Starcrossed
Episode #50, 51, & 52 - Starcrossed Part 1, 2 & 3
Original Airdate - May 29th, 2004 - Series Finale
When a Thanagarian force arrives and occupies Earth, Hawkgirl is torn
between loyalty to her homeland and love of her adopted planet.
Media by screw on the head, Bird Boy
Review by Maxie Zeus |
Credits:
Part I:
Written by Rich Fogel
Directed by Butch Lukic
Part II:
Story by Rich Fogel
Teleplay by John Ridley
Directed by Dan Riba
Part III:
Written by Rich Fogel, Dwayne McDuffie
Directed by Butch Lukic
Music by Michael McCuistion
Animation Services by Dong Yang / Koko Enterprises
Voices:
Kevin Conroy as Batman
Maria Canals as Hawkgirl
Phil LaMarr as Green Lantern
Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman
Carl Lumby as J'onn J'onzz
George Newbern as Superman
Michael Rosenbaum as Flash
Victor Rivers as Hro Talak
Hector Elizondo as Kragger
Elizabeth Pena as Paran Dul
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Aflred
Jason Marsden as Snapper Carr
Javier Grajeda as Hawk Sentry
|
Review
Two and a half years ago, Justice League premiered with "Secret
Origins," a story in which Earth's mightiest heroes (and two from other
planets) joined together to defeat an invasion from outer space. Now,
with "Starcrossed," another interstellar invasion shatters the League
and wraps up the series in high style with its most exciting and
engrossing adventure.
This time the attack comes from a putatively friendly direction. An
armada from Thanagar—Hawkgirl's homeworld—drops from the skies and saves
Washington D.C. from an attack by a Gordanian warship. The expedition's
leader, Hro Talak, warns the leaders of Earth that the Gordanians,
Thanagar's mortal enemies, are preparing an invasion of Earth and offers
Thanagarian protection in the form of a garrison and planetary force
field. But Batman (who never was one to believe in coincidences)
discovers that the Gordanian attack was only a ruse and, sneaking aboard
the Thanagarian flagship, finds evidence that the occupying forces have
other motives. Alerted to the breach in their security, the Thanagarians
quickly change footing and enforce a military occupation upon the Earth.
And the Justice League—whose weaknesses the Thanagarians have studied
and prepared for—are quickly defeated and imprisoned.
That's because their plans have been laid well in advance, and Hawkgirl
stands revealed as their agent and advance scout. And John Stewart's
sense of betrayal is not improved when he learns that his sweetheart and
Hro Talak are, shall we say, an item.
"Starcrossed" works on many levels, but at its simplest and most
visceral it's a knockout action story. The series has had its highs and
lows when it's come to group-on-group melees, but "Starcrossed" easily
puts every other Justice League fight in the shade with combat sequences
that are so fluid, so expertly cut, and so epic in scope that they leave
you gaping, gasping and laughing all at once. And it's not just in the
aerial combat sequences, with their sky-filling fleets of cartwheeling
attack fighters and rank upon rank of Thanagarian legionnaires,
descending like pagan angels, that amaze. There is a Justice League
prison break that is (hold on while I mix my metaphors) storyboarded
with the crispness of a mathematical proof and executed with the dazzle
of a musical dance number. And there is a taut, dramatic and
bone-crunching one-on-one duel at the climax that will rattle your
teeth.
As drama, the episode is tense and suspenseful. Hawkgirl's apparent
treachery is a blow to everyone on the League (Green Lantern, grimly,
even seems to take it in somewhat better spirit than some of his
teammates) and also to those of us in the audience who thought her the
most fun and attractive of the bunch. Is her loyalty to Thanagar as
deep-rooted as it seems? That's a spoiler I won't reveal, except to say
the final scene is unexpected and deeply affecting. But the scripters
(led by Rich Fogel, with able assists by John Ridley and Dwayne
McDuffie) mean you to have your doubts about her, and there's a
climactic moment at the end of Part I that, for all its simplicity, is
appalling in its brutality.
Finally, "Starcrossed" doesn't stint on those pleasures that are minor
within the scope of the story but which will deeply gratify fans of
these heroes. The script is also tightly written, with dialogue that is
efficient and characteristic of its speakers. The humor—of which there
is not exactly an abundance—is mostly unobtrusive and arises in
throwaway moments. And the story, without stopping dead, gives each of
its heroes a moment to shine.
In only one respect is "Starcrossed" not particularly lustrous. The
story tries to work on the theme of divided loyalties and to develop a
conflict between necessary ends and the unattractive means to them.
Unlike the White Martians of "Secret Origins," the Thanagarians come not
as world-conquering evildoers and stand accused of nothing worse than
ruthless self-interest. Still, in the context of this story, that's
enough to make one slightly impatient with some of the dramatic scenes
between Hawkgirl and Hro Talak, and every viewer will hiss loudly at the
invasion force and cheer lustily when the League opens a can of whup ass
on them.
The League will be back later this summer with a new iteration on the
series, Justice League Unlimited—fortunately so, otherwise the
ending-which-is-not-quite-an-ending to "Starcrossed" would be nearly
unbearable. But it will, in light of this episode, be a new series with
a new Justice League. August 7 cannot come soon enough.
|
[ Back to Episode Reviews ]
|
