The last week in February doesn’t have a lot of releases, but there are some choice ones including one of the best DC direct-to-DVD movies yet, the multiple Oscar-winning Hugo, which is destined to become a children’s film classic, and a brilliant reconstruction job on one of the best TV cartoon series of the 1960s.

 

 

The top release this week is Justice League: Doom (Warner Bros., “PG-13,” $19.98, BD $24.98), an excellent adaptation by the late Dwayne McDuffie of the Mark Waid Justice League story “Tower of Babel” (though the actual tower is one of the few plot elements that didn’t make it from the comic to the movie).  With Justice League now the bestselling comic book, the timing for this release could hardly be better. Justice League: Doom is aided immeasurably by a fine cast that includes Kevin Conroy (Batman), Tim Daly (Superman), Susan Eisenberg (Wonder Woman), Nathan Fillion (Hal Jordan/Green Lantern), Carl Lumbly (Martian Manhunter), Michael Rosenbaum (Barry Allen/Flash).  The combination of this excellent cast along with a solidly-paced story that stands as a tribute to the storytelling abilities of both Waid and McDuffie marks Justice League: Doom as one of the best direct-to-DVD features so far—and as usual the extras on the disc are first rate.

 

 

Tops in this category this week is Hugo (Paramount, “PG,” $29.98, BD/Combo $44.98, 3-D BD Combo $54.98), Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Brian Selznick quasi-graphic novel. With Hugo nominated for a number of Academy Awards (it has won four already), why is the DVD coming out in the wake of Oscars when the traditional strategy is to re-release a film theatrically in order to capitalize on Oscar wins?  The reason is that the expensive Hugo’s best chance at profitability may well be on DVD.  With its historical narrative that reaches back to the early days of movies, Hugo is a children’s movie that appeals to a more limited discerning audience than most films in its genre, but it also has a chance to be an all-time classic and certainly deserves to be seen by a far greater audience than has watched it so far.

 

There’s another film due this week with some cult hit potential, Johnny English Reborn (Universal, “PG,” $29.98, BD $34.98), which those who enjoy the antics of Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) will definitely want to check out.  Atkinson returns as a hapless, but surprisingly successful secret agent in this action/comedy directed by Oliver Parker (The Importance of Being Earnest).  While not of all of the jokes work, there is something to be said for a contemporary comedy film that eschews bad language and gross-out humor, while still managing to remain entertaining.

 

 

The top release in this category is Underdog: The Complete Collector’s Edition (Shout Factory, 1260 min., $69.97), a mammoth 9-disc collection that contains all of the great 1960s Underdog cartoons plus the original shorts featuring the show’s other characters including the Go Go Gophers, Klondike Kat, and Commander McBrag.  Now please understand that reconstructing the original Underdog shows was an imposing task, given the fact that those shows had been sliced, diced, and mangled beyond recognition for syndication.  While Shout Factory’s reconstructive efforts weren’t perfect, this is the best version of the classic cartoon series starring Wally Cox that we are ever likely to see, and well worth acquiring.  The episodes are presented in chronological order with their original music—and if some of the openings were reclaimed from less than optimal material, at least all the original music, much of which had been stripped out and replaced for syndication, has been restored.  This is one “collector’s edition” that truly lives up to its name!

 

One of the longest-lived current cable series is the Showtime series Weeds, which stars Mary-Louise Parker as the widowed Nancy Botwin, who turns to selling marijuana to support her family.  Weeds: Season 7 (Lionsgate, 353 min., $39.98, BD $39.97) returns to the lighter, more humorous tone of the series’ first three seasons, and features a great supporting performance from Jennifer Jason Leigh as Nancy’s nasty sister Jill.

 

 

Due to a mix-up, the anime titles that are due out this week that include Fairy Tail Part 4, Bakuman Part 2, and Princess Jellyfish were inadvertently included in last week’s column.  For more complete reviews see the “Anime Section” in “DVD Round-Up: Puss in Boots, Tower Heist, & J.Edgar.”

 

--Tom Flinn

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.