Panic in the Sky
Episode #24 - Panic in the Sky
Original Airdate - July 9th, 2005
With the founding members out of action, the remaining 50 heroes fight
to survive Cadmus' ultimate attack on the Justice League.
Reviews by Bird Boy, Simple Simon
Media by Bird Boy |
Credits:
Written by Dwayne McDuffie
Directed by Dan Riba
Music by Kristopher Carter
Animation by Dong Woo Animation Co., LTD.
Voices:
Kevin Conroy as Batman
Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman, Reporter
Phil LaMarr as Green Lantern
Carl Lumbly as J'onn J'onzz
George Newbern as Superman
Michael Rosenbaum as Flash
Nicholle Tom as Supergirl, Galatea
Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor
CCH Pounder as Amanda Waller
Robert Foxworth as Professor Hamilton
Corey Burton as Brainiac |
Review (Bird Boy):
And here is yet another power-house episode of Justice League Unlimited!
While it did seem like a filler episode with all the constant fighting, it
didn’t keep it from being entertaining. As all the missiles slammed into the
Watchtower and Supergirl and Galatea fought to the death, it was power
packed and loud from start to finish.
The main point of this episode was the ending, where “Brainthor” (as fans
have dubbed him) appears. Is it still Lex, or has the real Lex been killed?
We’ll find out next week, so I’m not going to make any real guess on it yet,
but it certainly was a wide-eyed “what the—“ moment.
The Supergirl / Galatea fight was brutal. There were a few punches and kicks
that you could actually feel, notably Galatea’s punch to Supergirl’s gut
shortly into the fight. Galatea’s wailing on Steel was also painful to
watch. For being rated TV-Y7, this show sure gets away with a lot more than
other cartoons I see. Ah…glorious cable.
The animation and music were superb in this episode once again. Despite the
glaring CGI, it didn’t bother me as much as it usually does. While some of
it’s still stiff, it blended a bit better than usual. The music sounded
orchestral, once again and puts past seasons to shame. I admit I never had a
major problem with the synthesized music sound, but the process has improved
and it sounds so much better now.
There’s not too much more left on this episode to discuss. Great character
interaction, massive fights and plot movement are pushing it forward to be
one of the best finales of Justice League Unlimited ever. True, it
can falter and horrible fail, but as I’ve said in the past two
reviews…irregardless of the outcome, the build up to it has been brilliant.
Review (Simple Simon): Holy monkey balls
on toast!
If ever there was a moment in the DCAU that’ll make you scream your favorite
expletive-of-choice repeatedly in shock and disbelief, it’s the final scene
of “Panic in the Sky.” Even after two seasons packed full of surprise guest
stars, time traveling, a singing Batman, and more continuity than your
average anime episode, Justice League Unlimited surprises us all again when
everyone’s favorite android Kryptonian busts his way through Lex Luthor’s
chest, backside and arms in such stylish and horrific fashion that the
little creature from “Alien” is shaking its head wondering “Why didn’t I
think of that?” What’s Brainiac doing in Lex’s body? How long has he been
there? Does it even make sense plot-wise?
I’m getting ahead of myself here.
“Panic in the Sky” is the penultimate episode of the Cadmus story arc, and
picks up from where “Flashpoint” left us with a full-scale assault on the
Watchtower by legions of Ultimen. While I was kind of disappointed with the
reappearance of these guys last episode, the battle scenes work very well
here. The Leaguers don’t have any real trouble taking these zombies apart,
and there are some interesting moments scattered throughout (like the
redemption of Captain Atom). We also get the long-awaited rematch between
Supergirl and Galatea, and it’s a good one. Steel gets beaten to a bloody
pulp (is this the first time we’ve seen blood since “Starcrossed?”), and
Galatea ends up on the wrong end of a massive power conduit. Good fun is had
by all.
That’s about half the episode. The other half is the original seven
surrendering themselves to the government, except for Batman who does what
Spider-Man never could and punches out J.J. Jameson before confronting
Waller again. I have to side with Bats on this one: sitting on the sidelines
waiting to be proven innocent doesn’t do anyone any good, especially not
when Lex Luthor is scheming to merge himself with another AMAZO. A nice,
quick fight between Bats and Luthor follows, with an unintentionally funny
ending as Lex easily chucks Batman out the window (process of elimination
will tell you who saved him).
Which brings us back to the shocking cliffhanger ending. While opinions on
the next episode will mostly likely be heavily divided, in the context of
the current episode there’s no denying that “Brainthor” succeeds in twisting
the plot in an old-school comic book kind-of-way, and leaves you with
exactly the kind of salivating anticipation that one should have for the
finale of an epic story arc. The only thing more twisted now would be to
have the League and Brainthor link hands for a song-and-dance finale. |
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