Injustice is a large-scale arc in the DC universe, unfolding in two parts of computer fighting games and a series of comics. The grand plot, in which Superman becomes virtually a world dictator, affects literally all the characters of DC Comics, miraculously intertwining their fates and ending lives. Even the most powerful creatures of the universe are drawn into the conflict of the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel, which adds weight to the happening. In general, the thing is truly unique in its kind, allowing you to look at many heroes from an unusual point of view, capable of captivating both drama, and the scale of events, and action, and plot twists and turns. Is such a story worth filming? More than that. The notorious Zack Snyder even laid certain bricks in this direction when he was still at the helm of the DC Cinematic Universe. But the animation division decided to roll out its own adaptation of Injustice, which came out rather weak.
The problem is that in such a ridiculous timekeeping (only an hour and a little), it is simply impossible to fit even a fifth of everything that happens in the framework of the Injustice plot. And it is not surprising that the final product turned out to be incredibly crumpled, transient, superficial. Animated ' Injustice' only a fading shadow of the original comics. Yes, the main conflict is transferred correctly, the motivations of the two key parties - Batman and Superman - are also clear and unquestionable. But it's still not enough. In a good way, instead of a full meter studio should have swung to the animated series, then there would have been another conversation.
'Injustice' in this form is deprived of a whole mass of small personal stories and dramas that existed in the comics. Deprived of throwing heroes, their reflections on the correctness of the chosen path. Almost devoid of view from ordinary people who disagree with the planetary dictatorship of Krypton. It's sad. I can’t say how 'Injustice' looks like a completely stranger, not familiar with the source, but for me it’s just a bit.
But, of course, the piece is pretty. Rating R reflects the general mood of Injustice, the plot itself, as I said, is quite meticulous in following the source, the picture is colorful and bright. Anyway, there's a lot to see. Another question is that it is a drop in the ocean. DC's largest event, affecting other galaxies and parallel worlds, is reduced to a fight in a clear field. Sadly.
The philosophical question of the possibility of peace on earth at the cost of the murder of others has now been examined through the eyes of the Justice League. Once again, the fact that Batman is stronger than Superman was confirmed: the restless Joker desperate to break the invincible will of the Dark Knight and took on the almighty, but still weak in spirit Superman, stupefying him and forcing him to kill his pregnant wife Lois Lane, in addition to destroying his city with an atomic explosion. The plan succeeds, and the Best Man on Earth turns into a grief-crazed tyrant eager to win everyone to peace by force. Not everyone agrees, especially Batman. The Justice League is splitting in two, the opponents of the new regime are outlawed, the confrontation of ideologies has cost the lives of several heroes.
The situation in which the characters find themselves is a dilemma in which everyone is right. On the one hand, only total surveillance and the death penalty can root out crime, but at the same time they abolish the value of life and free will, reducing people to an impersonal mass. The police state is just an illusion of a world where people live in shackles, expressing their opinions only in their own kitchen and then in a whisper.
Batman’s determination to defend his credo, according to which the life of the most recent villain is as valuable as the life of the most dear to him, seems incredible. God knows what hell is going on in his soul. Despite everything, Batman is still convinced of the inadmissibility of murder as a fight against crime and recognizes only the maintenance of balance - victims, alas, will always be, but no one wants to live in chains and under total supervision, so of two evils you have to choose the lesser. Superheroes have long been tired of the never-ending war on crime - that's what Superman's supporters are guided by. Batman tries to convince them that there is no final solution and there can be no, as long as there is humanity, imperfect in itself, and the murder of villains and diktat is in itself a crime against humanity. Once again, we are shown the heroic strength of the spirit of Batman and the weakness of Superman, capable of absorbing any science in seconds, but unable to curb his own emotions.
I didn’t play the original source game or read the comics that accompany it, but I loved the story. The ending, however, turned out to be crumpled, albeit obvious, once a multiverse specialist is introduced into the plot. Plus, we are given another reason to think about whether to be guided by the right mind or feelings. Both come at a price. The choice, as always, is ours.
Having knowledge only about the series of games and without reading this branch of comics I can tell. . .
That the story is distorted and superheroes, unlike the game, do not have a clear boundary between good and evil, they all remain good, the Wonder Woman, which in the game was an exclusively negative character, resembled in her Gnylowst and the LOTR universe, only instead of a king, poured superman, here she kind of started, but eventually became right again, this repels a few. Also poorly developed branch of parallel dimensions, although in the 1st part of the game it was from the beginning. Quite frankly, the differences from the game plot a lot.
But asking ' is this really important' I still think it isn't. The cartoon was based on the comics and the game (some part, for example, superstroke superman redrawn 1 in 1 and it can not but please), but it should not be a film adaptation of this or that, any author invests in his work something from himself, even if the source is not close. A lot of examples, Willy Wonka's father, ending of the film ' portrait of Dorian Gray' etc.
The picture came out rich, dynamic, bloody. A viewer familiar even nominally with DC characters and characters, I suppose, should like it.
When I first read the news that Injustice was getting a film adaptation, there were two thoughts inside of me. On the one hand, it’s cool, because this story is so fascinating and extensive. But on the other... The film, the original source of which takes 5 volumes, will have too little timekeeping, which means that much will go under the knife. Expectations were therefore restrained. And damn it, I'm sad. Many points are not disclosed, the alternate Earth is represented only at the end and then, by other Superman and Lois Lane, who acted as a "voice of reason" & #39; Deaths of heroes are omitted, except Nightwing, Arrow and other significant figures. And the fact that they are shown too ... faded, or what? There is no “39; wow-effect” that you get when you get acquainted with a comic.
The biggest mistake is timing. If the story were released as a series, then the creators might be able to tell a more interesting story. But we have what we have.
Fans of the universe can watch only for references to the eponymous game and comic book. The rest of you, you better pass by.
It is no secret that in 2012 it was announced, and later in 2013 the video game “Injustice: Gods Among Us” from the cult studio NetherRealm Studios, which is also the authors of the cult series of fighting games Mortal Kombat, was released. At the time of the announcement of the game, the light saw a series of prequel comics, and later full-fledged continuations of the events of the original game in the amount of 252 issues of comics. Not to mention that the game itself became a real hit and a few years later saw a long-awaited sequel. Hence, it is not surprising that already at the stage of the announcement of this film raised high hopes about how this film will turn out. However, did the authors of this tape meet their expectations? Let's figure it out.
The plot of this film revolves around a group of superheroes led by Batman, who fight against the dictatorial regime of Superman. One day, the Joker clouds the brains of Superman and he without realizing it kills Lois Lane and his unborn child, with whom all the inhabitants of the city die. Having lost all those who were dear to him, Superman renounces his previous ideals and decides to fight the villains in a different way - killing and pursuing them. Only Batman and a group of heroes can stop the planet’s greatest superhero, who has become a brutal tyrant.
Definitely one of the main drawbacks of this tape is the script. The original series of comics earned universal love and recognition for how methodically and gradually the authors of the comics revealed the characters of the main characters, demonstrated their personal transformations and motives for committing actions. Instead of decently disposing of the available material with an obvious look at several sequels, the authors of this tape collected individual stories and scenes from all 252 comics and put together in a kind of a hodgepodge. As a result, having achieved only that such an epic and large-scale story looks very superficial and local, and a decent disclosure of the characters and their motives is replaced by too hasty narration and a rather stupid conclusion to the whole story.
The film “The Dark League of Justice: Apokolips War”, which put a large-scale end to the DC animated universe, director Matt Peters has already proved that he is able to competently manage the abundance of characters on the screen and create a large-scale canvas. However, Peters failed to repeat his own achievement in this tape. As mentioned above, despite the abundance of various characters and the volumetric scale of the narrative, the story is presented very locally. It is as if the fate of all mankind is not being decided on the screen, but the usual street showdowns of superheroes take place. Reducing everything to a fairly sterile form. Including against the background of extremely ambiguous animation. Especially regarding the extremely angular and scanty drawing of Batman and Superman.
The script also had a negative impact on the characters. We can safely say that the authors of the original comics managed to create a very complex, deep and interesting interpretation of the cult Superman, who could not be called either a villain or a positive character. In this case, his image is simplified to a banal crazy tyrant and all this applies to many characters of this tape.
5 out of 10
Injustice: Gods Among Us is an adaptation of the cult comic book series and no less popular video game series, which unfortunately turned out to be far from as interesting and worthy as we would like. Instead of a large-scale, voluminous and deep story with reflections on the thin line between superhero and “police”, the authors of this tape gave a very superficial, overly simple and very hasty story. You can watch it once. But nothing more. Even if you are not familiar with the original comic book series and two video games.
If you’re a fan of the DC universe, I don’t recommend wasting your time on this movie. Injustice: Gods Among Us 2021 is an unfortunate adaptation of the game and comics of the Injustice universe of the same name in an animated format.
First, compared to the comics, the lion’s share of usable material is cut, revealing the slow decline of Superman as a hero, as well as the difficult confrontation of Batman and his entourage with the distraught Kryptonian.
Secondly, this is a timekeeping of 1 hour and 19 minutes, in which the events of the picture unfold extremely quickly and forcefully, as a result of which you do not have time to penetrate the depth of the story, characters and dialogues. The narrative looks crumpled and incomprehensible, but it is understandable, because the original story could fit if the cartoon was at least 3 hours, and perhaps needed a sequel.
Thirdly, the comics were more violent, more drama, characters’ emotions and passions were conveyed much better than in this work. In fact, the picture does not add any original and interesting material that can make the story better, more logical and more valuable in terms of ideas and message.
To sum up, if you want to get acquainted with the universe of Injustice, then the best choice for you will be a comic book or a game. If you watch this, it’s only if you want to look at the animated version of the story about the fallen superhero and some fights that are not bad.
5 out of 10
A story in which Superman loses everything - friends, parents, wife, lifestyle, beliefs, reputation, his own city with the entire population, in the end. Not only exciting and tense, but also multifaceted and debatable, raising those insidious questions of superhero morality and non-resistance to evil. It is extremely disappointing that the comic story, which the directors would have enough for a dozen sequels, for an unknown reason, it was decided to stop the escalation and present in a complete, but extremely stripped down version in this animated film. But nevertheless, it was done not so bad, and there is something to talk about.
'Injustice: Gods Among Us' this, as now often happens in animation from 'DC' as interesting as it is controversial project, in this case disappointing primarily on the level of expectations, and not as such. This is generally a good, albeit mediocre cartoon, whose main vice is in the infinite fading and plane when comparing it with the story told in the comics.
It is impossible to avoid comparisons with the original here, because, like 'Superman: Red Son' 2020, this picture closely follows the plot of the original source, it should only be done at some point to uncompromisingly say goodbye to it, instead offering your version of events, which destroys the original idea of the work, portraits and behavioral model of the characters, the plot ending and its conclusions, in the end.
For the story about Superman-villain from Soviet Russia, this is a much more legitimate and painful reproach, but also for Injustice' it is, so to speak, fair. If you try to briefly formulate what is wrong here, you get the following: the film is taken to show everything, but does not show the main thing. Following the comic canvas, the cartoon takes us through all the major events that caused Superman to fall to despotism and cruelty. But because of the ridiculous duration and abundance of events that the work contains, it looks very superficial and unconvincing. Where in the comics were given many pages for exposure, the gradualness of movement towards the conflict and different angles of view on it, the moral state of the characters and changes in them, in the animated film there is only a naked skeleton of the plot, according to which the characters move stupidly in the frame, showing no reflection or any other manifestations of a living consciousness. And if the compositional scenes from the film really correspond to them from the comic, then little remains of them, and therefore Harley Queen, morally crushed by the death of her idol, but still capable of sweet melancholy jokes, as she was in the original, turns into just a mischievous fool, not even remembering why she should be sad at all.
This is almost everything here - idiots at the UN, feebly applauding the usurper who declared his power over them; the silent submission of some heroes and the complete elimination from the narrative of others; Nightwing, which is an example of a situation where writers try to come up with something of their own, but it makes no sense; Superman himself, who is the worst in this film. So much worse that Batman here is experiencing twenty times more emotions from the loss of a partner than Superman from the death of his beloved wife and the death of Metropolis. It's just a laugh. Instead of a case-by-case lively, human reaction, he reads his script with an indifferent expression on his face, as a result of which one can even forget that everything that happened began with the loss of a wife by this bad actor - that is how much this event, his emotional or declarative response, does not matter for the film. And when emotions still overtake the hero of the drama, it is only to kill someone in the agony of rage - there are no complex and contradictory characters for you in the cartoon, only a one-dimensional maniac who, it seems, has always been so. Only Batman manages to look interesting, adequate and charming character, but rather his own nature obliges him to be.
Therefore, the final verdict ' Injustice' it is inconclusive, unreliability of the shown - there is a tragedy, but its importance is not felt; there is a world, but there is no impression that anyone lives in it; the characters move along the plot, but without any lifelikeness. Static pictures with ovals for the text learned to tell multisyllabic and dramatic epics, and in the animated film regretted a dozen frames on the facial expressions of Superman in order to at least slightly integrate him into what is happening. What do you call that, if not mediocrity?
But although in the context of drama, everything is sad here, ' Injustice' there are also significant advantages. Though due to the fully copied introduction, some elements of the plot do not make sense, but in general it is an adequate finished story, which failed ' The Red Son', for example. The ending, invented for the cartoon, is a certain convention and quite naive, but it is not bad, and could well figure in a similar comic. The visual style is interesting, acting as a reference to the style of the same original comic book. The Joker, who for obvious reasons is not enough here, also left a pleasant impression. And, most importantly, even with the indicated shortcomings, very significant, it is still interesting to watch it, because of the rapid pace of the narrative and even a certain intrigue. A controversial but interesting cartoon, which of course could be much better, but which will not be superfluous to watch.
The target audience of this work is not clear. The film is a Frankenstein monster collected from various issues of the entire Injustice 1 and Injustice 2 series. For comic book fans, absolutely everything is cut that gives the events the necessary context. For ordinary people, the thread of the narrative is so inconsistent and accelerated that it is impossible to follow the course of actions without knowing the initial events.
As an independent work:
Narrative: The editing of the painting is simply terrible. The movie starts off well, consistently. After the murder of the Joker, it becomes impossible to follow events because the context of these events is completely absent. How? Why? Viewers just watch a brief chronicle of what happened.
The director just stuffed different events from different issues into one film. I put it together and put it into production. It's ugly. Independent story decisions from the director only add questions.
Heroes: In the absence of screen time, the characters in the film are just robots like Amazo who only do what they do. There are no heroes in the film.
(Non-fans can go straight to withdrawal.)
As a work for fans:
I am a fan of this comic book series, so I can evaluate this film as a fan as objectively as possible.
Comics events have been happening for over 5 years. So initially seeing the film run at 1 hour, I lowered my expectations to a minimum. There. All the important topics that writers raised in the comic book series are missing. In the comic Superman more than 4 years pressed to become truly evil. It took 20 minutes from one murder to a mass murder. Batman and Damian's relationship isn't. Wonder Woman is kind (!!!) The fate of the Flash did not let go until the end of the film. At least mention him. And a lot of things that the director or screenwriter ineptly adapted.
Conclusion:
This work is not:
- Messages to morality.
- an interesting, consistent story.
Beautiful or unusual graphic style.
You will not learn anything new, you will not see beautiful battles. This is a disgusting adaptation made for fans, but so terrible that the only thing you want to do after watching this creation is to forget.
I can’t believe that this is the same director who directed the Wars of Apokolips.
Score 1.