Justice
League Vs. Teen Titans
(2016/DC Comics/Warner Blu-ray w/DVD)/Me...
Jane (2016
compilation/Scholastic/Cinedigm DVD)/Wabbit:
Hare-Raising Tales (2015
animated TV Series/Warner DVD set)
Picture:
B & C+/C+/C+ Sound: B+ & C+/C+/C+ Extras: B*/C/D
Main Programs: C+
And
now for the latest child-aimed releases...
In
saying that, I hoped that Justice
League Vs. Teen Titans
(2016) would live up to its name and come up with a story that had
the teams pitted up against each other in a clever way. Of course,
it would not be the original Titans from the 1960s, but the new
version from the animated TV series and I could live with that,
though a match-up of the 1960s version would have been more
interesting. What we get in this straight-to-video feature instead
is a new origins story for the Titans (we never hear about any
earlier version) as a parental Batman sends a latter-day Robin to
meet the current team to become part of it. We won't even get into
how ludicrous Robin's use of nuclear weapons casually is a stunt this
release never recovers from.
Then
we still do not get that promised match-up, but a story not for
children about demons, the supernatural, death worship, hell and
murder! This is rated PG-13, but really leans towards being an 'R'
as far as I was concerned and also serves to promote the Titans (and
toy lines) more than anything else, so I felt a bit had after the
long 78 minutes were over. After all, since the characters are out
there making all kinds of money and being as popular as they are, did
we really need another origins story, especially one this dark and
goofy?
Extras
include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and other
cyber iTunes capable devices, two episodes of other DC animated TV
series related to the Titans, 3 featurettes
in ''Growing
Up Titan''
which covers the history of the franchise very well, character-based
''Heroes
and Villains - Raven''
and ''Heroes
and Villains - Trigon'',
the DVD version and * our special edition comes with an exclusive
Robin figure.
Me...
Jane
(2016) is the latest Scholastic shorts compilation, now being issued
by Cinedigm, with four shorts at 48 minutes altogether related to
able-bodied women going out in the world and being successful; an
idea as vital and progressive as ever. The title short is about Jane
Goodall, the now famous doctor, environmentalist, pro-animal and
pro-nature preservationist who also understands the history and
fragility of it all. We also get Joan Allen narrating I
Could Do That!: Esther Morris Gets Women To Vote,
Who
Says Women Can't Be Doctors?
and Zooey Deschanel; narrating Players
In Pigtails.
A nice set, albeit shorter than I would have liked, is still
something special and worth considering.
Extras
include a Goodall interview with Patrick McDonnell and enlarged
captions.
Finally
we have Wabbit:
Hare-Raising Tales
(2015) from a new animated TV Series with oversimplified artwork that
pits Bugs Bunny against Yosemite Sam, et al, in segments that last
roughly 10 minutes at a time. With 26 episodes in all, I found it
repetitive, thought the animation was some of the poorest for a major
Warner release ever and was not even impressed with the limited, even
joyless, slap-dash voice work. Who greenlit this one? The wit and
fun is just not here and that makes one wonder who this show is meant
for. Its too dull for kids and too limited for adults. They don't
even do anything clever with the title, so that sadly gives us a
curio at best that goes nowhere and is choppy as choppy can be.
There
are surprisingly no extras.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on the Justice
Blu-ray looks pretty good throughout with no major flaws, but I did
not find any of it stunning or demo-quality either, yet that is an
improvement over several of the animated DC Comics Blu-rays that had
banding issues or were just lackluster. The anamorphically enhanced
DVD version is weaker, but passable.
The
1.33 X 1 image on the four Scholastic
shorts look good, but we do get a little bit of video noise, cross
color, staircasing and detail flaws here and there. The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Wabbit
may also be cleaner, yet it is so flat and dull that the 2 DVDs are
no better than the other DVDs covered here.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio)
5.1 lossless mix on Justice
is the big surprise here, very well mixed and presented, recorded
with superior fidelity and offering playback that embarrasses more
than a few live action features. The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 DVD
version is no match, but again passable.
The
lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on the Scholastic
shorts play well with only slight limits from the age of the audio
recordings. Otherwise, just fine. That leaves the lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1 on the Wabbit
episodes underwhelming and a disappointment.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
