| Justice Society: World War II | |
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 4K UHD cover | |
| Directed by | Jeff Wamester |
| Written by |
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| Based on | |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Edited by | Bruce A. King |
| Music by | Kevin Riepl |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment |
Release date |
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Running time | 84 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Justice Society: World War II is an Americananimatedsuperhero film produced byWarner Bros. Animation andDC Entertainment. It is the 44th film of theDC Universe Animated Original Movies, being the second installment in theDC Animated Movie Universe's second phase, and the seventeenth overall.[1] The film is directed by Jeff Wamester and starring the voices ofStana Katic andMatt Bomer. It tells an original story of theFlash ending up back in time toWorld War II where he meets theJustice Society of America and helps them thwart the threat of the Nazis and theAdvisor.
DuringWorld War II, PresidentRoosevelt is asked by ColonelSteve Trevor to get theUnited States involved by creating a team of superhumans. Consisting of Trevor,Black Canary,Hawkman,Hourman,Jay Garrick / Flash, and led byWonder Woman, theJustice Society of America is formed.[2]
In the present,[a]Barry Allen andIris West picnic inMetropolis, hoping to get away from "work", but their plans are disrupted bySuperman fightingBrainiac. Allen comes to Superman's aid as the Flash. When Brainiac fires aKryptonite bullet, Flash tries to catch it, but runs fast enough to channel theSpeed Force for the first time. Guided by a voice, Allen arrives in what he believes is the past during a battle between the JSA and theNazis. Despite some initial confusion, the JSA realizes Allen is an ally and seemingly comes from the future.
After that battle is over, the JSA's next mission involves saving acodebreaker from a Nazi fortress. He can presumably decode a message Trevor stole. Despite the risk of causing a time paradox, the heroes realize they need Allen's help.
The heroes and "Shakespeare", the JSA's war correspondent, break in the fortress, defeat the guards, and discover prisoners in the dungeons. A young prisoner[b] in shackles recognizes Shakespeare, gives him a parcel containing a costume and says he must stop something terrible from happening. A guard attacks Shakespeare, only for the bullets to bounce off of him. Shakespeare's actual name turns out to beClark Kent, but has a different background from the Kent that Allen knows. Because of this, Allen realizes that he is in aparallel reality. Meanwhile, the JSA finds the codebreaker, whom Hawkman recognizes asKent Nelson / Doctor Fate. Allen recognizes Fate as the man who called out to him. According to Fate, Barry can return to his own reality, but there is a lesson he needs to learn first and a mission he has to accomplish. Breaking the code with his powers, Fate directs the team to theBermuda Triangle before disappearing.
Arriving at the Triangle by sub, the team is detected by Nazi warships. Afterdepth charges disable the engines, the Flashes jump-start the sub while Wonder Woman attacks the enemy ships. The heroes are saved byAtlantean soldiers, who direct them to a nearby outpost. There, the JSA meetsAquaman, who imprisons them. The code turns out to be a trap, and Aquaman is being controlled by the Advisor,[c] a telepathic mercenary who is influencing the Atlanteans to work with the Nazis. The Advisor hopes to destroy them later and take over the planet. The Flashes join forces to break out. The team splits up, with one heading for New York to stop the Nazis and Atlanteans while Allen and Wonder Woman try to stop Aquaman and the Advisor from releasingsea monsters from theTrench.
While attackingManhattan, the Atlantean forces are confronted by the JSA. The heroes gain the upper hand until the monsters arrive, killing Hawkman and wounding Hourman. Garrick and Canary destroy the monsters while Wonder Woman and Allen fight Aquaman. With the help of Trevor, Wonder Woman breaks Aquaman's trident knocking sense into him which frees him from the Advisor's control since he needs to be in close proximity. Realizing what he has done, Aquaman retreats in guilt and his troops cease their attack and leave. The Advisor then reveals that a follow-up strike by Nazi jet bombers is imminent before killing Trevor. Barry knocks out the Advisor while Kent, wearing the costume he was given, returns to destroy the bombers. Before dying, Trevor proposes to Wonder Woman, who accepts. The Advisor regains consciousness and escapes and the JSA vows to avenge Trevor.
Before returning to his Earth, Allen says goodbye to the JSA. Wonder Woman gives him the ring Trevor gave her, warning him against holding off for tomorrow. Allen and Garrick use their combined speed to send the former back to the moment he intercepted the bullet. After destroying Brainiac with it, Allen suggests forming a superhero team[d] to combat future threats. He then proposes to Iris, who accepts.
Justice Society: World War II was officially announced in August 2020, during theSuperman: Man of Tomorrow panel atDC FanDome.[3] Some of the concepts for the story and setting originated from aWonder Woman animated series developed by producer Butch Lukic, who would later incorporate them into the film.[4]
Justice Society: World War II was released on digital platforms on April 27, 2021, and was released onBlu-ray andDVD on May 11.[5]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 81% based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10.[6]
Jesse Schedeen ofIGN rated the film a 9 out of 10: "Justice Society: World War II easily ranks among the best of long-running DC Universe Movies series. It draws just the right amount of inspiration from the source material while also pulling from adventure movies likeRaiders of the Lost Ark to spin an entertaining superhero yarn. It deftly avoids the pacing issues that have plagued so many of these movies and manages to take full advantage of nearly every member of its ensemble cast. Clearly, Warner Bros. should be putting Barry Allen at the center of these animated films more often".[7]
The film earned $732,012 from domestic DVD sales and $2,887,606 from domestic Blu-ray sales, bringing its total domestic home video earnings to $3,619,618.[8]
The Flash makes a non-speaking cameo inBatman: The Long Halloween, Part Two's post-credits scene. Additionally, Criss and Bomer reprised their roles as Clark Kent / Superman and Barry Allen / The Flash in the filmLegion of Super-Heroes, which is also set in the Tomorrowverse.[9]
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