Flashpoint Paradox Guest Review

Justice League: The

Flashpoint Paradox

Guest Review

       There's a new DC Animated movie out, and one of my contacts offered to write an in depth review. Give it up for Mr. Brooks Cannon, guest reviewer extroardinaire.

 

     What if one day you woke up and realized that everything had somehow changed? Oh, and you’re the Fastest Man Alive, the Flash?  Well, DC answers that in an enjoyable, though not perfect, full-length animated movie, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.

   As I just mentioned, the general idea behind the story revolves around Barry Allen, the Flash, waking up one day to a world that’s very different than the one he knows.  Different, in this case, meaning wrong.  Very wrong.  In this world, there is no Flash, an important event in Barry’s life played out differently, and the superheroes that we all know are either merciless warlords, missing entirely, or totally reimagined, as is the case with Batman.  Batman is introduced early on and is the biggest supporting character in the movie.  This version of Batman puts a fantastic spin on the character that changes the hero in ways that I don't want to spoil here, suffice to say I would love to see more of this version of the character and thought he was handled really well.

   Unfortunately, this brings me to my first problem with the movie.  Almost all of the other characters, especially with Batman right there to compare them to, seemed very shallow.  None of the other heroes’ motivations go beyond, “Bad guys! Get ‘em!” and the villains only strive for the worn out clichés of world domination, revenge, or a mixture of both.  I feel like most of these characters could have been replaced by any other hero or villain with almost no effect on the story.

   That’s not to say that the story’s not good though, because I really did enjoy the trip from point A to point B.  Although the plot didn’t have much in the way of surprises, it moved at a quick pace - plenty quick enough to keep me engaged - and had a satisfying, though not Earth-shattering reveal towards the end that I appreciated.

   The art and animation have the usual amount of quality and polish that we’ve come to expect from DC’s animated movies, with only a few exceptions.  The biggest of these, and the one that really bothered me, was the tacked-on computer generated super-speed sequences.  It’s been a trend at DC over the past few years to render all the vehicles in their cartoon movies and television shows as computer generated 3D models, and the 3D models on the cartoons’  2D plane has never looked quite right to me.  I feel the same way about the Flash in those few scenes, and I really hope that this doesn’t catch on the way that CGing the vehicles has.

   My biggest problem with the movie as a whole, however, is with the several scenes with surprisingly graphic violence.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a great fight scene as much as the next guy, but when a man gets hanged, as happens in an early scene in this movie, I’d rather not see every single moment of it.  Pan the camera away, just show his feet leave the ground, or use any number of tasteful ways to show it, but please don’t keep the frame on his face while the blood gushes from his mouth as he dies.  At times it just seemed a bit excessive.

   As I said, overall I enjoyed Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, and although in might not be the perfect movie to watch with your small children, the fast-paced and engaging plot, awesome spin on the Batman, and generally more serious tone don’t quite make it a must see, but it’s definitely worth your time if you’re interested.

   My score: 8 out of 10

   What do you think? Have you seen the movie? Love it? Hate it? What did you think of my review? Please comment below! Any input is greatly appreciated! And thanks so much for reading!