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Parents' Guide to

Justice League: War

By Brian Costello, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Dark animated tale has constant violence, some profanity.

Movie PG-13 2014 79 minutes
Justice League: War Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Hendo H. U.
Hendo H. U. Parent of 10, 12 and 15-year-old
January 4, 2018
age 14+

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
harlanl
harlanl Adult
August 5, 2016
age 10+
A very good movie for fans who like the justice league it has some cursing like son of a b***h and there is a lot of alien blood and you see some human blood but not that much

This title has:

Too much violence
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Batman is blamed for a series of abductions. In pursuit of the actual kidnapper, Green Lantern comes to realize that the attacker is actually a Parademon -- one of the monstrous alien troops under the service of Darkseid. They pursue the Parademon into the sewers, where it charges a Mother Box. As they try to make sense of this Mother Box, the Flash supplies another Mother Box to S.T.A.R. Labs, where the scientist father of a winning football player named Vick (Shemar Moore) cares only for finding out all he can about the Mother Box. When these and other Mother Boxes explode and turn into Boom Tubes, the superheroes realize that an alien invasion perpetrated by Darkseid is eminent; while in the midst of an argument with his father at S.T.A.R. Labs, Vick is gravely wounded by Boom Tubes emerging from the Mother Box he holds in his hand. Vick emerges as the superhero Cyborg, who must join forces with Shazam, another newly emerged superhero, along with Superman (Alan Tudyk), Batman, Wonder Woman (Michelle Monaghan), Green Lantern, and the Flash to save Earth and stop the alien invasion.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (4 ):

JUSTICE LEAGUE: WAR is enjoyable, even if at times it just feels like one big battle scene rather than an origin story of sorts. There's nothing quite like a scene in which Green Lantern calls Batman a "phenomenal douche bag" to let anyone more accustomed to the "Superfriends" Saturday morning cartoons of their '70s and '80s childhoods know that we're a long way from those days. Superheroes are now conveyed as deeply flawed, short-tempered, and misunderstood by humanity at large. The story is best enjoyed by those who are already familiar with such things as "Mother Boxes," "Parademons," and "Boom Tubes." The origins of Cyborg and Shazam are interesting, but it's all part of the frenzy that, at times, feels overwhelming, like trying to convey too much information and story in a limited amount of time.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about violence in animated features. How is it similar to and different from the violence in nonanimated feature films and TV programs? How has that changed over time?

  • Was the violence in this movie necessary for the story, or did it feel forced?

  • How are the superheroes' characters shown to be more complex than they were in the past?

Movie Details

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