The Stream: Felt longer than it really was.

The Big Screen: Brutal, has all of your favorites, features some lesser knowns and continues a long connected storyline

The Final Bill: Continued animated success from DC Comics based on this action filled and brutal animated sequel.

S2S: Movie Review
Directors: Matt Peters (co-director), Christina Sotta (co-director)
Writers: Ernie Altbacker (screenplay), Ernie Altbacker (teleplay) | 2 more credits »
Stars: Roger Cross, Rosario Dawson, Christopher Gorham | See full cast & crew »
Genre: Animation, Action
Rating: R (brutally violent and graphic animation, not meant for kids at all)
Runtime: 1 hour 25 minutes (plus credits for 5 minutes)
Platform: DCComics.com, FandangoNow, Amazon Prime and other streaming sites

Welcome, welcome, welcome. Stream to Big Screen is back with a review of a highly anticipated release of Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. This animated streaming film was released May 5, 2020. Apokolips War is the sequel to Justice League Dark (2017) involving Jack Kirby’s New Gods. Apokolips War shows us the epic battle between Earth’s favorite league of heroes, and heroes in training, with SUPERVILLAIN, Darkseid. But let’s get to the pros and cons.

I’m going to be honest with you… there aren’t real cons. The only thing I can think of is that the movie felt longer than it was. At only an hour and 25 minutes, the movie felt like a strong 2 hours. That could be the heavy content or slow pace outside of action sequences, but for whatever reason, the movie felt like an eternity. Other than that, anything else I would mention would just be nitpicking. You don’t even have to watch previous animated films to enjoy this production. You might not know all of the characters but that’s not necessary to enjoy this.

Let’s get to the good. This movie is quick-witted and brutal, to say the least. The animation is creative and almost too realistic at times. I’ll admit to turning my head as if some of the colored ink was going to jump out of the screen and get on me. This movie was so gory that I had to check if Tarantino had anything to do with the superfluous blood splatter. The characters and voiceovers were very good. Each hero felt true to what many have gotten in comics and previous movies. John Constantine, who I’ll say is the main character of the movie, is the perfect example of a consistent depiction and enjoyable performance. And then, there’s Darkseid – supervillain supreme coming to the big screen. The MCU had Thanos, but Darkseid is just as sick and sadistic. The film does a great job of the creativity of this villain’s horrible plans. We don’t get to fully experience his wrath but we get enough.

Now, DC Comics does animation and television shows very well. They should consider quitting the live action realm and really pushing these animated films. You get way more than expected and you don’t have to worry about the gory nature because it’s just a cartoon!

With that said, Justice League Dark: Apokolips War is a must stream for DC Comic fans. One thing DC does right, their animated series. Apokoplips War is nothing different. This sequel in the Dark series is filled with violence and the superhero action and depth the live action films need. You may not like cartoons, but you will not be disappointed in this film. In fact, go back and watch other DC Comic animated films like Justice League Dark, Killing Joke, Flashpoint and so on. This is a streaming gold and definitely would be worth watching in the theater.