Legión de superhéroes

DC animations are fine, adequate cartoons, but they never excelled at anything except perhaps the occasional voice acting, but they are decent. Legion of Super-Heroes is NOT OK.

The lead character is Superman's female cousin who, as a spoiled and entitled teenager two months on Earth, cannot adapt to the primitive ways of the 21th century. So Superman uses a gimmick to send her to the 31th century, to train in a hero academy. Wait, what? Don't think about it, just go with it. In this academy there are only other teenagers, all speaking and acting exactly like teens today. After 1000 years of history!! Don't think about it, just go with it. The villain, then, is a shadow organization that exists in both timelines, known to no one, but exposes itself completely for the sake of the plot. Then there is some side-plot about acceptance regardless of relatives or origin and a ridiculous ending.

That's it. Everything is telegraphed tens of minutes ahead and that's saying something for a 80 minute film. There is nothing special in this thing except for how bad the story is. It's as bland as a corporate hallway. So if you want to spend the time to watch a completely forgettable hero in a made-up inconsequential pocket world that has nothing to do with the characters and universe you know from other DC stories, go ahead.

In the 1960s, DC discovered that you could color outside the lines of the accepted backstories with "imaginary" tales ... and nothing has been the same since. Sometimes this works. Kara was a fun and unpredictable character in the 10-year SMALLVILLE run, for example. (BTW, the same two creators who are doing the breakout Wednesday series today). And sometimes it does not work. Case in point, this movie. You may or may not like the vintage animation. But in a world that is contemplating locking down entire cities just to save the ecosystem (which is happening today), LEGION OF SUPER HEROES seems like a waste of valuable resources. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

I sat down to watch the 2023 animated superhero movie from DC with my 12 year old son. And I had to admit that I was harboring a little bit of expectations to this animated movie from writer Josie Campbell and director Jeff Wamester.

DC does have some fairly entertaining animated movies out there, and while I am not overly much a fan of the superhero genre, then I can still appreciate good storytelling and a properly entertaining movie, even an animated one, when I see it.

"Legion of Super Heroes", however, wasn't all that impressive. Sure, it was watchable, but the storyline was a bit of a swing and a miss for me. The whole thing with alternate universes or future universes just doesn't sit all that well with me.

I will say that the animation and art style in "Legion of Super Heroes" was good, and it made the 83 minutes runtime more bearable to sit through. However, the character gallery in the story was a bit of a swing and a miss as well for me. Supergirl was adequate, but the rest of the characters at that future academy just simply didn't pack any wow-effect.

The voice acting in "Legion of Super Heroes" was good, and that is really important for an animated movie, as it is a make or break kind of deal with the voices. I wasn't familiar with the voices though, but they did good jobs nonetheless.

"Legion of Super Heroes" was not the best of animated movies from DC in my opinion, but it was watchable enough for what it turned out to be. I doubt that I will ever return to watch "Legion of Super Heroes" a second time though.

My rating of "Legion of Super Heroes" lands on a four out of ten stars.

Legion of Super-Heroes could've done with more of focus on the super hero team of the title but it remains a really good adventure that's a lot of fun and connects the wider Tomorrow-verse in satisfying ways that aren't too overbearing thankfully.

Meg Donnelly is a great Supergirl with lots of enthusiasm and some really endearing fish out of water antics. She has also solid chemistry with Harry Shum Jr. Who brings a suitably cold and calculating exterior to Brainiac 5 balanced by a warmer side under the surface.

The animation style carried over from Superman: Man of Tomorrow continues to impress, it still looks really nice and is way more colourful, stylised and detailed than what came before.

I'm always up for another DC animated feature, and while some have been better than others, this particular outing doesn't do it for me. We've got Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-el, come to Earth, no build-up to how she lands and adapts...

Oh, wait, she really doesn't, so Superman decides to take her to the 31st century and she enters a hero academy as a trainee. Yes, THAT Legion of Super-Heroes. And, like the spoiled and self-righteous stuck-up princess she is, she gets into trouble but eventually redeems herself.

On the plus side, the music is okay, the voices are decent enough, and the action sequences are pretty good. On the minus side, how the characters are drawn looks cut-rate to this viewer. It resembles The Man of Tomorrow with black outlines, but somewhat cheaper-looking. The story is all too predictable, and there's little sympathy built up for Kara during the proceedings.

On the whole, this isn't something I can recommend purchasing. I watched it because it's DC and DC superheroes/superheroines rock, but this...it's watchable, but no more. For something better featuring Supergirl, I'd suggest Superman Unbound. Kara is portrayed much more sympathetically in that movie.

Oh, and Arms Fall-Off Boy, he's just a little too creepy for me. Ick.