Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, Part One - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, Part One



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
Crossovers and team ups from different animated worlds is nothing new. We’ve seen it countless times over the years with varying results. Some like Mortal Kombat vs. DC turn out great in the video game world, while others (such as the latest Teen Titans Go! Crossover) flop pretty badly. However, one quirk remains the same. The tendency for the film/show/game to heavily favor one of the two universes much more heavily than the other, and in the case of Justice League x RWBY it favors the latter world quite a bit.

Based upon the 2021 comic mini series of the same name, the show sort of flips the names around a bit, forcing RWBY to the surface and putting the Justice League in the background of their title named movie. Bruce, Clark, Barry Allen, Vixen, Cyborg the new Green Lantern magically find themselves in the world of Remnant, where they end up running into the RWBY characters. Neither side knows what’s going on, only that the newcomers seem to manifest powers similar to the world of Remnant, but are outsiders after all. All of the Justice League members have been turned into teenagers as well, forcing the normally in control adults to contend with out of control hormones, raging thoughts, and of course as a MacGuffin to make them fit in with the tone and feel of the RWBY crowd. As they try to figure out how to get home, it becomes more and more clear to everyone that SOMETHING else is controlling the situation, and that the world they live in may not even be Remnant at all.

There’s a little more to the plot than this, but not a whole lot. The paper thin narrative is pretty obvious from the get go, showing very little nuance above the level of a Saturday morning cartoon (if those even exist anymore). The characters are paired off with each other to go on various quests to find out what’s going on, leaving each duo to find something out about themselves in the most cheesy and cliched way. Yes, I know that this leans HEAVILY towards the RWBY end of the spectrum here, and RWBY has never been super dark, but the film just doesn’t have a lot of depth to it, and I’m not just talking about the animation either.

There’s your typical handful of fight scenes, the big reveal about who the villain is, and then the film ends with the hint that there is going to be a part two somewhere in the future. While I really wanted to like this considering how great RWBY is, this team up was more of a weird oddity than a magnificent bringing together of both worlds ala the comics. The animation is generic and cheap ala RWBY (that’s not a knock on RWBY if you know it’s origins and WHY it has the animation style that it is, but just is slightly frustrating that they didn’t try and spruce it up a bit), and the voice acting pretty “meh” for the Justice League characters. It is what it is.




Rating:

Rated PG by the MPAA




4K Video: Video:

The 1.78:1 HEVC image is very solid, but not without a few flaws. The movie has been animated in the basic style of the RWBY world, complete with that weird jerky motion and low detail animation style that the show is known for. That doesn’t mean the movie looks bad, just that we aren’t going to get a whole ton of details to see, as it’s weird hybrid of western and Anime style drawings. Colors are bright and vivid though, with tons of deep primary color saturation and absolutely crazy blasts of ice blues, pinks and whites. I DID notice some banding on both the Blu-ray AND the 4K UHD (although way more banding on the Blu-ray than the 4K disc), meaning it’s probably baked into the master to some degree. Overall, not a bad disc, and definitely an improvement over the BD, but not by a whole ton.








Audio:

I was a bit surprised by the audio mix here. DCAU films are usually very high quality in the sound department, or at least consistently GOOD all around. The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix on the disc is a bit rough and unpolished it seems, not to mention inconsistent. Volume levels rise and fall all over the place as the film goes on, and the score is more than a bit hollow sounding and thin. Bass is fairly anemic all the way around, and while I did hear the subs kick on more than a few times, it was very one notish and bland. Dialog is rather good though, with plenty of emphasis in the front of the room. Surrounds also get a moderate amount of activity. It’s not a BAD track, but strangely this is one of the most mediocre DCAU tracks I’ve heard for a while.







Extras:

• Justice Comes to Remnant
• You Look … Different
• From the DC Vault

Final Score: ​

Justice League x RWBY was one of my most eagerly awaited animated crossovers ever since I saw the press release months ago. Sadly it’s more of a middle of the road affair with RWBY characters and tone taking the front seat over The Justice League (so those coming in thinking that this will be your typical DCAU Justice League film may need to be warned). The Blu-ray looks and sounds pretty good, but doesn’t have much in the way of extras outside of a couple of legacy TV episodes. Me personally, I’d rent this if you’re a RWBY fan, but be cautious if you’re a DCAU Justice League fan. Rental is my recommendation.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Ozioma Akagha, Jen Brown, Tiana Camacho, Aaron Dismuke, Jason Douglas, Kara Eberle, Natalie Alyn Lind
Directed by: Kerry Shawcross
Written by: Meghan Fitzmartin
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: PG
Runtime: 80 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: April 25th, 2023

Recommendation: RWBY Rental

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. This reminds me to watch RWBY . I haven't seen RWBY

 

[Michael Scott]

Thanks for the review. This reminds me to watch RWBY . I haven't seen RWBY

it's actually a LOT of fun (RWBY that is)

 

[tripplej]

Yeah, I heard lots of good things about RWBY.. Will have to see that first.