I've seen a lot of these animated super-hero movies and this is in my opinion by far the best. It's no coincidence that it was written by Dwayne McDuffie, who also penned the wonderfully absorbing story arcs in Cartoon Network's JLA and JLU. I won't recount the plot, others have done that before me, but suffice it to say the script is intelligent, mature, doesn't talk down to the viewers, yet is also accessible to people of almost any age. There's a preponderance of action over story here, but when the characters do settle down for some exposition, McDuffie makes the most of it. The characterization, especially of the villains, never seems two dimensional. The nihilistic Owlman, especially, is fascinating and well-handled; I also think that James Woods probably gave the best voice performance in the feature among many very good ones. McDuffie has fun drawing parallels between the way the team of super-villains organize their crime empire with the real life Cosa Nostra, in one scene going into quite a bit of detail that you wouldn't necessarily expect from a cartoon kiddie show. Another standout scene has the JLA discussing the philosophical implications of taking on powerful crime figures in a parallel dimension where they have no jurisdiction, and the hardship this may place on its native inhabitants; they can stop the bad guys in the immediate present, but what happens when they leave? Are they willing to stick around forever to prevent retaliation? Are they willing to kill to make sure there isn't any? And I've become convinced no one writes better, more well-choreographed action sequences than McDuffie. An early one makes good use of suspense as two characters are fleeing pursuit through a series of massive doors that come together and lock behind them, and the sounds they hear as their pursuers batter the doors down just out of eyesight. My favorite mix-it-up action fight scene has to be the one that takes place in in a stormy sky involving several characters that fly under their own power and a sophisticated fighter jet. It really engaged a feeling of wonder in me, and envy, to be one these gods who can zoom around and play in the cloud banks. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention McDuffie's wonderful ear for dialogue; he can make the discussion of fantastic elements sound so natural. A good example is when Wonder Woman brings home an invisible plane from the alternate dimension:
Flash: I can't believe you kept that thing ...
Wonder Woman: Spoils of war!
Flash: What do you even need it for? You can fly!
Green Lantern, to Flash: You drive a car ...
Flash: That's completely different!
Don't you think that's probably the kind of things super-folks would say if they were real? Ah, to be a member of that club ... well, I can't, and neither can you, but you can do the next best thing and watch this film.
Flash: I can't believe you kept that thing ...
Wonder Woman: Spoils of war!
Flash: What do you even need it for? You can fly!
Green Lantern, to Flash: You drive a car ...
Flash: That's completely different!
Don't you think that's probably the kind of things super-folks would say if they were real? Ah, to be a member of that club ... well, I can't, and neither can you, but you can do the next best thing and watch this film.