'Justice League Dark' Review- It Needed More Swamp Thing

This movie was released in 2017.

Justice League Dark is directed by Jay Olivia and written by Ernie Altbacker. Based on the New 52 plot, this film delves into the darker side of the magic in the DC Animated Movie Universe.

The Justice League is investigating violent murders across the country. Though Superman (Jerry O’Connell) and Wonder Woman (Rosario Dawson) suspect magic, Batman (Jason O’Mara) remains unconvinced. After being possessed by Boston Brand aka Deadman (Nicholas Turturro), Batman realizes that John Constantine (Matt Ryan) is needed for this adventure.

The Dark Knight gathers Zatanna (Camilla Luddington), Deadman, John Constantine, Etrigan (Ray Chase), and Black Orchid (Colleen Villard) into the House of Mystery. They investigate further and discover a mysterious magician known as Destiny (Alfred Molina) is trying to free himself from Hell. Though it leads them to meet Swamp Thing (Roger Cross) and battle Felix Faust (Enrico Colantoni), they soon discover there is more to the mystery than simple murder magic.

This feels like Warner Bros. animated is running out of ideas. After using magic in a previous film, they are overplaying it again in this Justice League Dark. I’ve never been a huge fan of these characters, outside of Batman and Zatanna, so seeing them in a movie that was way too overblown did nothing to ease my discomfort. I was also disappointed that Swamp Thing barely had an appearance. His role needed to be extended a great deal.

Basically, they tried to jam too much into one story. They put in too many subplots and romances, it felt like they wanted to cover bases for future releases instead of building its own story. Had it been narrowly focused on solving the murders and utilizing the characters steeped in this world, it would have been less muddled.

While I did enjoy Batman and Zatanna’s chemistry, I found the other characters uninteresting and honestly bothersome to the Dark Knight. There was a funny scene where Batman is confronted by some grim reapers who get scared by his “boo.” That made for something interesting.

Now I did think the animation was well done. The character illustrations, backgrounds, and action sequences were very impressive. You cannot fault Warner Bros. Animation in that regard as everything looked cool as far as art.

I also want to praise the cast. O’Mara definitely has a good grasp on the Batman and performs the role flawlessly. I also appreciated DCAMU newcomer Luddington as Zatanna. She was an excellent addition to the cast and I enjoyed how she performed that character.

Bottom line, Justice League Dark has some positive aspects, but the plot was too muddled. It needed a more focused plot and expansion on certain characters.

FAVORITE QUOTE: I have a butler.

PARENTAL CONCERNS: Dark magical violence, sexual innuendo, foul language

Check out the teaser below:

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Tell me if there is a comic book, anime, movie, or novel you would like me to review.