This is the first DC Animated Universe TV show or movie that Bruce Timm produced which looks like the work he helmed from 1991 to 2006 (B:TAS to JLU). It has a similar look to his earlier work but it is notably different in that it is PG-13. There is lots of on screen violence, some cursing, and a little bit of sexual innuendo. I think these elements worked for me in large part because this is an Elseworlds story. It wouldn't feel right if this was played as a mainstream DCAU movie.
Something or someone is killing off a group of scientists, all of whom are proteges of Lex Luthor. The Justice League is considered by many to be terrorists. They are not the Justice League that appeared in the Justice League or JLU TV series. There are just three of them: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. These are alternate takes of the big 3. They are quite different from the way these three characters are usually presented.
Superman is not the son of Jor-El. He did come from Krypton but it was a Mexican-American couple who found and raised him. His father was Zod. Jor-El was getting ready to add his DNA to his wife's egg in a fairly clean and scientific way, just before Krypton was destroyed. Zod stepped in and prevented him from doing so. He took Jor-El's place as the biological father of the man who became Superman.
Batman is not Bruce Wayne. His secret identity is Kirk Langstrom. In the comic books that is the secret identity of the Man-Bat. In this movie he was one of the group of scientists who were proteges of Luthor. He was close friends with Will Magnus and his girlfriend Tina. Kirk was looking for a cure to the lymphoma that was threatening to kill him. He came up with what he thought was a cure. Instead it turned him into a vampire like being.
Wonder Woman does not come from Paradise Island. Her name is Bekka and she is the granddaughter of Highfather. She was married to Orion, Darkseid's son. It was supposed to be a marriage to end the war between New Genesis and Apokolips. Instead it turned out to be a setup. Immediately after the wedding the New Gods of New Genesis strike down and kill Darkseid, his family, and his followers including Orion. Bekka is unable to accept was has just happens and flees to Earth.
The dead scientists were all attacked by robots. Early in the movie I thought the robots looked a little like the Batman of the future from Batman Beyond. Later in the movie they did things that made me think of Amazo.
The first scientist killed was Victor Fries. In the regular DCU he was the villain known as Mr. Freeze. There is no indication that he was anything other than a scientist before he was killed by the robot. The second scientist killed was Ray Palmer. He was driving home with some miniature horses, which presumably were once regular-sized horses, when he was attacked. Ray Palmer was the "Silver Age" Atom of the JLA in the comic books. The third scientist killed was Silas Stone. He was working on some weapons for Superman when he was attacked. His young son was in the lab too. Both were killed by the robot. Silas Stone is the father of Victor Stone aka Cyborg of the New Teen Titans in the comics books. I didn't recall who he was until I saw in the credits that he was created by George Perez and Marv Wolfman.
The investigations into the deaths are led by Steve Trevor. He has a past with Wonder Woman but he works for the President of United States, Amanda Waller. The evidence in the case seems to indicate that the Justice League are the ones behind the murders but they know nothing of it. It is making them nervous.
Batman discovers that Luthor's surviving proteges are up to something. He asks Will and Tina but they tell him nothing. He later spies on them and all the other scientists from the group. It includes Sivana and some other who go unnamed. While he is spying on them several robots emerge from Boom Tubes and attack the scientists. Batman tries to fight off the robots but there are too many of them. The scientists are all killed, with one exception, Will Magnus, although he is in critical condition. Superman and Wonder Woman show up at the last minute but it is too late. The robots escape through Boom Tubes.
Superman goes to see Luthor, who now lives on a satellite, orbiting the Earth. Luthor tells Superman the truth about Jor-El and Zod and Project Fair Play. The purpose behind the project was to design protection against the Justice League. This seems very much like Project Cadmus in seasons one and two of JLU. Superman leaves the satellite and heads back to Earth. Luthor's satellite is destroyed by a robot that appears from a Boom Tube just after Superman leaves.
President Waller decides to unleash Project Fair Play on the Justice League. Stever Trevor is sent with lots of troops to apprehend them in their headquarters in Metropolis. Superman gets a nasty surprise when he discovers that the government has indeed developed weapons that can harm him. Batman locks down the building while Superman and Wonder Woman are outside fighting the forces of the United States. Batman gets a nasty surprise when Tina shows up. She was among those killed by the robots but it turns out it isn't really Tina or at least not the Tina he knew years ago. It is a robot that looks just like her. She takes him down with some help from Tin and then injects Will with something that allows him to recover immediately.
Luthor shows up in the middle of the fight between Wonder Woman, Superman and the forces of the United States government. Apparently he wasn't dead either. He points out the truth, that Magnus is the real villain. Magnus is planning to blanket the world with nanites to pacify the world. Even Luthor doesn't like the prospect of that future.
Will's robots, the ones that killed the other scientists appear. They fight first with Batman who manages to free himself. After he unlocks the building they go after Superman. The robots merge into one super robot. They prove to be too much for Superman until he fries their Boom Tube technology. Wonder Woman takes on Tina. Kirk deals with Will. After the fight is over Bekka decides that she needs to go back and deal with her family on New Genesis. Luthor agrees to go with her. He looks a little like Metron in his floating metal chair.
Lois Lane is in this movie but I didn't mention her in my summary because she doesn't seem to have a special relationship with Superman. Any well known DC Universe reporter could have taken her place and it wouldn't have changed the story significantly. It would have been nice if her relationship with Superman ran a little deeper than it does in this story. It wouldn't have to have been a romantic relationship to satisfy me.
I wasn't expecting Will Magnus to be the villain but I wasn't completely floored when I found out that he was the one behind the murders. Prior to that I wondered if maybe Brainiac was the one sending the killer robots after Luthor's dream team.
I was very impressed with this movie. It got me from the opening sequence and held me throughout, even if does bear a passing resemblance to the Cadmus story from seasons 1 and 2 of JLU. It kept me guessing. It even brought a tear to my eye at the end.
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