The march towards 2020 stops in 2015 as I look at all DC animated films released that year. There were a couple films that continued to build a universe while there were a couple that are building a kid friendly universe. One film that put an interesting spin on an alternate universe. Overall this year was enjoyable for DC animated movie fans. Enjoy my full review below.

Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015)*****

Starring: Sean Astin, Rosario Dawson, Sam Witwer 

I enjoyed this movie because it is continuing to build a movie universe. For me, this movie started shifting the view of Aquaman into a different light. For as long as I can remember, Aquaman was viewed as a superhero with lame powers but this movie painted him as a character with a lot of depth and strength. I was always a fan of Sam Witwer and he was a scene stealer in this whole movie as Orim. The only disappointing part of this movie is towards the studio that made it. At the time of writing this (2020), this version of Arthur Curry has not been used in any other connected film. He makes an appearance in the Justice League: Apokolips War (2020) but that is it. 

Batman vs. Robin (2015) ****

Starring: Stuart Allan, Troy Baker, Kevin Conroy

This movie puts Bruce Wayne in a different light as a man that is trying to connect with his estranged son vs a masked vigilante. He also spends screen time outside of the cowl trying to infiltrate the Court of Owls. The movie takes place a few months after the events of the Son of the Batman (2014) movie and seeing Damien struggling to become a hero, after being an assassin his whole life, is compelling because he is influenced by so many powerful people. My only knock on it was that I felt like they could have done more. At the end of the movie, I was fine with the storyline and pace but just wanted more. 

Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015)***** 

Starring: Benjamin Bratt, Michael C. Hall, Paget Brewster

This movie deals with the multiverse as the Justice League (or just Batman, Superman and Wonderman) are turned into anti heroes vs upright villains. I liked this storytelling as it weaved each of the characters’ backstory into the main conflict. What was interesting was that other members of the Justice League and a couple villains were still used but as side characters without powers. I remember first watching this movie a few years after the Dexter (2006-2013) series finished and being more interested in Michael C. Hall’s Batman over the other characters. During this second viewing, I paid more attention to the other characters and enjoyed the small details the writers put in. 

Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts (2015)*** 

Starring: Roger Craig Smith, Chris Diamantopoulos, Will Friedle

The first third of the movie was awesome because of Batman’s costume. He is wearing the black with a red bat logo suit, similar to the costume in the iconic Batman Beyond series (1999-2001) but not confirmed. There was a line from Robin asking about how the new suit felt and that gave me an idea of where this movie falls in the Batman timeline (if there is one). What’s funnier is that Will Friedle (Terry McGinnis in Batman Beyond) is in the movie as NightWing. I know that this movie has a lighter tone than other Batman movies but the villains are the biggest downside of the movie. Oswald Cobblepot is still in his early stages of his criminal career and he is just too focused on other people’s opinion on him that he goes out of his way to find it. It was distracting to me as a viewer. The other villains were just there and I didn’t have an opinion on them. 

Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem (2015)****

Starring: Troy Baker, Will Friedle, Khary Payton

About two months after Animal Instincts is released, the DC Studio stepped up the Batman Unlimited universe with this film. This movie can be good if you look past some of the cheesy lines that the villains are given. For a movie that was set around halloween (but released in August 2015), Halloween is only mentioned a handful of times and by the middle of the movie, I forgot all about Halloween. The animation and action scenes are definitely a step up from Animal instincts. Bringing in Troy Baker to voice the Joker was an excellent move.

Next: DC Animated Movies in 2016