Superman on Television

Justice League Action: Episode Reviews

Season 1 - Episodes 33: "Best Day Ever"

Originally Aired: August 26, 2017 (U.S.)

Written by Paul Dini
Directed by Jake Castorena

CAST:
Kevin Conroy as Batman (voice)
Mark Hamill as Joker (voice)
Rachel Kimsey as Wonder Woman (voice)
Jason J Lewis as Superman (voice)
Charles Schlatter as The Flash (voice)
James Woods as Lex Luthor (voice)

Rating - 4 (out of 5): While Flash is doing his nightly check at the maximum security prison, Joker pops in with a Mother Box and kidnaps Lex to have the best day ever! First stop: Paradise Island. Joker lands them in the water just off the island. While Lex tries to go to shore Wonder Woman confronts him. Before she can get the drop Joker whisks them away. While the two pop in and out across the world the Justice League are on their trail. Finally Lex takes them to a safe place, one of his secret hideouts where he finally realizes why the Joker broke him out to begin with. What is Joker's diabolical plan?

Having both Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill back to voice Batman and the Joker respectively plays more to fan service than anything else but the kicker is we love it! To a couple of generations now Conroy and Hamill are Batman and the Joker. They've been voicing these characters on and off for nearly 25 years! And while other actors have portrayed these characters in voice work or live action no one can compete with the brilliant voice acting of these two. They bring these characters to life more so than any live action iterations in the past twelve years. I'm not throwing stones at Bale or Affleck they have their own style and many have debated which actor was better. But for me when you have voice actors who are not acting any less than live actors they bring the characters to life in your imagination, and despite the great animation, when you hear them in your mind's eye you see these characters - in this case Batman and Joker - in your own way. When you start hearing their voices when you're reading the comic books you know they have done their job!

I enjoyed this episode. Joker and Luthor teaming up has always been fun. What I enjoyed about this story is that the Joker got the upper hand. He figured that zipping across the world chased by the League would get Luthor to bring them to his secret hideout for some peace. Once there the Joker gets Luthor to show him the destructive bomb he built and use it to destroy the League who come crashing the party as the Joker expected. With the bomb ticking down our heroes try to get the job done while Luthor tries to escape in his war suit. In the end Luthor surprises the Joker, knocking him out, giving him time to stop the bomb. After Lex returns to prison, happy for some peace and quiet, he gets a little surprise. The Joker is his new roommate! Gotta love the irony. I wouldn't expect anything less from writer Paul Dini!

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