Review
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox is a Justice League movie that predominately features the Flash alongside Cyborg, Batman (not the one you think), and to a lesser extent other famous DC Comics characters. The core of the story is about regrets and whether you should use your powers to undo past wrongs, a nod to Uncle Ben's famous advice to Peter Parker, "With great power comes great responsibility." The Flash decides to use his super speed to travel into the past and save his mother's life. A side effect of the journey is a ripple effect that shifts history and creates an alternate world on the brink of Armageddon. To make matters worse, Flash has to regain his lost powers and team up with a slim picking of heroes left as the Amazons and Atlanteans reach the climax of their world war.
As with any time travel story, I enter it with some skepticism. It's a wild horse to ride. But my main gripe with the movie is the lack of a central villain and some of the violence was excessive. In one viewing, Professor Zoom is the central villain of the piece. The set up scene at the start of the scene even sets him up but for the most part he's the first and last act. He's not really an overarching threat despite the occasional mention of him. He's sort of just there for the ride and is a passive threat until the big finish. In another viewing, the central villains could be Emperor Aquaman and Queen Diana but there are not traditional supervillains. They're alternate universe characters in a morally gray situation. Who knew forming a Justice League and fighting a giant mind controlling alien starfish was tantamount to preventing the end of the world? But again like Zoom, the Emperor and Queen appear here and there, every so often so we don't forget about them. Ultimately, this and the previous movie Superman: Unbound suffer from having a villain that is not executed well enough in terms of the story.
My other issue is the at times excessive use of violence. Yes, it's an alternate universe. Flash undoes all the bad things that happen. The violence demonstrates the scale of the situation. It's a PG-13 movie, not an animated series. But really, some things are just uncalled for. Even in the Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, the crew admitted to removing the notion that the Joker kills a bunch of boy scouts with poisoned cotton candy. Yet, in this movie, it's perfectly fine for Wonder Woman to murder a defenseless child with a sword. To a lesser extent, Black Manta get shot in the face multiple times or Grifter taking an arrow right through the head. Just too much. Showing a hole through Zoom's head? Yeah, he's a homicidal sociopath and maybe that was a homage to some movie. But just too much.
The casting, as always, continues to be top notch. The Flashpoint Paradox is oddly a convergence point for many actors to reprise much loved roles from various animated incarnations. Dee Bradley Baker is back as Etrigan, a role he did on Batman: The Brave and The Bold. Both times, Etrigan rhymes. Kevin Conroy is back as Batman. Yes, at times, it is surprising he's still willing to reprise the role. Dana Delany is back as Lois Lane. Nathan Fillion is back as Hal Jordan, a role he's done for Green Lantern: First Flight, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, and Justice League: Doom. Vanessa Marshall is back as Wonder Woman, role she did on Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. Ron Perlman is back as Deathstroke, a role he did on Teen Titans. Kevin Michael Richardson is back as a 'President Obama'-ish character, like he did on Batman: The Brave and The Bold.
Aside from returning actors, the new actors who make their debut in this movie left a vivid impression. I hope they get a chance to reprise their characters someday! Justin Chambers as Barry Allen, C. Thomas Howell as Professor Zoom, Michael B. Jordan as Cyborg, Kevin McKidd as Thomas Wayne, Sam Daly as Superman, and Steve Blum as Lex Luthor, to name a few. Notably, McKidd really steps out and steals the movie as the alternate Batman who makes the regular Batman look like the good cop. Maybe it's because this is the one movie where Thomas Wayne isn't gunned down in Crime Alley, but McKidd's performance was dead on and really captured the character from the comic. Upon a second read, all I could hear was McKidd's voice.
In addition to dealing with the mechanics of time travel, writer Jim Krieg made some cuts in his adaption of the Flashpoint comics. Understandably, Element Woman was an awesome, off the wall character in the comic that brought some levity to a grim story. But on screen, she would have taken up too much room in a rather dense story. Likewise, Enchantress is reduced to a hologram cameo. Her last minute reveal as a mole would have felt too shoehorned for the movie and there was likely no time to put in proper beats to build up to the notion of a mole. There was already so many other plots and sub-plots going on. Tawky Tawny is absent or maybe he's there the whole time...completely invisible to everyone. Still, it would have been a great one off gag for Cyborg in the movie. Cyborg's allies are watered down to unvoiced cameos. Probably a good thing. We didn't really need to know their back stories nor listen to anymore world building. To an extent, the Shazam children were scaled back to just be there at the end as a back up Superman. Krieg wasn't afraid to weave in some interesting references in dialogue. Who didn't cringe when the Flash tells Batman the only other person that can go fast enough to time travel was Superman?
Jay Oliva is a real master when it comes to directing. He doesn't pull any punches with changing up the action choreography. He echoes a lot of his thoughts on the commentary track, something worth listening to. It was amazing to hear him explain how he came up with new ways to animate and making Jim Krieg's head explode. The Flash and Professor Zoom battle and the last scene with the Flash are all what we've been yearning to see in a live action Flash movie. In addition to the action staging, Oliva also lays down some neat easter eggs - Abin Sur's ship was from the Green Lantern live action movie, the failed Superman clones were swiped from the Young Justice pilot, and Wonder Woman's white outfit in the flashback, the Amazons and Greek monsters were from the Wonder Woman animated movie.
The bonus features were good. Always an absolute favorite of mine, the commentary track was worth the price of admission alone. This track had a fantastic mix of Writer Geff Johns, Producer James Tucker, Screenwriter Jim Krieg, and Director Jay Oliva. You get all the different perspectives in one room and it's magic. I think Krieg and Oliva need to do a podcast together. Both were really entertaining to listen to. Heck, just put them on every commentary from now on even if either had nothing to do with the movie. The "A Flash in Time" featurette was not too interesting at all. Delving too much into basic time travel, I would have preferred a spotlight on the Flashpoint event itself. It would have been appropriate to focus a little on what inspired the movie in the first place. The "My Favorite Villain!" was a pleasant surprise and lovely piece on the Rogues even though they were there for just the first act. The sneak peek, seemingly filmed early in production, was rather bare bones in previewing Justice League: War with mainly storyboards and voice work to satiate fans.
The Blu-ray home video release is a definite purchase. The audio and video quality is more of the same we have some to get used to, and the overall bonus features are a solid offering. While simply Justice League in name, story finally gives patient and impatient fans alike a Flash movie. The movie really was actually a bunch of interconnected plots but the pacing was well enough that it wasn't too jarring. If Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox is a sign of new (52) things to come, the DC Universe Animated Original Movie line may have gotten a much needed shot to the arm and revitalized itself. Some of the violence was overdone but overall is overshadowed by the cameos, easter eggs, Flash, and Thomas Wayne.
Rating
Main Feature: 4 out of 5
Special Features: 3.5 out of 5
Average Rating: 3.75 out of 5