"DC Super Hero Girls: Intergalactic Games" Animated Release Talkback (Spoilers)

[Yojimbo]

Discuss the second direct-to-video animated feature from the DC Super Hero Girls initiative, now available on home media!

DC Super Hero Girls: Intergalactic Games
Digital Release May 9, 2017
Physical Release: May 23, 2017 on DVD

Synopsis: At Super Hero High, iconic Super Heroes like Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl, Harley Quinn, Bumblebee, Poison Ivy, and Katana navigate all the twists and turns of high school in their formative years. United by friendship, the DC Super Hero Girls empower kids to shine with confidence and courage, especially while they combat those overwhelming, exciting, and awesomely awkward moments of growing up (sometimes super powers can be super stressful!).

Aspiring Super Heroes can check out our exclusive web series for the full scoop on what life is like inside the walls of Super Hero High School. In the spring of 2016, the DC Super Hero Girls will come to life with a line of action dolls, figures and accessories, books, play sets and so much more. If that doesn’t have you bursting at the seams of your cape, remember that the world of Metropolis is at your fingertips here on the website - play, explore, read and....Get Your Cape On! It’s time to meet the DC Super Hero Girls!

Movie #2 "Intergalactic Games"
Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Bumblebee and Katana square off against Korugar Academy in the Intergalactic Games, but trouble is in the air as Lena Luthor takes advantage of the gathering of the Supers to enact her villainous plan. It's up to the DC Super Hero Girls to fight the forces of evil and protect their school. With Wonder Woman's strength, Supergirl's speed, Batgirl's strategic knowledge, Poison Ivy's ability to make things grow, Harley Quinn's energy, Bumblebee's ability to shrink, and Katana's fearless personality… anything is possible.

Discuss this Movie!

Related Discussion:
*News Thread
*Webisode Talkback
*Novel Talkback
*TV Special Talkback
*FCBD Comic Talkback
*Graphic Novel Talkback
*Hero of the Year Talkback

Watch the trailer!

 

[SweetShop209]

To keep a long story short, this is another movie that I thoroughly enjoyed. It has plenty of twists I didn't expect. I look forward to more.

 

[RoyalRubble]

Pretty good movie. I think I liked "Hero of the Year" a little more, but this was still very entertaining. Some random thoughts about the movie:

- The Intergalactic Games concept offered some fun competitions and it was nice seeing some more characters introduced with Korugar Academy. I was hoping some other schools would be featured, though.
- I didn't care too much about the Female Furies returning but they were harmless enough and the story moved along nicely.
- I liked the focus on Starfire and Blackfire throughout the story. It's cool they had a satisfying ending, something we never really saw in other animated projects.
- Wonder Woman's side-plot was pretty good. But I think the tensions between Diana and her mother Hippolyta are getting a little too frequent in animation.
- The big Lena Luthor reveal (predictable, but still played out pretty nice). I liked how she was named "Thurol" to cover her last name. I was expecting them to use "Rothul".
- Brainiac was a decent antagonist and it's cool they introduced him as well into this continuity. The fight scenes with him towards the end were pretty entertaining.
- Lots of neat moments spread throughout - Harley & Beast Boy commenting the games, Doc Magnus and (some of) the Metal Men, and Platinum learning what a true hero is. There are probably a lot more I can't remember at the moment.

 

[Yojimbo]

The movies are turning out to be a great capstone on several months worth of plot and released content like the webisodes and graphic novels while still setting up new storylines to come.

1. If you've been following along with season 3 of the webisodes, Starfire has been featured a lot so plugging in Intergalactic Games and seeing her in the spotlight again makes a lot of sense.
2. Also make sense the next part of Big Barda's sub-plot is coming face to face with her former team, the Furies, and Granny.
   
3. Wonder Woman's role as the student organizer for the games makes her inclusion organic to the movie. One of the best moments was her standing up for herself against Ambassador Bek and help her friends save the school rather than preserve her own interests and protect him.

I get that Wonder Woman, Bumblebee, Harley, Ivy, Katana, Supergirl and Batgirl are the main cast and have to have big roles... But at this point, I'm way more interesting in seeing the rest of the student body getting the focus and being expanded on. So I definitely latched onto Starfire and Barda's stories.

Lashina, the new leader of the Furies, debuts in a season 3 webisode but remained a little enigmatic. It was great to see her fleshed out and a nice twist she had a personal connection with Barda.

Lobo appeared in the second graphic novel "Hits and Myths" -- it was great to see him again and overall for a legitimate rival school featured. Better yet, they're a nice mirror to Super Hero High rather than being straight up villains like the Furies.

Platinum and the other two Metal Men were introduced in the "Past Times at Super Hero High" digital comic as villains on an alternate timeline. It was funny, they first appeared as villains because they malfunctioned. It's good to see there's a variety of ways to enroll at Super Hero High - the traditional way, introducing characters in supporting roles first like Batgirl, or villains gone good like Barda and now with Platinum.

Another great capstone in this movie should have been Lena. Set up all the back to the first graphic novel "Finals Crisis," Lena's big plan finally comes to fruition. I think the execution in the script writing concerning her plan and how it was revealed fell flat. It was odd they waited until this movie to reveal her fake last name only for her real identity to be revealed almost immediately (not that it was a mystery to those of us who are a little older than the intended audience I mean). Perhaps it comes up in one of the upcoming season 3 webisodes. Also strange, if she was so intent on destroying the supers once and for all... Why just the Green Kryptomites? Plus, she wanted the citizens of Metropolis on her side and making use of the Red Kryptomites with their anger powers would have bolstered her efforts. The LEGO webisodes introduced a bunch of other colors with other powers, too. Unless they're exclusive to LEGO. I didn't care for beating us over with the 'we're allies, nah you're a pawn' twist. I would have been fine with Lena being the main villain and leave it at that. Maybe I have to look back at the webisodes, but quickly pushing us through the revelation of her alliance with Brainiac in this movie felt like it was too soon and a waste. Surely, he could have been saved for the next movie? Instead of Brainiac, I would have dug Lena combining all the robots into one giant as her back up plan instead. Brainiac slowed down the last act of the movie -- I just wanted to get to the end already. Maybe this critique will change after the rest of season three has aired, maybe not.

The trophy ceremony also felt too tacked on. I was disappointed the victory was a technicality. Would have preferred bringing back Korugar to settle it once and for all then utilize the theme/lesson learned for SHH's victory. And no real follow up about Bek and his cowardice other than Hippolyta predictably praising her daughter.

The special features for Intergalactic Games left a lot to be desired. It would have been informative to have a behind the scenes feature with individuals about year 2 of the franchise like Aria Moffly, DCE Creative Director, Shea Fontana, DCSHG animation writer and DC Comics graphic novel author, Lisa Yee, Random House Children's Books DCSHG Middle-Grade Novel Author, Christine Kim, Mattel Toy Design Manager, Tania Missad, Mattel Consumer Insights Director, and some of the cast. I'm always up for a commentary track, too. I'm sure there's plenty writer Shea Fontana, director Cecilia Aranovich Hamilton, and producer Jennifer Coyle have plenty to say. I would love for these movies to be released on Blu-ray as well but I guess it's not in the cards. Odd since they're pumping so much money into the brand. And I'm still hoping the TV special "Super Hero High" and the LEGO animated content gets included even if it's just as special features.

 

[Troy Troodon]

I always thought Fred Tatasciore would make a good Brainiac (along with several other A-List voice actors) though I think he could have been better. I also kind'a wish they got someone other than Tom Kenny to voice Sinestro and Lobo like Rick Wasserman or Travis Willingham; as well as someone other than Grey Griffin to voice Platinum, like Kari Wahlgren.

 

[Ed Liu]

Finally got my review of this movie together (along with the even-later writeup of Brave and the Bold season 3). I like it but didn't love it, and thought it was just trying to do WAAAAAY too much in one movie for comfort. Throwing Brainiac in there at the very end was an out-of-left-field twist that really just padded the movie to run longer.

 

[Frost2016]

What do you think of the food fight scene?

I really like Hawkgirl's new look in the Intergalactic Gala.

 

[Yojimbo]

We now know the final draft was done on December 1, 2015. So a little over 1 year and 5 months between that and the digital release.

 

[Frontier]

I thought this film was another really fun DC Super Hero Girls movie, even if I think Hero of the Year inches out a little in terms of enjoyment, but still a pretty fun romp all the same .

Diana trying to please her mom is kind of the quintessential dynamic of their relationship, but it feels like it sums up pretty much all of Hippolyta's appearances in this franchise .

Poor Parasite. Just poor Parasite .

Korugar Academy has been built up over the course of the series so it was cool to see them finally make a proper appearance here. And they're pretty much what you would expect a school run by Sinestro to be...elitist, dominant, powerful, and intimidating. And, of course, all these traits are best exemplified through Sinestro himself .

I definitely thought the student body was a pretty cool and diverse group of alien and cosmic characters. I mean, Lobo, Bleez, Mongal, and Maxima? On-top of Blackfire? That's a pretty awesome group. I only wish we had gotten to see them developed more .

Y'know, if there's one thing you've got to give DCSHG credit for it's giving Tom Kenny the kind of roles you would never expect him to play. I mean, Commissioner Gordon and Crazy Quilt is one thing, but Sinestro? And Lobo! !?

Though wasn't Kenny the original voice of Doc Magnus in the webisodes? I thought he was, even though it was Phil LaMarr here .

Speaking of, it was cool to see the Metal Men get some love and even giving Platinum her own character arc over the course of the movie as she discovers her humanity and becomes a hero. She kind of felt like Supergirl in "Welcome to Super Hero High," in that her debut and subsequent joining of the heroes and Super Hero High is a significant plot point. I wonder how long before we see her pop up in the webisodes ?

Though I think they pronounced "responsometer" differently from how it was in past cartoons...

That Food Fight scene was pretty fun, especially seeing the cast all dressed-to-the-nines and the girls in such fancy dresses (even if their outfits all got ruined) .

I wonder who's locker that was that had that picture of Barry in it ...?

Is it wrong that I was expecting a scene where Hal and Sinestro acknowledge each other? I mean, we've seen Flash run into Grodd a few times, so it would've been a nice nod to their iconic enmity and it would also be nice to finally give GL an actual speaking appearance in this again .

Speaking of Hal, there was one brief moment where his outfit changed from showing him without his jacket to randomly wearing a tuxedo. And that wasn't the only animation gaffe I noticed .

This was a really nice culminations of Barda's character arc as she cements her standing as a hero and completely renounces her former allegiance to Granny and the Female Furies. It's been a pretty longstanding story for Barda so it was pretty great seeing it be the focus here .

This was a really interesting take on Starfire and Blackfire's relationship. Usually Blackfire is portrayed as an irredeemable villainess and their relatioship as irreparable, despite Starfire's best efforts, so seeing Blackfire come around and reveal how much she really cares for her sister was very sweet .

It was also pretty cool seeing the sisters working together and combining their powers, since that's also something we've never really seen before .

It was kind of ironic that Lashina goes to all the work of breaking the Furies out in-time for this movie and they all end up heading back to jail midway through...I can't imagine Darkseid is too happy with all these failures against Super Hero High .

After watching the Lego shorts I kept expecting Artemiz to talk with an accent, but here she just talks normally. I guess they just added that in for comedy purposes in the shorts .

It was nice to finally get a culmination of the Kryptomite plot that started off season 3 and to see Lena reveal herself as a Luthor, complete with her own Warsuit. We also get to finally learn her motivations, which is opposing Supers because all her attempts to become one backfired on her (even costing her her hair) and she's absurdly jealous (particularly when it comes to Supergirl it seems) of them .

Of course there was no way Lena's plan to turn the general public against the heroes was going to work. What does she think this is, the DC Extended Universe ?

Brainiac did feel like he kinda came out-of-nowhere. I mean, I saw his emblem on Lena's tech and thought "isn't that Brainiac's symbol?" but then he turns out to actually be the main villain and behind Lena's whole plot with very little build-up outside one or two scenes in the movie. Don't get me wrong, it was cool to watch the girls go toe-to-toe with him and his giant Mecha form, but why is he even doing this? Does he just want Superheroes dead for...reasons? Was he going to collect Metropolis after this? What was his deal ?

Still, that tease at the end with his physical body popping up was interesting, and I'm curious to see if Brainiac will continue to be a recurring and major antagonist in the series...

That whole containment of Lena in the paddy wagon seemed a little excessive. I guess they were just worried that leaving her body free would allow her to do something, smart as she is, but they really couldn't have just handcuffed her or something? It even almost got her killed once the wagon keeled over, and she would've been drowned if not for Barda .

But hey, Dan Turpin and Maggie Sawyer, together again. Brings back fond memories .

 

[Yojimbo]

Though wasn't Kenny the original voice of Doc Magnus in the webisodes? I thought he was, even though it was Phil LaMarr here

Nope, it's always been LaMarr.

 

[Boofpah1]

Harley Quinn and Beast Boy being announcers together is kinda cute.
They even look cute together, especially as a couple.

 

[Fone Bone]

DC Super Hero Girls: Intergalactic Games

Caught up with this on HBO Max.

The Shea Fontana DC Super Hero Girl shorts were in my opinion easily the worst modern DC animation kiddie cartoon of all time. The DTV movies based on the property have never been as bad, but they are very hit and miss. This one was a miss.

The dialogue was as awful as usual, and there were so many disparate elements, I don't think the movie knew what it was about, or what it was trying to say. I'll briefly go over what I liked and what I didn't.

I liked:

The animation on the Brainiac robot. The CGI animated surprisingly well, and it looked extremely toyetic and colorful.

I also liked the design of when Platinum powered up in all of those rainbow colors at the end. It was brief, but it was cool.

The Kryptomites are still cute.

What I didn't like:

Lena Luthor being bald. Was that even necessary?

Sinestro being against people born without powers. Call me crazy, but don't Sinestro's powers come from his Yellow Lantern ring? I'm wondering if they picked the wrong snooty villain for that specific hang-up.

Lashina being rotten after all. However the movie made up for that cliche by having Blackfire come around, so it was more like a push.

The Brainiac cliffhanger at the end was never continued and resolved.

All in all, I didn't much care for this outing. It's not surprising because I don't care for the franchise in general, but I seemed to remember thinking the first movie was actually okay. This one not so much. **1/2.

 

[Yojimbo]

The Brainiac cliffhanger at the end was never continued and resolved.

Brainiac returned and was dealt with in the last graphic novel, Search for Atlantis.

 

[Fone Bone]

Brainiac returned and was dealt with in the last graphic novel, Search for Atlantis.

Doesn't count for me.

 

[Yojimbo]

Doesn't count for me.

Why, because it's not animation? Shea Fontana wrote it, it's canon.

 

[Fone Bone]

Why, because it's not animation? Shea Fontana wrote it, it's canon.

I think "canon" comics are too cute by half. Even the ones creators write tend to be ignored if a new project comes up. Joss Whedon himself has stated he'll ignore the Buffy: Season Eight comics he spearheaded if the franchise ever returns to live-action.

 

[Yojimbo]

I think "canon" comics are too cute by half. Even the ones creators write tend to be ignored if a new project comes up. Joss Whedon himself has stated he'll ignore the Buffy: Season Eight comics he spearheaded if the franchise ever returns to live-action.

I disagree with you and I'm going to leave it at that.

 

[Fone Bone]

I disagree with you and I'm going to leave it at that.

Wise decision. I woulda talked your ear off.