DC Showcase Constantine: House of Mystery (2022) Review

As DC’s live action output continues to consume itself with reboot after reboot their amazing and creative cartoons made by Warner Bros. Animation go from strength to strength. In their latest DC Showcase Consatine: House of Mystery the compilation movie proves further how much there is to be learnt from this innovative and experimental section of the mega studio.

A collection of four mini movies all with different characters, styles, themes and tone this new DC Showcase follows on from two other collections which gather together short animations often found as extras with the Blu-ray editions of their main animated films.

The first collection was entitled the DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection and included animated adventures for Green Arrow, Jonah Hex, The Spectre and a Superman and Shazam story The Return of Black Adam.

More interestingly the second was the Batman: Death in the Family Collection which had alternate outcomes of the storyline of the same name as well as shorts on more obscure characters like Adam Strange, The Phantom Stranger, Sgt. Rock and Death.

Carrying on the journey into the dark side of DC this showcase starts with a 30 minute unseen exclusive that plunges the viewer into the weird and wicked world of Constantine.

Although some may be familiar with the character of John Constantine from the 2005 Keanu Reeves movie the Liverpudlian demonologist was created by Alan Moore and Stephen R. Bissette and propelled into popular comic circles by their John Constantine, Hellblazer series published in 1988.

Turned into a TV series in 2014 staring Matt Ryan, which kept far more to the original character and concept than Keanu’s version, the lead star reprises his role here voicing Constantine who finds himself thrown into the surreal and supernatural House of Mystery after trying to alter the universe for the better in the aftermath of the Apokolips War.

Wandering through the lavish rooms and creepy corridors Constantine meets his friends and family who welcome him with open arms and chilled beers offering up his idea of a perfect reality. However all is not what it seems and suddenly his nearest and dearest are transforming into disturbing disfigured demons who only relish ripping him apart.

Awaking alive and in the house once more Constantine realises he is trapped for eternity and doomed to be faced with his greatest wishes and worst nightmares over and over again. With a gripping story and plenty of blood, guts and gore this is a short meant to shock and scare proving that not all comics and cartoons are for kids.

Taking a turn into Sci-Fi the post-apocalyptic world of the next flick named Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth is no less harsh and harrowing as we meet the main character, a teenager thrown into a world full of talking beast creatures, brutality and desolation.

Captured by a gorilla cult dedicated to finding the reincarnation of their long lost god, Kamandi and his friends Prince Tuftan of the Tiger Kingdom and humanoid mutant Ben Boxer must face a series of deadly trials to prove themselves worthy of the secrets of The Mighty One.

Exciting and entertaining the animation wonderfully recreates the amazing and instantly recognisable art work of the series creator Jack Kirby and even features an added twist in the animalistic tales tail that will surely please DC fans.

Shifting setting to World War II The Losers is inspired by a 1970’s comic featuring a rag-tag team of outcasts with a death wish who are sent on missions no other crew could ever return from. Brought back in 2004 under DC’s Vertigo imprint which lead to the 2010 movie staring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans and Idris Elba this short remains faithful to the original as Captain Storm, Johnny Cloud, “Mile-a-Minute” Jones, rookie Gunner and Sarge find themselves isolated and in trouble on a remote island in the South Pacific.

Accompanied by their faithful dog Pouch and mysterious Fan Long of the Chinese Security Agency (voiced by Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Book of Boba Fett star Ming-Na Wen) the crew discover they are far from alone and the island is in fact dominated by dinosaur’s out to eat them. Action packed The Losers feels like a blockbuster in miniature with all the thrills and spills you could desire in its 15 minute run time.

Last but by no means least in the hilarious Blue Beetle a pitch perfect parody of the 1960s Saturday-morning cartoon’s that superhero’s such as Spider-Man, Superman and Fantastic Four all stared in. Complete with deliberately dodgy animation, crazy camp villains and a jazzy ear worm of a theme song Blue Beetle and his enigmatic and annoying pal The Question team up to take on the master of emotional manipulation Doctor Spectro.

Much like Birdman and Space Ghost both of which started as Sixties cartoons and were transformed by Adult Swim into hilariously insane and inventive modern day series that simultaneously celebrated and ridiculed their origins, Blue Beatle works perfectly as a self aware comic comedy and of all the shorts it is most definitely the one I would love to see a whole series of.

Bringing obscure characters to the forefront and allowing talented creatives the freedom to experiment is a winning formula and with laughs and horror, action and adventure, comedy and chaos the DC Showcase continues to breath a breathe of fresh air into the superhero genre, a genre that more than any needs exciting and original ideas.

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