League brings a stellar cast to the table. Jason O’Mara as Batman, Rosario Dawson as Wonder Woman and Jerry O’Connell as Superman complete our trinity. Billed as the main stars Matt Ryan as Constantine and Taissa Farmiga as Raven deliver a great partnership as a pair of characters I have wanted to see on screen together for a long time. Matt Ryan has made the role of Constantine his own across every format and doesn’t disappoint with his English swagger. Taissa Farmiga who I have championed online to play Raven in a live action movie proved she certainly has the personality for the character. 

STORY

The only part of the movie I felt was slightly disappointing was the structure of the story. This is called Justice League Dark, but it didn’t feel like a Justice League Dark movie. Batman and Superman played too big a part in the movie when it should be the likes of Swamp Thing, Etrigan or Brother Blood who take the spotlight. The Suicide Squad felt forced into the movie for some comedy relief which didn’t work for me and brings the tone down from what was quite a serious movie. Harley Quinn is hot property right now so I understand the business needs to shoehorn her into everything although her tone felt out of place here. 

CONCLUSION

I enjoyed Apokolips War quite a bit. It’s fast paced and jam packed full of characters with lots of action. Rumoured to be the final movie in the DC animated shared universe and I found the ending to be clever but predictable. I think this was a good Justice League movie but not a good Justice League Dark movie. The movie struggles to understand its own identity but still manages to create an atmosphere steeped in DC comics lore and is an entertaining 90 minutes.

Thank you to Warner Bros UK Entertainment for early access to review this movie.

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