LEGO DC Super Hero Girls: Super-Villain High (DVD Review)
A few years back, DC broke some barriers and unleashed a brand of their famed comic book heroes aimed strictly toward young women. Great new figures, costumes and a cartoon were launched in the DC Super Hero Girls brand. But, you know how you really know you were successful with it? You not only get LEGOS, but a LEGO cartoon movie edition of your brand. This isn’t the first one of said LEGO’izing the DC Super Hero Girls, but this is I believe the second of such films, coming a year later. This one is called Super-Villain High and returns the likes of voice acting favorite Tara Strong back to put life into the animated Harley Quinn. You’ll be able to snag yourself this one on DVD (Sorry, bummer, but no Blu-ray) when it hits shelves May 15.
Film 
After a mysterious school opens across the street, the students of Super Hero High find themselves up against a new threat. Now, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl and the rest of the DC Super Hero Girls not only have to worry about the well-being of their grades, but the safety and security of friends, family and the rest of civilization. The girls must figure out how to put a stop to this evil, new cross-town rival and save the world once again!
LEGO DC Super Hero Girls: Super-Villain High is a big time combination of a ton of the female comic characters in the DC universe. There are a LOT of characters in this movie. Impressively, each of them gets their fair share of face time. This one actually focuses quite a bit on the villains too. It even incorporates Beast Boy, Cyborg and the ever popular to use nowadays Gorilla Grodd.
The movie is an energetic, peppy and comedic bit of fun to be had. This one does skew very young, but has a couple little bits here and there. This one also has a lot of big action sequences in it with heroes faces off against some of the biggest villains (Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Killer Frost among them). If you have kids into heroes, I think this is right on the money for their enjoyment. Of course my 3 year old daughter adored it, but surprisingly my 6 year old son was glued to it and really into the movie, which made me happy because he’s in a bit of boy phase where he’s not much into female characters in thing right now (He says its because he has a hard time making their voices when he plays with their figures lol).
Video
Encoding: MPEG-2 NTSC
Resolution: 480i
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Layers: DVD-9
Clarity/Detail: This DC Super Hero Girls adventure comes with a pretty bright and bursting picture. Yes, bummer its a DVD, but this is animated, so it looks pretty good given the circumstances. While its not the crispest or sharpest image, its fine and carries really the essentials details you would need.
Depth: This has some decent spacing and characters move pretty fluidly with minimal (and not really distracting) distortions that occur.
Black Levels: Blacks are deep with some crush hear and there. Details don’t lose hold much during the darker scenes, either.
Color Reproduction: Colors are pretty decent here with their primary aspects. Golds and yellows are pretty standout while Blues, Greens and Reds look strong as well
Flesh Tones: N/A
Noise/Artifacts: Yes, its a DVD, but there are no real striking issues aside from performing with the limitations of the format.
Audio
Audio Format(s): English 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Japanese 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Portugues
Dynamics: Surprisingly this LEGO DC Super Hero Girls movie is really loud and pretty effective for a DVD. The score of it really bumps and makes itself known and the vocals are good and equally loud. It all comes together with the effects and makes for a successful experience.
Height: N/A
Low Frequency Extension: Music beat bump, soundscapes whoosh and crashing action rumbles the subwoofer to a good degree.
Surround Sound Presentation: This is more a front heavy experience, but it does filter into the rear speakers when the time calls for it. Movements are accurately depicted.
Dialogue Reproduction: Vocals are loud and clear.
Extras
Animated Shorts
- Crazed and Confused (SD, 4:23)
- Need For Speed (SD, 3:08)
- Showdown (SD, 3:35)
- Trading Places (SD, 4:17)
- Wonder Waitress (SD, 4:12)
- Bodybuilding (SD, 4:20)
Summary
DC Super Hero Girls: Super-Villain High is a fun little adventure for the young ones to check out. Yeah, its only outdated DVD, but animation doesn’t falter the way live action does. This is as good as you’re going to get in both picture and audio for the format. There are also little extra mini-movies to keep the fun going. If you’ve got a little one and you want something friendly and comic booky, then here you go!
