What are your favorite and least favorite DC animated films?

#TeamMike

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Best

-Batman: Under the Red Hood. A movie far better than the comic it's based on (ironically, it's written by the same guy), with strong vocal performances. Kind of neat it introduced two new Batman voices. Bruce Greenwood as Batman, who would later voice the character on Young Justice, and Jensen Ackles, who's voicing the character in the "Tomorowverse" movies.

-Justice League: Doom. This one is a comfort watch to me, I love hearing a lot of the DCAU actors, its Dwayne McDuffie's last script, and it's just a fun watch, even it's a little thin on substance compared to the comic. Also, Phill Bourassa's art looks the best in this film, I think.

-The Dark Knight Returns. Both parts are great, faithful adaptations, and truth be told, if I'm revisiting this story, I'd rather watch the animated feature over reading Miller's comic.

-Batman: Gotham by Gaslight. This one has crept up and become one of my favorite DC animated films over the years. Something about is very rewatchable for me, I've seen it many times and it's a really good yarn. Love the setting, this version of Catwoman, and the mystery.

I would kill to see this adapted into a live-action Batman movie, like c'mon, a Batman movie in the Victorian era would be so refreshing from all the previous incarnations of Batman!

Worst

-Son of Batman. My lord is this movie a snoozefest. It's the DCAMU movie that introduces Daimian Wayne (who I will never like, sorry). A really plodding story, trite dialogue, and a laughably incompetent Deathstroke as the main villain (Thomas Gibson was also very unconvincing as Deathstroke's voice).

-Injustice (animated movie). A butchery of some of my favorite comics and video games. This movie takes about 10 years' worth of story and crams into an 1h 18m runtime and makes baffling deviations.

Also, practically everyone in the voice cast is either miscast or giving very stiff performances. Why not just use the voice cast from the games? Not to mention, the art is pretty blocky and not pleasant to look at, with stilted animation to boot.

-Batman and Harley Quinn. I've read/seen so many interviews with Bruce Timm, Jim Krieg, and Sam Liu, trying to understand the thought process behind this movie, and I still don't understand what the hell happened here. Even poor Sam Liu when talking about directing the film, seemed confused as to what Timm was going for.

I understand BT wanted to make a comedic movie after working on a bunch of dark and serious animated movies, and yes, the old DCAU shows had plenty of silly episodes, but not at the expense of its characters. This is a movie where Batman and Nightwing kiss Harley on the cheek while they set Floronic Man on fire.

The movie has a massive identity crisis, it has no idea if it wants to be B:TAS, or a parody of B:TAS. It tries to be both and fails miserably at both. As a comedy, the jokes fall terribly flat, the tone is all over the place, everything with Harley feels incredibly dehumanizing towards the character, the story is incredibly thin, and it barely has an ending.

Also, who's the target audience for this movie? It's not aimed for kids because of the sexual content, but the potty humor in the movie (Harley farting in the batmobile, etc) feels like it's aimed exclusively for kids, not adults.

The one genuine positive I can say about this movie is Ron Paulson singing "Don't Pull your Love" at the bar scene. What a voice. Everything else is a genuine disaster, and I am not someone who makes hyperbolic statements.
 
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Ed Nygma

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Batman and Harley Quinn was worst by a county mile. The thing I never got was, even if it had been a masterpiece, by that point had we not said absolutely everything we possibly had to say about Batman and Harley Quinn's relationship, certainly in the animated universe? I still think Harlequinade AND Harley's Holiday in the OG series was too much because it was reiterating the same point, how Harley relates to Batman. Dini went to that well so much that I became sick of her before she even entered the public consciousness en masse. Then Bruce made this movie and it all went to hell... I don't even want to unpack it, it makes me ill to think about. I disagree with OP about the song, that was cringe inducing and nightmarish to hear. I also don't why they kept bringing back some DCAU actors and yet recasting others in the same film. Why bring back Daly and Brown and yet not bring back Michael Ironside?

I don't like The Killing Joke but mainly because the animation is so poor. My least favorite films suffer from this problem. Nothing with bad flash animation can be considered a classic imo.

Best:

Under the Red Hood
Dark Knight Returns
Flashpoint
And I still like Return of the Joker, expect for the very end after the reveal which falls a bit flat. It should've just been Tim driven insane, not 'mind control' gobbledygook. Much more tragic that way.
 

#TeamMike

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I also don't why they kept bringing back some DCAU actors and yet recasting others in the same film. Why bring back Daly and Brown and yet not bring back Michael Ironside?
I assume you're talking about Superman/Batman Public Enemies and Batman/Superman Apocalypse? Those movies obviously aren't part of the DCAU.

In terms of why, I'd imagine because Andrea Romano and BT like working with the same people, but also want different actors to freshen things up and to show it's a different version/continuity.

Like for example, I love Mark Hamill as much as the next person, but having him voice Joker in every single DC project would have been tiresome. I want to hear different takes, these characters exist to be reinterpreted.

On the subject of Batman/Superman Apocalypse, I thought Andre Braugher was really good as Darkseid, definitely my favorite after Ironside.

Batman and Harley Quinn was worst by a county mile. The thing I never got was, even if it had been a masterpiece, by that point had we not said absolutely everything we possibly had to say about Batman and Harley Quinn's relationship.
That's another thing I find hilariously sad. Despite basically using the same premise, the episode Harlequinade told its premise with about 100 times more class, humor, charm, and ingenuity.
 

-batmat-

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There's still some movies I haven't seen, like Batman Ninja, all the Lego stuff (except the theatrical Batman one), all the DC Super Girls stuff... but yeah, here's my picks, in no particular order

My 5 favorite movies

Batman Mask of the Phantasm
Batman Beyond Return of the Joker
Batman The Dark Knight Returns
Justice League Gods and Monsters
Justice League Crisis On Two Earths

Honorable mentions: Batman Under The Red Hood, Justice League The Flashpoint Paradox

G&M is heavily underrated. I think it's top notch DC animation. I was very sad that the second season got axed.

My 5 least favorite movies
A lot of bad movies over the years, most of them a one-and-done deal, forgettable once you are done watching them. But these ones really left their mark and I can't forget how much I disliked them for various reasons.

Justice League: War
Batman: Assault on Arkham
Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem
Batman: Hush
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War

Honorable mentions: Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay, Wonder Woman: Bloodlines

I'm so sad that in the last 10 years, we've gotten more DC animation than ever, yet, for me personally, 75% or so has been really lackluster. I don't know if it's nostalgia or what but if you look at the DC animated movies right up until 2013 or so, most of them were really solid. 2013 to present day... movies I've enjoyed became the exception and not the norm...
 
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Ed Nygma

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I have a feeling Watchmen is either going to be an all time best or all time worst. No middle ground. The same for Crisis, though I suspect if they don't have the DCAU actors or go anywhere fun it'll be completely underwhelming. How exciting can it be anyway if we just make a minor trip to 'The Batman 2004' and Brave and Bold universes? My guess is, not every much. Plus no Conroy is already dooming it
 

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Right now the latest one (Warworld) is a contender for the worst. See the talkback for my reasoning.

EDIT: Regarding Batman and Harley Quinn: Having gotten caught up on the Harley Quinn series, it's clear that's the direction that movie should've taken: Just over the top with its content and full of observational humor, not trying to have it both ways by being a bit more adult than B:TAS but juvenile at the same time, pleasing nobody.
 

Fone Bone

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I don't have the dark feelings for Batman and Harley Quinn other folks have, but I appreciate that this board allows folks to talk about the fact that some people hated the film. That's really cool.

Best are Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker and Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm for me.

I don't really think I could fairly do a worst list because most of the bad ones leave my mind after a few days. Like I remember HATING Warworld but I don't remember why.
 

Neo Ultra Mike

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I can't believe they are going forward without Kevin Conroy. There is like no point to it without him.

The thing is though Crisis on Infinite Earths wasn't a Batman focused story so not having a collection of all the best Batman wouldn't be a disservice especially as I'm sure the focus of the Crisis will be in the current universe of the films. I do want some DCAU representation sure but since they can't get Conroy I'd be fine with someone else like either Tim Daly or George Newburn Superman for instance. Yeah it would be awesome to have Conroy but I'm not going to dock a Crisis adaptation for not having him (though if he was able it would be able to make up for the Arrowverse Crisis used him) because of his tragic passing.

As for the question in hand as awesome as stuff like Return of the Joker and Dark Knight Returns are, if I'm talking my personal favorite DC Animated movie... That'd be The Lego Batman. I admit I am a huge fan of the Lego movies (sans Lego Ninjago) and that one is equally as hilarious. Though if you want a more serious/more DTV answer I'd go with Superman Vs The Elite. A much approved adaption of the already great Superman 775 that to me is HOW you adopt the idea of trying to handle Superman in the real world. Seriously THIS is the movie Zack Snyder should have been given and told "make that it's what people want to see." I think James gunn knows that because it's clear he wants a live action version of THIS movie in his DC Universe. Why else do you think we're getting an Authority adaptation that the Superman movie is going to lay the groundwork for? To eventually get a live action take on Superman Vs The Elite but yeah they're going to have to really try if they want it to be anywhere near as good.

If we're going with worst, I think the obvious answer is the half ass "tie in" to the Bryan Singer live action Superman movie, Brainiac Attacks. Which isn't really a tie in to that movie and isn't part of STAS/DCAU but some sort of quickly rushed in crap made on the cheap just to have a Superman movie to promote on video as well. Terrible animation, terrible Lex Luthor (Powers Boothe is NO Clancy Brown... hell even Jessie Eisenberg take makes more sense then his) and just a half hearted plot whose only interesting idea "What if STAS Lois finally found out Clark was Superman" didn't even happen and is just a lame outing that easily deserves the title of worst DC Animated movie. I get the dislike for Batman and Harley Quinn but that one tried and had wayyyyyyyyyyyyy more going for it then this movie.
 

#TeamMike

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I don't have the dark feelings for Batman and Harley Quinn other folks have, but I appreciate that this board allows folks to talk about the fact that some people hated the film. That's really cool.
Why wouldn't they haha?

Oooh, I forgot Brainiac Attacks. Yeah, I don't think DC has done a worse movie since.
I actually think Brainiac Attacks and Batman and Harley Quinn have a lot of similarities. Both movies use a similar art style of "classic" shows like B:TAS/S:TAS, but both end up feeling like parodies of those shows. Brainiac Attacks at least explores the romance between Superman/Clark and Lois (something which the animated series rarely did) and has a clear target audience. That alone gives it a few points over Batman and Harley.

Similarly, I think both movies would have worked better if they used a different art style all together. When you see the DCAU design for Harley Quinn and Lex Luthor, you expect to hear Arleen Sorkin and Clancy Brown's voice come from that character model. Power Boothe's vocal performance for a goofy Lex Luthor, likewise with Melissa Raunch as Harley Quinn would have worked better with a different design.

I get the dislike for Batman and Harley Quinn but that one tried and had wayyyyyyyyyyyyy more going for it then this movie.
Seriously, like what? I'm all ears.

A tone that constantly feels like a bunch of horny teenagers trying to one-up each other? A movie that toys the line between sexual consent and coercion? Batman and Nightwing feeling like weird, alternate versions of themselves? An incredibly thin, drawn-out "story" that just ends (calling it anti-climactic would be an understatement) followed by an extended post-credits scene that has little to do with the story and only serves as a half-hearted joke to end viewers' misery? A comedy that fails at being funny?

Come to think of it, I think I have figured out who the target audience for Batman and Harley Quinn was for. It's for the horny 13-year-old boys watching porn for the first time.
 
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Karkull

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BEST: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
I'd go one further -- Phantasm isn't just the best DC animated film, it's the best Batman film. Period.

BEST: Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
Great script by the sublime Dwayne McDuffie. Could have been better in some ways (the original draft had it as a bridge between Justice League and JLU, but que sera, sera), but even with the mandated changes it still fits as being part of DCAU continuity. Just pretend that John Stewart is Green Lantern and the rest falls into place.

BEST: Justice League: Gods and Monsters
A creative take on the principal DC heroes. I'm sorry that Season Two of Chronicles didn't happen.

BEST: Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
Simply put: it was everything that the Batman Beyond series wasn't.

WORST: Superman: Brainiac Attacks
This film makes my blood boil. Ignoring the fact that they recast Lex Luthor and Brainiac while keeping the rest of the cast (just like Mystery of the Batwoman; no respect), I hate the fact that the script was the antithesis of everything that made STAS great in the first place. It also resurrected the dumbest parts of the Christopher Reeves' Superman films after the DCAU buried them. Yuck.

WORST: Batman: The Killing Joke
It was two unrelated movies mashed together. Not to mention a rehash of the Batman / Batgirl romance that the fans hate (I'm of two minds about it; I may have to write an essay about it sometime soon). And, I'm sad to say, as much as I love Mark Hamill, I think this is where he started to struggle with the Joker's voice and laughter.

By the way, considering the time and effort that the creative team took to get "permission" from Alan Moore to adapt "For the Man Who Has Everything," did they do that for The Killing Joke? I'm not sure I'd want to know his thoughts on this film.

WORST: Batman & Harley Quinn
There were some cute scenes (the one in the sidekick bar comes to mind); it wasn't so much terrible as it was forgettable. And Melissa Rauch wasn't the best choice for the voice (of course, I really don't care for any of the voice actors who aren't Arleen Sorkin).
 

Yojimbo

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BEST: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Still the best Batman movie ever made. I've rewatched this one the most in all animated and live action Batman movies. A well thought out and paced extension to the Batman origin story and compounds the tragedy of Bruce's life. A better take on Year One in a way.

Batman: Return of the Joker. Second best Batman movie ever made. Set a high bar for the PG-13 and up DTVs that would follow. A much better take on what some comic book stories like The Killing Joke and Under the Red Hood tried to tell. Another tragic and compelling flashback that accompanies a great main story and a meaningful finale to Batman Beyond.

Catwoman: Hunted: Really fun heist movie, love letter to Catwoman and heist anime like Lupin, loved the jazzy score.

Green Lantern: First Flight: Really great procedural story, rookie cop finds out his super has gone bad. Loved the character design and the cast and animation on this one.

Batman: Bad Blood: The opening hooked me from the start, a great Bat-Family story featuring Batwoman, Batwing, Nightwing, and Robin, the fights had some really amazing choreography.

WORST: Superman: Brainiac Attacks: What Karkull said.

Batman and Harley Quinn: I didn't get "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" and I didn't get this. Drama is easy, comedy is hard I suppose.

Deathstroke: Knights and Dragons: A rare miss from J.M. DeMatteis. Uneven development of the other characters and a rushed ending.

Injustice: You can't mash tons of video games and comics worth of content into one 78 minute movie.

Justice League: Warworld: Would have worked better as an Elseworlds anthology minus the Warworld stuff. Does Martian Manhunter dirty. Superman - we have to save these people, too. Manhunter - Nah, they're clones. Bye, gonna blow this thing and myself up instead of using this advanced tech to teleport the doomsday planet thing into a black hole and us back to Earth. You don't have a way out? Oh well. <turns back them>
 

Karkull

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How is that?
At the risk of going off topic, I believe that Batman Beyond was not as good as it could have been, had the creative team not been doing two other shows at the same time (STAS, TNBA) and had the time to create an actual Series Bible. I'd be more than happy to expand on this in a different thread.

Almost forgot...

BEST: All-Star Superman
It takes a special type of writer to one-up the magnificence of Grant Morrison, but Dwayne McDuffie did it. There were parts of the story that were streamlined, but
having Lex Luthor be the one to write the formula allowing Kryptonian and human DNA to merge, allowing the chance for Superman and Lois to reproduce
was genius.
 

Neo Ultra Mike

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When you see the DCAU design for Harley Quinn and Lex Luthor, you expect to hear Arleen Sorkin and Clancy Brown's voice come from that character model. Power Boothe's vocal performance for a goofy Lex Luthor, likewise with Melissa Raunch as Harley Quinn would have worked better with a different design.

You know at least there was an actual reason why we didn't hear Arleen Sorkin in Batman and Harley Quinn as Sorkin had officially retired as the voice of Harley Quinn after DC Universe Online so I get why they went with someone different. I have noooooooooo idea why they went with the power's boothe super goofy Lex in Brainac Attacks at all. Though weirdly enough I probably find his Lex a bit more tolerable then Raunch's Harley Quinn. It's pretty clear Raunch was told to super lean into Harley's accent when doing the voice and man can she not do it. Fellow Big Bang actress Kaley Cuoco works so well as Harley because she's not really trying for the accent that much and is more just trying to capture the personality and quirkiness which work well. Still I do think Batman and Harley Quinn is a better movie. Why?

Come to think of it, I think I have figured out who the target audience for Batman and Harley Quinn was for. It's for the horny 13-year-old boys watching porn for the first time.

Specifically at it's best when it's actually working, Batman and Harley Quinn's mindset are for super immature teenagers who not only first found porn but also just love any kind of immature joke in general and don't really get the implications of writing off material for stories and fan fics and just go with it cause they think it's funny. Which... I'm not going to lie; I was a 14 once and had that exact mind set and though have a more mature and sophisticated palette now, I can still find those kinds of narratives and jokes really funny. I mean when stuff like Aqua Teen Hunger Force or even Robot Chicken hit that sweet spot I still really laugh and there are moments I feel this movie does that well enough I can't say it's totally worthless. Something I can easily say about Superman: Brainiac Attacks. Even if you say that's a kids movie it is more poorly plodded and thought out then then the kids show it's art style is seemingly based on, and even it's interesting ideas don't mean anything cause you don't have actual Lois finding out actual Clark's secret and the ending message is "Lois will go into danger regardless of what I do but I'm still not telling her my secret" and feels so worthless, especially now in a post My Adventures with Superman world. Granted the Harley Quinn animated series is a way better take on a more raunchy and silly Harley Quinn story that takes place specifically in it's own world but even that doesn't have the offbeat romp feeling this one does at it's best.

And again I'm not defending Batman and harley Quinn as good but I can at least get it's appeal a lot more even if it is still probably one of the lesser DTV DC films.
 

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Best:
Wonder Woman (2009): Lush animation, great story, and holy moly what a voice cast.
Alfred Molina and Oliver Platt in the same movie? That's just not fair.
All-Star Superman: The gorgeous animation paired with the rich story combine in to one truly mesmerizing Superman tale.

HM: Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Batman: The Long Halloween Parts 1 and 2

Worst:
Justice League: War: In addition to a forgettable story and incredibly awkward dialogue, some of the worst animation / artwork for a DC animated movie ever.
Batman and Harley Quinn: See above.

HM: Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, Batman: The Killing Joke, Batman and Superman: Battle of the
Super Sons
 
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Fone Bone

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I'm gonna argue a contrary opinion about Batman And Harley Quinn. It's not great. But it would never hit my worst list in a million years.

Let's get the following out of the way. As a DC Animated Universe project, it is pure dreck compared to everything else. It's possible it's better than Static Shock's "Hoop Squad", but I think the jury is still out on that. But the DCAU was the highest standard for DC cartoons of all time and it definitely fell SO short of that. Stipulated.

But if I compare to the other DC Universe Original Animated Movies at the time, maybe it's not ABOVE average, but it's average. Yeah, it's terrible DCAU. But for the DTV line, it was tolerable, especially because one of my biggest problems with the line was it kept getting darker and more unpleasant with each outing. And you can say a movie with a bad script and lousy jokes is unpleasant in and of itself (and you'd be right). But the tone of Batman And Harley Quinn being relatively chill is a selling point for me and why I essentially gave it a good review back in the day when nobody else did. You compare it to the DCAU, it sucks. You compare it to the rest of the Tuckerverse, it was a respite from unending misery and increasingly disturbing graphic violence. I would not put Batman And Harley Quinn on my worst list. It came during an era when we were routinely getting much worse movies. Constantly.

As always Fone Bone grades on the curve.

The worst thing to me about Batman And Harley Quinn is the objectification of Harley and a very antifeminist tone with the vulgar and dirty jokes. The thing I DO try to remember (which by the way is not something everyone will agree with) is that the DCAU itself, particularly Batman: The Animated Series, was NOT blameless when it came to antifeminism and sexist jokes. Maybe it never went that far. But I'm not gonna pretend a LOT of the jokes and dialogue in Pretty Poison and Harley And Ivy didn't make me cringe back in the day.
 

Classic Speedy

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I'm gonna argue a contrary opinion about Batman And Harley Quinn. It's not great. But it would never hit my worst list in a million years.

Let's get the following out of the way. As a DC Animated Universe project, it is pure dreck compared to everything else. It's possible it's better than Static Shock's "Hoop Squad", but I think the jury is still out on that. But the DCAU was the highest standard for DC cartoons of all time and it definitely fell SO short of that. Stipulated.

But if I compare to the other DC Universe Original Animated Movies at the time, maybe it's not ABOVE average, but it's average. Yeah, it's terrible DCAU. But for the DTV line, it was tolerable, especially because one of my biggest problems with the line was it kept getting darker and more unpleasant with each outing. And you can say a movie with a bad script and lousy jokes is unpleasant in and of itself (and you'd be right). But the tone of Batman And Harley Quinn being relatively chill is a selling point for me and why I essentially gave it a good review back in the day when nobody else did. You compare it to the DCAU, it sucks. You compare it to the rest of the Tuckerverse, it was a respite from unending misery and increasingly disturbing graphic violence. I would not put Batman And Harley Quinn on my worst list. It came during an era when we were routinely getting much worse movies. Constantly.

As always Fone Bone grades on the curve.

The worst thing to me about Batman And Harley Quinn is the objectification of Harley and a very antifeminist tone with the vulgar and dirty jokes. The thing I DO try to remember (which by the way is not something everyone will agree with) is that the DCAU itself, particularly Batman: The Animated Series, was NOT blameless when it came to antifeminism and sexist jokes. Maybe it never went that far. But I'm not gonna pretend a LOT of the jokes and dialogue in Pretty Poison and Harley And Ivy didn't make me cringe back in the day.
I actually do agree with this, in theory. There's nothing wrong with a lighter toned DCAU movie, especially considering the era in which it was released. They just bungled it.
 

Fone Bone

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I actually do agree with this, in theory. There's nothing wrong with a lighter toned DCAU movie, especially considering the era in which it was released. They just bungled it.
It's a bad movie. Released in an era of little but bad movies. The fact that it isn't depressing makes me hate it a little less than the other bad misery movies. I would never put it on the worst list while that is true.
 
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