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Justice League: The New Frontier (PG-13, 2008)

common sense media says

Busy cartoon pileup of DC Comics superheroes. Some blood.

parents & educators say
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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this is a violent cartoon, with blood and dead bodies shown, and a little boy threatened with cult sacrifice -- although the worst of the gore and severed body parts seems reserved for monsters (specifically, mutant dinosaurs). There are two close-up fatal shootings and some light swearing. The PG-13 rating is possibly a little harsh, considering the fantasy nature of the material, but the feature does touch on some unsavory aspects of the 1950s, such as racism, the Korean War, and US government paranoia and treachery.

Positive messages: The characters here are all brave and noble, even as they disagree among themselves on how to go about the superhero business. There's a strong sense of teamwork and mutual respect among the heroes, and these good guys even come through when the public, military, and government persecute them. There's a somewhat negative portrait of the US in the 1950s as paranoid, homicidally racist, and conformity-ridden.
Violence: Blood flows from superhero and mortal injuries, and dead bodies are seen. Opening scene depicts a suicide-by-gun from the victim's POV. A dinosaur's head explodes, and monsters get dismembered. A little boy is threatened as a human sacrifice. Wonder Woman makes a brief, euphemistic reference to rape.
Sex: Not applicable.
Language: "SOB" used often, "hell" used once.
Consumerism: Natural tie-ins to countless comic books with these same characters, not to mention a directly connected graphic novel and TV show. The DVDs are heavily trailered with other DC cartoons.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Social drinking, smoking in a glamorous Vegas setting.
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More on Justice League: The New Frontier

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
Families can talk about the appeal of comics icons. Ask kids who their favorites are: Superman, Batman, Wonder Women, the Flash, Green Lantern, or their competitors over at Marvel like the X-Men? Comics-savvy parents can talk about the "Silver Age" of comics, an era with which this film specifically deals, and how this movie weaves into the costumed-superhero mythology the historical offscreen menaces of McCarthyism, Jim-Crow lynch mobs, Communism, and xenophobia -- a DVD "extra" documentary helps with some of the background. You might be able to introduce older kids to the more literate (and more sexually explicit) Watchmen graphic novel and movie, which also maintain a strong Cold War backdrop.

What's the story?

What's the story?
In the mid-1950s, America's Cold-War pathologies, conformity, and anti-Communist paranoia have even turned against the nation's superheroes, forcing many of them to go underground -- all except Superman, who took a loyalty oath to the US government. But the Flash is berated for keeping his identity secret (and wearing a politically suspect red costume), Batman is a fugitive, and Wonder Woman (as she helps some oppressed peasants in a far-off place called Vietnam) complains that her adoptive country is not as dedicated to truth, justice, and the American Way as it used to be. But the Justice League pulls together again to fight the rise of "the Center," a powerful ancient life-form, pre-dating the dinosaurs, who has also decided that humanity is a planetary nuisance and decides to eradicate mankind altogether.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

This is a feature spinoff of the Justice League of America TV cartoon series -- not a pilot but rather a super-sized valedictory episode, super-stuffed with super-events that superhero super-fans will consider super-canonical. In addition to the battle against the Center (an entity so powerful it can put Wonder Woman and Superman both out of action), the audience gets to behold the interconnected origin stories of two other DC superheroes, Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern, as well as the Flash revealing his identity to the woman he loves and Batman's early motivations in partnering up with Robin the Boy Wonder (to present a more "friendly" image to Gotham citizens during the fearful Fifties).

It's rather amazing that the overstuffed narrative holds together as well as it does, and some good scriptwriting and clever tie-ins to real-world events and attitudes help to keep all the various super-balls in the air. But viewers who are total strangers to the Justice League gallery of heroes and villains and their involved backstories -- Green Arrow, Hawkman, Gorilla Grod, Aquaman, the Joker etc. make cameos -- may find it all rather confusing. Even a few DC Comics connoisseurs might have wanted a bit more breathing room.

Movie themes & details

Themes
superheroes
Movie Details
Studio: Warner Home Video
Director: David Bullock
Cast: David Boreanaz, Miguel Ferrer, Neil Patrick Harris
Genre: Action/Adventure
Run time: 77 minutes
Theatrical release: February 26, 2008
DVD release: February 26, 2008
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: violent content, images
This review was written by Charles Cassady Jr.
 
 

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ohya
parent of 14 year old
11
 
milder than most PG-13 movies
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uhya
teen, 13 years old
10
 
violent but PG-13 is a bit high,isn't it.
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hikk
parent of 11 year old
13
 
I love it
I love it
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ZWolf
kid, 12 years old
8
 
a nice movie review.
a good movie for your thrill seekers parents
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