ANI-MOVIES, *Justice League: Crisis On Infinte Earths-Part Three

DC concludes their Tomorrowverse with the final chapter of their Crisis trilogy. This not only closes out the Tomorrowverse, but also the DCAMU timeline that had begun with Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. Part Three of Crisis On Infinite Earths sticks more to the original 80s maxi-series by George Perez and Marv Wolfman than the prior two installments. Part One was more of an origin story for the Tomorrowverse versions of Flash and the Justice League, and Part Two delved too much into Supergirl and Psycho-Pirate's backstories. This conclusion takes more of the events that happened throughout the entire Tomorrowverse timeline and makes them the driving force of the story acting as a better culmination of all the plotlines into a single climax.

Taking place months after Part Two, The Monitor managed to transfer all the remaining Earths to a section of space called The Bleed which exists outside the regular universe. The surviving heroes find Wonder Woman frozen in ice and reanimate her. The Bat-Family fights off some Nazis when Batman gets infected with fear toxin but awakens remembering his encounter with Flash when he was on Warworld. Batman along with Dr. Fate and a now depowered John Stewart go to bar in an old west town run by Bat Lash who Wonder Woman met a variant of in her Warworld experience. At the bar, they find John Constantine and coerce him into remembering his past prior to the formation of the Tomorrowverse where he has the Flash from Flashpoint going back in time to restart the universe, only this time with the death of Darkseid when he was a wee baby. With Darkseid not being in this timeline, multiple realities were spawned off, more than the universe was capable of withstanding. That's where the threat of the Anti-Monitor arose, acting as an anti-body to prevent the unraveling of the universe. While this is going on, Lex Luthor and his Legion Of Doom consisting entirely of Batman villains are in charge of one the remaining Earths when Lex works out a plan to take out the Anti-Monitor. The plan involves getting a Kryptonian to absorb the energy of multiple suns to do a suicide run and blow up the Anti-Monitor, but since it Supergirl was already amped up with her extra power as Harbinger it is her that makes the sacrifice. The Anti-Monitor dies, only to for it to be revealed that thousands of Anti-Monitors arise to take the place of the original. Batgirl remembers Supergirl mentioning the Miracle Machine from the Legion Of Super-Heroes movie which is basically just a high-tech wishing device. Martian Manhunter arrives with Warworld having survived along with Lobo and Adam Strange, and the final green Martian brings the Miracle Machine to them where Wonder Woman offers up her immortality to restart the machine. The remaining heroes set up a singular universe where there will only be one version of each character, leaving out Constantine, Question, and the Spectre who remain behind. Whether or not these heroes will have a part to play in any future DC adaptations is unknown, even though there are plans to give Constantine another movie.

Part Three wraps up the Tomorrowverse, as well as incorporating other DC animated TV shows like the original DCAU along with Super Friends and Teen Titans, although this doesn't mean those versions of the DC Universe don't exist anymore. If Batman: The Animated Series ceased to exist too early, then the Terry McGinnis Batman of the future wouldn't have been able to show up in this trilogy at all. This film marks the last appearance of Kevin Conroy as Batman which eases a bunch of whining gamers who were antsy over the recent Suicide Squad game. Of all the chapters of the Crisis trilogy, this film acts as the better adaptation of the source material with the epic death of Supergirl, along with the heroes resigning to their fate in a new combined monoverse. Don't expect to see any huge continuity links between the Tomorrowverse and any upcoming DC animated adaptations which are supposed to be connected to most of the upcoming live-action DC projects. The future of DC animated movies is uncertain, even though there is an animated version of Watchmen on the horizon, it doesn't have any real connection to the other DC properties. Part Three is a fine enough last act for the Tomorrowverse, but longtime DC fans will find it more than a little underwhelming as this new timeline gets an official ending only a few years after it began.

ANI-MOVIES, *The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is The Blood Of The Baboon Heart

After five years, Adult Swim finally decided to fund the ending to The Venture Bros. after its last season in 2018. This was part of an initiative to conclude a few Adult Swim titles that had been left unfinished such as Metalocalypse. Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick returned to close the lid on their action cartoon parody taking place few days after the original final TV episode. This would have been about 4-5 episodes long but was instead one long feature-length production.

Hank has gone missing after seeing Dean sleep with his girlfriend. Brock and OSI can't find him, so Dean goes to Dr. Orpheus to magically track down his delusional brother. Dr. Venture is planning on releasing a new convenience gadget called the Helperpod while The Monarch is forbidden from arching him until the little matter of the two of them being related is cleared up. Hank is being plagued by his inner demons, or at least various identities he's taken on including of course "The Bat", so he decides to find his real mother. After meeting up with Dermott, he goes to an animal reserve for super-science victims where he finds the woman he thought was his mother isn't at all. Meanwhile, a new collective of villains called ARCH has premiered being run by Mantilla who supposedly dated both Dr. Venture and The Monarch, and the main reason the The Monarch hates Dr. Venture so much. Mantilla sets up her whole organization to rip off Dr. Doom by launching the VenTech Tower into space along with Venture, Sgt. Hatred, Monarch, and 21, all while OSI tries to find a way to bring them down without blowing them all to kingdom come.

The movie has an elevated production value, even though not that much above what Astro Base Go was already doing back in the 2010s, a style that WB seems to have incorporated to their latest DC animated movies. The story gives a fitting topper to The Venture Bros. TV series, despite the fact that not all questions got answered. Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick are brilliant writers that unfortunately trolled their fans by just leaving some major characters and plotlines up in the air. The film is totally satisfying to anyone whose been riding this roller coaster since all the way back in the Golden Age of Adult Swim. The callbacks, pop culture references, and even vague character development makes a great last supper for the members of Team Venture.

R.I.P. John Mayall, The Godfather of Britsh Blues

MISC. MANGA, *Another Castle

Andrew Wheeler has won both Shuster and Eisner awards as a comics writer for his work on various titles including Dungeons And Dragons. He teams up with artist Paulina Ganucheau from the magical girl inspired Zodiac Starforce series to create this gender fluid fairy tale which has nothing to do with Super Mario Bros. Another Castle was a 5-issue mini-series from Oni Press about a kidnapped princess with no Italian plumbers to help her, so she has to rescue herself. There is a major anime influence to this as well as a diverse set of characters.

Misty is the princess of the land of Beldora who gets captured by the immortal sorcerer Badlug from the rival kingdom of Grimoire. The only thing that can kill Badlug is a magic sword that Misty's would-be husband tries to deliver to slay the evil demon lord but is completely incapable of completing the quest. Misty teams up with two of her captors including a gay gargoyle and a saucy gorgon to try and liberate the land from Badlug's rule.

Another Castle does a good job of reversing the "damsel in distress" trope by proving that Misty is no Disney Princess waiting in a tall tower for a Prince Charming to free her. Paulina Ganucheau brings her amazing anime style in this dynamic looking comic. There are two separate collected editions of this with the first one being titled Grimoire and a revised version titled New Edition, even though both releases are of equal quality. A great YA adventure for otaku and lovers of high fantasy.

ANI-MOVIES, *Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimmaron

Former Disney animators Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook went on to be an active part of the Dreamworks crew in what was one of the few movies they created that wasn't fully CGI. Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimmaron is an original story by Young Guns writer John Fusco also set in the ol' west all told from the point of view by a horse that eventually gets named Spirit by his human counterparts. Being released at the turn of the millennium didn't help a film that combines traditional animation with CGI, especially in the played-out genre of a western. Despite being a box office dud, it gained a fresh audience years later on cable and streamed TV, including a legacy sequel and a children's TV series.

Sometime in the American west after the Civil War, Spirit is born into being the leader of a wild herd who grows up to discover humans for the first time in the form in the United States Calvary. They capture the horse and try to break him in, much to the chagrin of the troop's Colonel who is met with nothing but defiant behavior. A captured Lakota teen named Little Creek helps free Spirit and welcomes him into the company of his tribe, including his sweet mare Rain. The paint horse wins over the Kiger mustang who comes to realize that not all humans are cruel, even though Spirit still won't let any of the Lakota tribe ride him either. The Colonel and the calvary return to push the Lakota off their land to make way for a new railroad. Spirit and Little Creek halt the army's progress leading into a daring chase in the Grand Canyon the rebellious horse finally lets himself be ridden on as they escape the Colonel. Little Creek frees Rain as she and Spirit rejoin his old herd after finding them out in the lone prairie.

This film has an excellent blend of both regular and computer animation, much better than other movies of the time like Titan A.E. The major selling point is the interactions the horses have with each other and humans which is largely free of dialogue aside from the occasional recollection by Spirit himself voiced by Matt Damon. A double-edged sword of this production is the soundtrack featuring music by the unparalleled Hans Zimmer along with 80s-themed songs by pop artist Bryan Adams which causes a major divide throughout the film trying to figure out what mood the scene was setting. Spirit is a memorable production that is inviting to young viewers and demonstrates how corrupt the idea of westward expansion really was.

ANI-MOVIES, *The Imaginary

Having nothing to do with the recently released horror movie with a similar title, The Imaginary is the second full-length anime movie by Studio Ponoc since Mary And The Witch's Flower which was written by former Ghibli producer Yoshiaki Nishimura. Similar to current Pakistan movie of The Glassworker, this film took a major influence from the Studio Ghibli's history of films, specifically Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away, even though the world this story takes place in gives off stronger vibes of something you would see out of Pixar. The Imaginary is largely hand-drawn animation, so it took a considerable amount of time to complete, which is why Ponoc worked on it for over six years to complete it along with a release date delayed by six months. In what seems to be the middle of an "imaginary friends renaissance", this film actually sticks the landing as is directed by another former Ghibli alumni, Yoshiyuki Momose.

Amanda is a little girl who copes with the loss of her father by creating her imaginary friend Rudger who is a young boy that only she can see or hear. Imaginaries as they are called are subject to some physical laws, so they can't go through walls like a ghost, and they only exist if a child believes in them. An enigmatic stranger called Mr. Bunting uses his old gloomy imaginary friend that looks like Samara from The Ring to hunt down other Imaginaries and feed off them to prolong his life. Bunting gets a whiff of Rudger's potency and plans to consume him. He tracks down Rudger which causes Amanda to get hit by a car sending her to the hospital, leaving Rudger to fend for himself. Luckily, our lone hero gets found by the strange talking cat Zinzan who leads him to a nearby library that doubles as a home for imaginary friends where they are safe and act as substitutes for children who don't have one of their own. Rudger is introduced to other Imaginaries who help him find his place among the others, but he still worries about Amanda, so he becomes the stand-in Imaginary for Amanda's friend who envisions him as a girl leading to some hilarious but innocent gender-bending. Rudger now has to find Amanda still alive in a local hospital while inside a girl's body, all while avoiding the nosey Mr. Bunting.

The Imaginary is done for the most part in very light pastel colors but is not afraid to get dark when it needs to. The entire movie is reminiscent of the grim fantasy films of the 80s, enjoyable enough for the whole family and entertaining enough for kids. Studio Ponoc's animation takes a serious step up for their second feature anime movie from nearly a decade ago. There are entire scenes that blend dramatic changes in tone going from something out of a daydream and quickly shifting into a nightmare which can lead to a slight case of narrative whiplash. The other problem is that the inner lore regarding the world rules of the Imaginaries keeps changing making it difficult to keep up with the story's narrative. The Imaginary has some flaws in its overall presentation, even though its message of having faith in oneself makes it an indelible mark for a studio carrying on the classic Ghibli tradition.

R.I.P. Shelley Duvall

 

MISC. MANGA, *Barda

Over the last few years, DC Comics has run a series of graphic novels specifically geared towards teenage and young adult audiences where they reintroduce stock DC characters for a whole new audience. Each one of these books is in their own separate reality, so you don't need to be familiar with decades of backstory to enjoy a fresh take on an iconic character or even a lesser-known one. Barda is based on Jack Kirby's Mister Miracle comics of the Bronze Age who was an alien amazon that acted as the title hero's love interest and eventually wife that would never get the infamous "fridging" since she's on the same super-human levels of Wonder Woman. Written and drawn by Ngozi Ukazu whose prior works included First Second's Check, Please! and Bunt!, she gives Big Barda a contemporary remodeling for the 21st Century as literally one the strongest female characters in comic books.

Set on the planet of Apokolips, they are in a constant star war with the neighboring world of New Genesis. Each planet is the total opposite of each other, where New Genesis is a shining utopia, Apokolips is a desolate dystopia ruled with an iron grip by the evil god Darkseid. Barda is the new leader of Darkseid's elite all-girl squadron called the Female Furies who moved up the ranks after originally being a prisoner of the same system under the scrutinous watch of the wicked Granny Goodness. The new captain is placed with breaking the only prisoner to have actually escaped Granny's grasp, the rebellious Scott Free. After trying to get to find out the recaptured outcast's secrets, Barda begins to question her place on Apokolips, especially after her ally Aurelie is punished for the simple act of dancing. The statuesque soldier servers her ties with Darkseid and helps Scott break free, mostly due the budding romance that she develops with the soon to be World's Greatest Escape Artist.

The Barda graphic novel shows how a central female character can gain her real strength not just from believing in herself or giving into some matriarchal philosophy, but by the power of love. It is an overused cliche having warmth and compassion being the universal solution to all problems, even ones on a galactic scale such as this set in Jack Kirby's Fourth World saga, but Barda successfully demonstrates how love can bridge alliances and sever the bonds of war. Barda's discovery of empathy to other people's feelings opens up a new world to her which changes her whole perspective on to becoming a warrior of peace instead of power. The comic has a genuine anime design to it, although some might point out its also influenced by the current CalArts style. Barda is an invigorating take on a secondary character who steps into the spotlight.

ANI-MOVIES, *Finding Nemo

Andy Stanton co-directed Pixar's hit A Bug's Life, so when he became sole director of their blockbuster Finding Nemo, he had some big shoes to fill for what eventually became one of the highest-grossing animated movies of all time. Having no connection to 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, this Pixar movie was written by Stanton was of course released by Disney. It was one of the first animated movies in a while that takes place largely underwater, but not in a fantasy or fairy tale setting, so it contains some realistic CGI even though the sea life maintains a cartoonish design to it.

In the Great Barrier Reef, a clownfish named Marlin has his wife and all of their eggs eaten up a barracuda, except for one surviving egg that he raises into his single son Nemo who Marlin is strongly dedicated to raising as safely as possible. When Nemo finally gets old enough to go to "school", the young fish with a shortened fin gets taken by a scuba diving dentist who takes him back to a tank at his office waiting to be a gift for his clueless niece. Meanwhile, Marlin teams up with Dory, a well-meaning fish with short-term memory who helps him on his journey to rescue his son. The only clue they have is a scuba mask the dentist left behind with his address on it, and they run into hypocritical sharks, mocking moonfish, warm-hearted whales, and surfer dude sea turtles. Somehow, Marlin's exploits are rumored all over the sea to the point that even some pelicans on the coast of Sydney hear about it and one of them helps get Marlin and Dory get to the office Nemo is being held at, where the young fish is planning his own escape with his fellow tankmates. There is of course a happy ending, but even after they're reunited, Marlin and Nemo still have to overcome at least one other hurdle before they reach that finale.

Finding Nemo was so successful that it got a sequel 13 years later titled Finding Dory focusing on the side-character's backstory. The voice acting in this feature is top notch with Albert Brooks as Marlin, even though the controversial Ellen DeGeneres as Dory is acceptable. Pixar should be praised for the unique designs for each creature that still maintain their personal brand of charm that the studio is famous for. The movie has a firmly established place in the annals of family animated features and unlike most of these types of releases it doesn't wear out its welcome after your children watch it for the fifth time that day.