Klance In 2024??? 🤯🤯🤯💯💯💯

I decided to watch all the DC animated movies and rank + review them! The most recent one I watched was Justice League Throne of Atlantis. Here’s my notes on it!

(SPOILER WARNING!!!)

My thoughts:

Honestly the movie was okay, it’s decent but it’s not really all that. DC definitely has better movies out there. I think my favorite thing about this particular series is the dynamic between Batman and Green Lantern. This says a lot because I actually hate Green Lantern after being subjected to Green Lantern First Flight and Green Lantern Emerald Knight. I also really liked the characterization of Cyborg. Shockingly enough, in my honest opinion, the weakest character in Throne of Atlantis WAS Aquaman. They didn’t flesh him out enough for me to really care. I think a big thing I’ve noticed with DC is they tend to either rush straight into action with the movie slowing down halfway through, or the first half of the movie is slow and then it picks up. They haven’t found a good middle ground but you could probably blame the pacing on how short these movies are. This all being said, it’s not a bad movie! I wasn’t sitting there thinking to myself “God can this movie finish already?” the way I was during the Green Lantern movies.

My notes and my current ranking!

Follow me on Letterboxd @quinny42069!

I’ll probably only post them as I watch them because if I’m being completely honest, I don’t remember enough about a lot of them to post about because I watched a lot of them over the Summer. But if there is a specific one anyone wants me to go over, then just let me know and I’ll try and find a recap to jog my memory a bit! I’ll also try to post about the ones I remember the most! I do have notes on all of them but they’re more reactions to the movie rather than on the quality.

My gender is rickrolling

Your gender is now the first randomized wikipedia article you get. No rerolls.

they are verrrryyy important to me actually

Never forget who was there for you during your lowest moments (fanfiction).

Dick 9 times out of 10 failing to hide a severe injury from the rest of the batfam because without fail when he’s tired or drugged or generally not firing on all cylinders his native accent comes out as thick as the day he met Bruce.

- - -

Bruce: Dick come down for a check up I saw you take that hit for Tim.

Dick, halfway towards the cave exit and still going, in the quietest voice possible: im fine

Bruce: Say squirrel and you can leave.

Dick:

Bruce:

Jason:

Tim:

Damien:

Dick: …skweeerrehl.

Jason: Get him boys.

very tired of the ‘Dick Grayson is mostly a pretty boy with bad puns, golden retriever vibes’ trope. Give me German Shepherd Dick. Give me the ‘consummate performer’ Dick. The one all, brilliance, bloody smiles and showmanship, the one with razor sharp wit and charm made weapon. Dick who seamlessly switches between a million personas. The one who doesn’t know what to do when the show’s over. Give me the Dick no one wants to be on the wrong side of because Nightwing might not start battles, but he finishes them. The only one whose threats the entire Batfam (including Bruce) takes seriously. The one fear toxins can’t affect because he’s been to hell and back.

The Dick who unlike Jason doesn’t even mention how much he’s been fucked up and survived. The one the Joker knew he couldn’t break.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is not untalented but he shouldn't be making billion dollar disney movies or whatever. This guy should be in a garage making deeply earnest but unpolished rap opera concept albums and posting them online for a niche fanbase of no more than 100,000 too-online theatre nerds. Hiring him to make forgettable paint-by-numbers radio friendly disney princess pop is trying to raise devil's pupfish in captivity. You have to stop giving him money and let him go make cringe in his natural habitat or you're never going to get anything good.

I literally can't take it anymore. I need to get this out of my system. This is a hate-rant about why almost every single thing Tom Taylor has written is wrong.

First and foremost is the bimbofication of Dick Grayson. Tom Taylor loves to write him like this idiot who doesn't think at all. Being cheerful does not mean being dumb.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #79

"You seem unusually contemplative"? All Dick does is contemplate!

Nightwing (1996) Issue #3

His mind is always running!

Nightwing (2011) Issue #13

Nightwing (2016) Issue #38

I just picked a random issue from all of these comics and in every single one of these, Dick's planning, thinking, and strategising constantly.

Tom Taylor literally treats him like he's stupid or something.

Also the degradation of his abilities

Nightwing (2016) Issue #79

A vigilante for 20 years. Who has faced assassins, hitmen, psychos, surprise attacks, metas, and you're telling me he didn't know that a untrained kid snuck up and stole from him?

He forgot who he was, he didn't forget where he lived! Even when he was Ric Grayson, Dick had procedural memory. His battle instincts stayed with him.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #52

"Then...I didn't even know what I was doing. I took him down--took him apart in seconds."

This man is a vigilante machine when he was amnesic. Why the heck would Dick ever let his guard down?

His robin reference

Nightwing (2016) Issue #92

Even Bruce in Batman: Hush has said it-Dick was the best. His skills were the best of anyone he's witnessed which is one of the reasons why Bruce let him be Robin in the first place.

This scene is so wrong that there's a robin scene that came out before this in direct opposition of this Tom Taylor Shitshow.

Robin & Batman Issue #1

This was actually pre-robin. Bruce had him do a solo-trial run to see his skill before he made him Robin and this was the result. Compare that to Tom Taylor's scene and the result is humiliating. For Taylor.

Tom Taylor's version of trying to show that Dick loves the people comes off as him hating crime-fighting. RIP the whole Robin firing drama and Nightwing birth i guess.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #79

"We could have avoided all of this if we'd just stayed in and eaten kibble."

Nightwing (1996) Issue #3

Dick would rather die than stop crime-fighting. After Blockbuster's first attempt, his life was hanging on by a thread and he still continued crime fighting.

Nightwing (1996) Issue #91

After Blockbuster blew up his apartment, this is the single-minded determination Dick had to continue crime-fighting. This is him at one of the worst lows of his life but he refused to give up but now? He has everything and Dick wants to stop the murder of a child to stay inside and eat kibble which - what the heck? I know he's seen as a happy character but him fighting dog-food desirable is too far!

Also the idiocy of which Tom Taylor had Barbara calling the cops in Bludhaven for a stolen wallet. Newsflash! This isn't her first rodeo here.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #81

vs

Nightwing (2016) Issue #24

Nightwing (2011) Issue #23

Given how Dick's easily defeated enhanced metas and "very good" fighters, him falling down the stairs is a little to absolutely impossible to believe.

Another I love about Dick that Tom Taylor deciminates is his grace. Dick is the most graceful person in DC. His balance easily matches Selina's enhanced cat powers.

But yet. You have.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #83

Nightwing (2011) Issue #23

yeah. okay.

Taylor's motorbike scenes of Dick make me so mad. The boy is a pro at crazy. It's one of his best traits because he does the wildest stunts and he pulls it off.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #93

Nightwing (1996) Issue #86

He lands on his feet. He grabbed a villain mid-air, crashed into a window, and was perfectly fine. Actually no, he's not fine because he's worried about his bike's paint job.

Nightwing (2011) Issue #24

He just sailed over a whole crowd of people and started kicking butt like what he just did wasn't extraordinary - which for him is just another tuesday.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #95

yeah, tell 'er Dick.

He doesn't need someone to hold his bike.

One of the worst things in Taylor's run is how Blockbuster went down. It suddenly reminded me of Selina's stupid ideology which is why I think I got so ticked off.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #96

Blockbusters' thugs loyalty to him isn't a make it or break it deal. He's one of strongest criminal organisations and the knowledge that he owns one of the worst prisons that he could easily put his underlings into would've instilled fear into his thugs, not freedom. Furthermore Blockbuster takes good care of his people that don't piss him off. He teamed up with Nightwing in the scarecrow era in Nightwing (2016) because someone was messing with his people. He's extremely intelligent and superstrong, and he's not just going to be brought down by the knowledge that he owns a prison. It's Bludhaven. If he didn't, then there would be something suspicious given that he runs the city. It's the way Taylor dumbs down Bludhaven's villains that gets to me. Imagine him writing Batman (2016). It's like saying, "yeah the Joker was just a little misguided but he found the right way again after a stern talking to by Batman."

Nightwing is a big name.

When Dick first came to Bludhaven, one of the police officers was like we don't want your crazy here or something. Also Bludhaven loves Nightwing. They want him.

So why is everyone pretending like they don't know who he is?

Nightwing (2016) Issue #90

The police, the citizens, the villains-all of them. Dick fought Brutale and beat the crap out of him way back in 1996 comic. He's a Bludhaven regular. Just because Dick forgot who he was doesn't mean anyone else forgot him. Amnesia doesn't work that way.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #54

A whole team of Nightwings were formed during Dick's amnesic period because of how badly he was needed and missed. It's almost like the Tom Taylor run is set in an alternate universe.

I ran out of image space but what the absolute fiddlesticks is up with Dick being scared to jump. It better be a manipulation tactic but at this point I think Tom Taylor doesn't even know that Dick is manipulative.

On TikTok I saw a few people use the fact that Jason asked Tim to be his Robin in Battle For the Cowl as evidence that Jason and Tim are really close and the other day I saw the actual panel (I haven’t read BFTC) and I’m shocked that people interpreted that as wholesome. So my takeaway is that they

A. Didn’t see the panel, just saw someone mention it in passing

or

B. Are a little delusional (but hey aren’t we all?)

Batman’s little smile 😭🫶

Nightwing #15

This is the best day of Dick's life.