DC Comics Animated One-offs

Last week I watched five of Warner Brothers Animation Studio's releases of DC Comics based stand-alone films, that is, storylines independant of any WB/DC television series.

Batman: Under The Red Hood (2010), based on the Batman comics storyline of the same name, was about as good as any live action movie. Well animated with a killer script, with top notch voice acting to boot. I remember when Batman: The Animated Series changed the game of cartoons. Nice to see the franchise still hasn't lost it's touch. 9/10.

Justice League: Doom (2012) was enjoyable as well. Batman is one wary dude. Also, Batman is correct. When Superman says "Maybe I can move the Earth's orbit out of the path of the flare." The right reply is "Even if I had a week I couldn't explain all the reasons that wouldn't work." 7/10.

Superman Batman: Apocalypse (2010). I ended up quite liking this in spite of Kara Zor-El's annoying affect in the first half. Character introduction and development, cartoon babes, Batman being a cold badass. Plus, it had some of the best animated fight choreography I've seen in an American release. 7/10.

Superman vs. The Elite (2012). Was worth watching for the sole purpose of witnessing Superman's defense of why he never kills anyone. His illustrative example at the climax of the movie is well worth beholding. As a friend of mine said, "It... it's somethin'!" 6/10.

Batman: Year One (2011). The animated version of Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name was top notch. Briskly paced, fabulously voice-acted, and an animation style that remained true to the source. However, as an aside, I kept comparing it to the Nolan films, to which there's really no equal. In my opinion Nolan took the best parts from all of the Batman storylines and added his own genius touches and ideas to make The Dark Knight trilogy the ultimate Batman story. Regardless, as a stand alone or in that context, I happily give Batman: Year One 8/10.