Legione di supereroi

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.

Basically Supergirl travels into the future to train with the heroes of the title. There's kind of a Young Adult vibe, multiple romantic interests, Wolverine-like superhero Timberwolf, some interesting stuff about the Brainiac dynasty...and it begins with yet another depiction of the destruction of Krypton, although it's from Kara's POV.

Nice animation, good voice work, more instances of the needless gore that stops these movies being suitable for younger viewers...it's a decent enough entry, but there's not much to it.

It has similarities with the previous animated movie Batman/Superman: Apocalypse, which also featured an unhappy, fish-out-of-water Supergirl leaving Metropolis to train with a bunch of super beings - in that case, Wonder Woman's island of amazons.

The two most notable things are that the plot actually builds on a seemingly disposable moment from Justice Society - World War II; and the post-credit sequence, which nicely sets up a bigger story ahead.

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))

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.