Legion of Super Heroes - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Legion of Super Heroes



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


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Movie
After my review of the 2006 (ish) short running TV show of Legion of Super Heroes I was actually surprised that Warner Brothers was willing to re visit the IP. I mean, they weren’t exactly well liked in the live action version of Super Girl outside of Mon-El, and the TV show as sort of poo-poo’d by the general audience as it came on the tail end of the golden age of 1990s super hero animated shows and was gasping for air. Buy hey, I’m all for remaking old IPs that failed (or mostly failed in the case of the TV Show) and gave it a spin in hopes that it would surprise me.

The animated film acts as sort of ANOTHER origins story for Super Girl herself, as well as throwing her right into the middle of the Legion without much ado. The film starts out once more showing us the death of Krypton, except from the point of Kara and her mother, with Kara getting slapped into an escape pod that ends up veering off course into a black hole. A black hole that dilates time and deposits Kara (Meg Donnelly) on Earth when her cousin, Superman (Matt Bomer) is all grown up (a side plot that is glossed over and assumes the audience knows that Kara is late to the proverbial party). There on Earth she doesn’t exactly fit in, having a much hotter head than her cousin, which prompts Bats (Jensen Ackles) and Supes to decide to shove her off into the future so that she can be trained with the Legion of Super Heroes.

There Supergirl falls for the hunky Mon-El (Yuri Lowenthal) and decides that she wants to stay and train. However, things go awry when she mistakes the cloned Brainiac 5 (Harry Shum Jr.) for the REAL Brainiac, and ends up nearly destroying the facility. To make matters worse, Brainiac isn’t exactly trusted by the rest of the Legion either, his conduct comes into question when they find out that he has hacked into their system in an attempt to access the weapons vault. Trouble ensues, and soon it’s kara and Brainiac against the rest of the legion as well as a dark force who is secretly manipulating things behind the scenes decides to step out of the shadows.

This feels like an extremely rushed project, even by DCAU standards. They’ve had a few weak standalone films over the years, but Legion of Super Heroes is probably one of the weakest. Mostly due to the fact that it tries to cram two films into one 73 minute run time. Kara Zor-El has been done before, but even her appearance and subsequent origins story is crammed HARD into just a few minute before doing a side step into the world of the Legion. There’s not much time to really grasp Kara’s struggle on earth before they cram her in the legion, and it really shows. Personally had the movie been about 20 minutes longer to accommodate more of a substantial backstory for Kara and her “fish out of water” scenario in the “present” I would feel more comfortable with giving it a thumbs up. As of now, it’s just kinda “meh”.

The film is not without merit or positives though. The second act of the film with the legion is much more in line with the TV show, and Brainiac 5 is a solidly done character. My only complaint there is that it feels a bit TOO kiddy if you know what I mean. The romance between her and Brainiac 5 is a rushed and the Mon-El reveal is telegraphed a mile away. However, it’s much more fun and action oriented than the very obviously rushed origins story for Supergirl.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for some violence and language





4K Video: Video:

While it’s not a slam dunk home run, the 2160p 4K UHD disc runs circles around the banding ridden Blu-ray. The Blu-ray was great in it’s own right, but suffered from said banding, some black crush, and the colors were a bit duller. The UHD disc is sharper, and while it doesn’t show much improvements in fine detailing due to the limited style of the animation, it certainly shows crisper lines and deeper saturated color with the extended dynamic range. There’s no compression artifacting and overall it’s a great looking disc. The shadowy and deep realm of the future enclaves are very impressive, and the only hint of real banding I could even find was just as the picture fades to credits at the end. HDR does what it can, but the colors for the film are already of a muted look, and while the reds and blues on the capes look solid, they’re not going really massively pop off the screen. All around, a good 4K UHD disc for a simplistic looking animated movie.










Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track (found on both the 4K UHD and the Blu-ray disc) is pretty much par for the course If you’re familiar with the DCAU. It plays it safe most of the time, but hits the highlight reel of DCAU action movie motifs relatively well. Bass is punchy and impactful during the battles (especially the one between Supergirl and Brainiac 5) and the surrounds utilize themselves during said battles as well. The rest of the time it’s a fairly front heavy mix as the supers talk things out. Simple, effective, and is active enough to really be fun. Just what you’d expect from the DCAU.












Extras:

• The Legion Behind The Legion (New Featurette) – It took a heroic effort from a legion of writers, artists, animators and filmmakers to bring Legion of Super-Heroes to life. In this featurette, filmmakers and stars give us a deep dive into the making of the movie, from the original story idea through character development and final animation.
• Meet the Legionnaires (New Featurette) – There are dozens and dozens of Legion members, many of whom are featured in Legion of Super-Heroes. Who made the cut, and why? Lucky for us, the filmmakers are here to introduce us to each one – and give us some background on who they are, and why they're important to the movie.
• Brainiac Attack: The Intellect Behind the Super-Villain (New Featurette) – In Legion of Super-Heroes, Brainiac 5 proves himself to be the pinnacle of all Brainiac iterations, but how did he become that way? In this featurette, filmmakers explain what we should we know about the 4 Brainiacs who came before him, and how – and why – Brainiac 5 chose his own path.
• Down to Earth: The Story of Supergirl (New Featurette) – Supergirl's narrow escape from Krypton and her arrival on Earth is just the beginning of our story (literally). In this featurette, filmmakers explain why they chose to center Legion of Super-Heroes on Supergirl, what the backstory is between her and Superman at the start of the movie, and what exactly is going on between her and Brainiac 5.

Final Score: ​

Legion of Super Heroes is a bit closer to the source material than the short lived 2 season TV show from 17 years ago or so, but it is not much better in quality. It’s kind of a “1 step forward and 1 step back” scenario. It’s closer to the origins, but also a bit more silly and shows the very weak seam of a rushed/crammed product. Not bad, not good, just existing as a mildly entertaining side story romp. 4K UHD looks and sounds goo though, and the extras are interesting (albeit a bit short). Decent rental for DCAU fans.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jensen Ackles, Matt Bomer, Meg Donelly, Harry Shum Jr., Darren Criss, Jennifer Hale
Directed by: Jeff Wamester
Written by: Josie Campbell
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Warner Bros.
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 74 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: February 7th, 2023

Recommendation: Rental