‘The Guardians Of Justice’ is a Netflix satirical superhero series that follows superheroes, who form the Guardians Of Justice.
Rating 2.5/5
Story
In an alternate universe, superheroes do exist and protect humankind. Marvelous Man is an alien who descended on Earth during WWIII after his planet was destroyed. He stands for justice and protects the people.
On the 40th anniversary of his saving people from the doom of WWIII, he commits suicide on a television broadcast. His lieutenant Knight Hawk smells foul play and the prime suspects are the members of Guardians of Justice who worked alongside Marvelous Man. The Guardians of Justice include Golden Goddess, The Speed, Awesome Man, Blue-Scream, King Tsunami and Black Bow.
He starts investigating them one by one. Did Marvelous Man commit suicide or did the Guardians of Justice murder their leader?
Performances
Given the cringe dialogues, most of the cast does a fine job. It seems like a bad Power Ranger series with over-the-top acting. The worst of the lot is perhaps Dallas Page, as Knight Hawk, who is present in most of the scenes.
Positives
‘The Guardians Of Justice’ employs multiple art styles and animations including claymation, 8-bit pixel art, comic book style art and much more. The use of these various styles is hard to miss. It is a spectacle of various shades, colours and techniques.
The satirical story blurs all the lines between right and wrong and good and bad. It questions concepts of greater good and justice, though they are executed somewhat poorly. The superheroes whom the people have come to worship are flawed and are barely hanging by a thread.
It plays big on nostalgia and familiarity. The characters are based on the superheroes that we are familiar with but give these known tropes and characters a twist. The acting and the sets are also reminiscent of the 90s shows.
Negatives
The episodes of ‘The Guardians Of Justice’ are extremely quick-paced and details are easy to miss. At no point does it dwell on the important parts. Not only is this true for the pacing this happens with the animation and the editing also.
There is never enough time to appreciate the art on the screen. Most of the animations appear briefly. The constant back and forth between live-action and different animations instigates a headache.
The plot and the characters are severely underdeveloped. All the characters can be described in a sentence. There is no dimension to any of them. Knight Hawk, whom we follow for most of the series, is mostly unknown as a person. The plot touches upon different social and political issues but never gives any of the proper time to fully develop. It barely scrapes through the surface.
The dialogues are super cheesy. They are short and only convey the required information in an unflattering fashion. Dialogues are delivered in a loud manner, too. It may fit well with animated shows but feels out of place and jarring in a live-action hybrid.
Costumes of the superheroes are just ridiculous. It appears as if someone painted on cardboard and made their suits.
Verdict
‘The Guardians of Justice’ can be appreciated mostly by an audience who are familiar with the cultural references which appear throughout the series. The different art styles and animations are surely something to look out for.
Also Read: The Guardians of Justice summary and ending explained