Justice League: Throne of Atlantis

Aquasideburns

Wow, someone finally managed to make Aquaman kinda cool.

In the newest direct-to-Blu-ray DC Comics feature, Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, the Super Friends have to do battle with a bunch of mer-people while making friends with the king of the seas.  A dude who can talk to fish.  And actually has killer sideburns.

Normally I try and grab these DC Animated movies on release day, but I just didn't have that desire for Throne of Atlantis.  And not just because it's Aquaman and, according to Raj on Big Bang Theory, "Aquaman sucks."  I wasn't too thrilled with Justice League: WAR, and I'm still kinda hung up on the Justice League Unlimited series ending all those years ago.  Otherwise, most of the DC Animated features have been very enjoyable, with 2009's Wonder Woman still topping my list.

So I was out shopping last night for baby stuff, and saw both Throne of Atlantis and a Blu-Ray of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial and said, fuck it I'll buy them both.

Throne of Atlantis was pretty good, with the spotlight definitely being on Aquaman.  I was hoping for more of a presence from Superman since he's my all-time favorite but that wasn't really there.  I did quite enjoy his little date with Wonder Woman though, but this definitely wasn't a movie about Kal-El.  To be honest, we've got enough of those as it is.  As you may remember from my JLA Crisis In Time review, I actually quite like seeing the secondary DC characters shine.

The animation in Throne was the usual quality from Warner Bros, and the voice acting was also what you'd expect.  I was really excited to see that an old Filmation Aquaman episode was included as one of the bonus features.  That really made my morning.  There were a couple bonus Aqua-themed episodes from Brave & The Bold too, which is awesome to have, even if I already have them on other DVD sets.

Shazaman, Green Lanternman, Wonder Womanman, Aquaman, Superguy, Batsuitman, Flashman, Not-Martian Manhunter

What fell short for me was the actual Throne story.  You get that typical super-hero fare where someone finds out they have a destiny to live up to, and by the end of the 74 minutes they're really to go do battle with every baddie they can imagine.  At no point was there really any examining what Aquaman felt when he learned that he was going to rule Atlantis.  Just all of a sudden he's like, allright...I'm king now... of a place I've never been before... shit yeah.

But, I guess we're all okay with suspending disbelief for people who can fly and become half robotic or breathe under water in the first place.

Check this little movie out, the action in it is pretty rad.  Oh, and Aquaman's sideburns really are pretty rad.

- ryan of the ryan fan club