Justice League of America

Not only was this filmed on a shoe-string budget with cheap costumes and special effects, it betrays both comic book fans and movie buffs equally.

The JLA characterizations are horrible. To catalog all of the mistakes would take more time than this awful show is worth. Just to name one good example: a couple of characters (Fire and Guy Gardner) who actually hate each other in the comics were said to have dated previously.

It appears that somebody tried to fool the audience into thinking they had seen a more exciting show than they really had: major action sequences were never shown but instead reported (sans footage) by the evening news.

The 1997 Justice League of America Pilot was a fair entry into the world of television pilots. It was a little bland, but it had potential. A lot of really good TV series have had mediocre pilots including MASH, Remington Steele, Magnum PI, and all but the first Star Trek series. So although the first episode was less than an epic piece it might have taken off, and who knows maybe the Martian Manhunter would have given up the nachos and gotten on a treadmill, or at least done a few sit-ups. My only major complaint was that the show tried to be a sitcom, it was trying to ride on the coat tails of Friends. And I don't like Friends. The show would use a lot of the tongue in cheek jokes and it just didn't work.

I liked the plot, and the actors were okay, the characters probably would have developed overtime, so don't jump to conclusions about that just yet. The costumes would have probably been quickly replaced if the show were picked up, and a lot of other sci-fi/fantasy shows have weak special effects in there beginnings.

So hunt down a bootleg copy and give it a try.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF America (1+ outta 5 stars) Really dreadful live-action version of the DC comic... the popular humorous 90s version written by J. M. DeMatties and Keith Giffen. The movie might be entertaining for 9-year-olds but fans of the comics are going to be awfully disappointed in this misbegotten abortion. Almsot everything that could be done wrong, is! The actors are all terrible with the exception of Kimberly Oja as a newbie who gets initiated into the team after a freak accident gives her the power of... making things cold... oooooh! She kind of reminds me of Stephnie Weir from Mad TV. Miguel Ferrer and David Ogden Stiers (as J'Onn J'Onzz Martian Manhunter of all people!) are pretty much the only "names" in the cast and they are totally wasted. The characterizations of the familiar DC heroes (Flash, Green Lantern and The Atom) are embarrassing... but not nearly as much so as the dreadful costumes! Green Lantern's suit isn't even green, for crying out loud... it's some kinda pale blue! The dialogue is written in the same humorous style as the 90s incarnation of The Justice League... but the actual lines used are so incredibly LAME! (To tell the truth, the script is probably no worse than that of the recent "Fantastic Four" movie... which is the most backhanded of compliments, believe me.) And what is up with the female heroes chosen for this team? Fire? Ice? If they are DC Comics characters at all, they are very minor ones. (I sure don't remember ever seeing them in the comics.) I understand that rights issues probably kept them from using Wonder Woman... but surely they could have used some *actual* female JLA members? Black Canary? Zatanna? Well, the movie is bad enough to be amusing to those who like bad movies... but that's about it.

.. there must be a movie out there that's even worse. Lame characters even lamer acting. Lots of voice actors even the great David Ogden "Cogsworth" Stiers himself couldn't turn this movie into something decent. I haven't seen any acting of the man but he is by far a wonderful voice actor. Then there's John Kassir who did Meeko in Pocahontas. Not much of a speaking role. Anyway back to Justice League... really bad costumes, like the 60's Batman series which was good for it's time. And weak SFX this movie isn't worth my time. Maybe just maybe with a different cast, a different director and a much bigger bag of money this could've become something. Maybe an idea for the crew behind Spiderman or X-men when they run out of sequel ideas.

I just have to say that this is a truly awful film. I thought that I'd seen the worst adaptation of a comic book character (Captain America) and then this came along. Can anyone please explain why film makers find it impossible to keep to original origins/stories etc and keep trying to reinvent the wheel? Also, the constant interruptions to the story to go to interviews with the heroes do nothing for the film. This is a film with no redeeming features and should be avoided like the plague. If it were possible, I would give this a minus rating.