Justice League Vs. The Fatal Five [Blu-Ray]

Director: Sam Liu

Cast: Elyes Gabel, Diane Guerrero, Kevin Conroy (VOICES)

Release Date: April 16, 2019

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 7.5/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

Synopsis:

Justice League vs. The Fatal Five finds the Earth’s future hanging in the balance when the Justice League faces a powerful new threat – the Fatal Five. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman seek answers as the time-traveling trio of Mano, Persuader and Tharok terrorize Metropolis in search of budding Green Lantern, Jessica Cruz – whom they need to free remaining Fatal Five members Emerald Empress and Validus in order to carry out their sinister plan.  But the Justice League discover an ally from another time in the peculiar Star Boy – brimming with volatile power, could he be the key to thwarting the Fatal Five? An epic battle against ultimate evil awaits!

Please Note: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

The latest addition to the animated ‘DC Universe Movies’ lineup; ‘Justice League vs. The Fatal Five’ finds the Justice League facing an unfamiliar threat when a mysterious and seemingly mentally troubled individual suddenly arrives spouting what appears to be crazy talk and soon finds himself being taken down by Batman after a curious encounter at a local pharmacy leading to fear and confusion. But what Batman and his fellow Justice League members don’t realize is that the man isn’t the slightest bit crazy, and his arrival from the future is no mistake. But his baffling comments and claims soon make a great deal more sense when three time-traveling villains arrive on site confirming his story. Now the League will have to partner with the mysterious Star Boy if they hope to stand any chance of deciphering the intentions of these deadly visitors and then stop them before they can complete their agenda.

‘Justice League vs. The Fatal Five’ is another solid entry in the ongoing lineup of animated ‘DC Universe Movies’ that brings fans a unique new story featuring many of their favorite Justice League members, while additionally giving some less common yet equally welcome heroes (and villains) their share of the spotlight, assisting in keeping things interesting while equally familiar and fresh; not to mention providing a real threat for even some of our more invincible superheroes such as Superman which always helps to sufficiently amp up the tension and excitement. The film also concentrates more than you might expect on some of the more personal or medical issues a couple characters within must tackle in their lives which contributes a relatable background for these no less heroic individuals and also keeps things somewhat down to earth in its own way amidst the out of this world action and scenarios, melding into a great balance between the two opposites. Fans of the Legion of Superheroes will also likely appreciate this one quite a bit and enjoy seeing some of its heroes finally granted a chance to shine in the DC animated film universe. It may not be one of the absolute finest entries overall, yet it’s also nowhere near the worst of them and provides a compelling, heartfelt and of course action packed adventure that should easily please the fellow DC fans and will certainly have no issue holding your attention from start to finish.

Overall, ‘Justice League vs. The Fatal Five’ is an action-packed and largely character driven addition to the animated DC Comics film universe that introduces some lesser known heroes and villains to the world(s) that some less dedicated DC fans may not be overly familiar with, while still offering the familiar favorites plenty of time to do their thing. While additionally exploring some less familiar territory including medical conditions and other emotional content that only helps it stand out from the pack which is certainly never a bad thing. ‘Justice League vs. The Fatal Five’ is definitely recommended, especially for fellow DC fans who surely won’t want to miss out on this one (or any of them for that matter if you’re anything like me). Casual viewers who may be interested in the film can also rest easy knowing there are no connections to prior films and you won’t find yourself at all lost with this one, even if it might be the first animated DC film you’ve ever seen.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Justice League vs. The Fatal Five’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks pretty great altogether, delivering the usual clean, sharp and vividly colored presentation we’ve come to expect from these releases, holding up quite well even during the various fast moving and/or darkly lit sequences throughout and never resulting in any onscreen activity becoming negatively affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is a solid high definition video presentation that delivers capably throughout and shouldn’t have any trouble pleasing the fellow fans.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack serves up a crisp, smooth and hard hitting audio presentation throughout. It constantly embraces all five available channels in order to send characters, weapons, explosions and plenty more regularly zipping throughout the various speakers, while never causing any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or rendered inaudible at any point. Overall, this is a wonderful 5.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtrack that sounds fantastic from start to finish and contributes plenty of extra fun to the overall viewing experience.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Justice League vs. The Fatal Five’ includes a few solid extras that fans should enjoy. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with Producer/Director Sam Liu, Executive Producer Bruce Timm, Co-Producer/Writer Jim Krieg and Writer Eric Carrasco’, in addition to ‘A Sneak Peek at DC Universe’s Next Animated Movie, Batman Hush’ (running approximately 9 minutes in length) and a couple of Behind the Scenes Featurettes; ‘Justice League vs. The Fatal Five: Unity of Hero’ (running approximately 15 minutes) and ‘Battling The Invisible Menace’ (approximately 8 minutes). Also included are 2 Bonus Cartoons ‘From The DC Comics Vault’; ‘Legion of Super Heroes, “Man of Tomorrow”’ (approximately 23 minutes) and ‘Justice League Unlimited, “Far From Home”’ (23 minutes), along with two older ‘Sneak Peak’ previews for ‘Justice League Dark’ (approximately 8 minutes) and ‘Justice League vs. Teen Titans’ (11 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 7.5/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

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‘Justice League Vs. The Fatal Five’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from DC Entertainment & Warner Bros. Entertainment

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