“Injustice” is easily one of the better DC animated films I’ve seen. It’s based on the “Injustice: Gods Among Us” videogame, which itself is of course inspired by the DC superheroes. This film manages to somewhat coherently fit in lots of material. The way that it blurs the world of DC superheroes with our political reality is rather creative.

On an alternate Earth, The Joker kills a pregnant Lois Lane and destroys Metropolis. Filled with rage, Superman aims to stamp out evil and no political or legal bureaucracy is going to stop him. He quickly starts to dismantle the tyrannical regimes of the world but the Justice League grows increasingly divided with Batman fearing that his friend has gone too far.

Seeing Superman go evil due to the death of Lois Lane actually seems fairly logical. He spends his entire life protecting the innocent with his amazing abilities but on a personal note, that would surely be meaningless if he cannot protect the one he loves the most. It’s great to see Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and so many other iconic heroes along with many villains as well. Some characters meet some really violent ends so this is not a kids’ movie.

I usually dislike it when superhero films deal with real-life issues as I want to go to superheroes for escapism. However, I think “Injustice” succeeds because it never plays down its comic book elements. This movie touches on issues such as Kashmir and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict but it’s still a film where The Joker steals a nuclear submarine and uses Scarecrow’s fear gas. Again, I must stress that this is not a film for young children. This is not like the old “Justice League” cartoons show on television. Some of the violence here is very graphic and many of the themes are quite disturbing.