With the superhero explosion on film,
Marvel has the lead horse in the race, even with DC’s version of Dark Knight
and Superman bringing in the big bucks, Marvel just had a better game plan and
even better execution with their “Phase One” films including Iron Man, Captain
America, Thor, and of course The Avengers.
So when it comes to the big screen Marvel, for the moment and
foreseeable future is king. However, on
the small screen, in particular the direct-to-video films, DC is dominating
both in style and in content. With films
like “Justice League: New Frontier”, “Batman: Under the Red Hood”, “All-Star
Superman” and the most recent “Dark Knight Returns” films based on the masterworks
by Frank Miller DC has been turning out some pretty great animated work.
Even the
films that falter a little like “Wonder Woman”, “JLA: Doom”, and “Batman: Year
One” (which by the way has a pretty awesome voice-over by Bryan Cranston as Jim
Gordon) they still have some great moments and are worth at least one
viewing. What always works for me, even
if they are doing an adaptation of a really good comic book story I appreciate
the animation style and voice cast to tell their stories. The latest is also based on a comic series,
the last of which that was done before the ‘New 52’ reboot of the DC universe, “Justice
League: The Flashpoint Paradox” just “Flashpoint” in the comics. It tells the story of the Flash/Barry Allen
who wakes up in a world where he is no longer a hero with super speed, Batman
carries a gun, Superman is nowhere to be found, and Aquaman and Wonder Woman
are at war destroying half the planet in the process. As he tries to find out who is responsible for
this alternate reality, he fights to stay alive and tries to be the hero he was
always meant to be.
Now after
the big talk-up I gave the entire DC animated films that would probably lead
one to believe that I’m about to give ‘Flashpoint Paradox” a glowing
review. But I’m not. The film is kind of a mess, but with some
high points. First off the animation is very
anime style, which looks good when there’s action, but the rest of the time not
so much. The narrative drags a little
and the explanation for why things are the way they are is a bit confusing,
even for a cartoon based on a comic logic.
The violent action is pretty hardcore, it’s a few hack-slashes and curse
words away from a “R” rating. You do get
to see some great moments from the Flashpoint series, like what happened with
Bruce Wayne and his family, some of the Superman stuff, and a fantastic opening
action scene with the Justice League and even better closing scene with Flash and
Batman voiced by the only Batman I hear in my head when I read a comic, the
twenty year veteran Kevin Conroy. And
who doesn’t love them some Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern every once and a
while? You get glimpses into some storylines
I wished they devoted more time to. I
really like seeing my favorite 90’s character Grifter in the mix. But that’s what most of the film feels like. I big mixer of things and ideas that are never
really fleshed out in the end. Maybe it’s
because the changes are not earned or that you need previous knowledge of these
characters for you to care enough to follow them, or it could be that this
particular story is not as interesting as others. Either way the movie is worth a watch but
doesn’t have that re-watch factor that the other DC animated films have.
It is almost
worth it just for the opening and closing bookends of the piece. So if you want to see some of your favorite
heroes doing some things they’ve never done before, you may like what “Flashpoint
Paradox” has to offer. The sneak peek
for the next DC animated film is on the disc as well, but it’s in the New 52
vein which is a verion of the Justice League origin. I feel I’m done with the origin stories. I am
still just waiting for animated versions of some of my favorite stories, “Identity
Crisis”, “Arkham Asylum”, “The Killing Joke” and “Kingdom Come” Let’s go DC, give the fans what they want.
--Robert L.
Castillo
No comments:
Post a Comment