Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox

Wow, that is a mouthful of a title.

Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox is the latest animated endeavor from DC Entertainment based on the Geoff Johns penned 2011 story Flashpoint set to release on July 30th. By good fortune and luck, I was able to watch it two weeks early (many thanks to the friend who “acquired” it),  so how well did it adapt the story?

For those of you unfamiliar with Flashpoint, it is the precursor to the relaunch of the DC New52 Universe and sets the event in motion. As you might expect, this is a Flash-centric story with Barry Allen waking up in an altered timeline after changing time and saving his mother from Professor Zoom (or Reverse Flash, whatever you prefer). No good deed comes without consequences, as the ripples of this change result in a war between Aquaman and Wonder Woman. Without access to the Speed Force or his powers, thanks to a crafty Professor Zoom, Barry re-enacts the moment that gave him his powers in the first place in a dangerous attempt to right the universe.

It’s a well known fact that comic adaptations will leave things out here and there, and in some portions, Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox did this wonderfully, while in others erred. For example, Wonder Woman and Aquaman. The base story remained the same: they were going to be married for “convenience” and then something happened that turned them against each other forever, but part of this sub plot is completely missing. Wonder Woman is also much more cutthroat and merciless, a change that was pretty amazing in my opinion. I won’t spoil anything for you in regards to the rest of the changes, in the hopes that you will check out the movie for yourself.

A much larger problem for me was the art behind the animation, agreeing with a fellow viewer about the lack of proper proportions and terrible mouths on the characters. Then, the second I curled my lip in distaste, the Flash would run and it was beautiful. BEAUTIFUL. Thankfully, I found ways to distract myself from staring at the characters’ lips and Aquaman’s grotesquely small head, namely by listening to the spot on star studded voice cast which included Cary Elwes, Nathan Fillion, Steve Blum, Justin Chambers, Kevin Conroy and more.

Those who loved the tie-ins rather than the main storyline will find plenty to love about the movie, as there are plenty of nods to characters that appeared because of Barry’s timeline tampering, including a 2 second appearance of the Canterbury Cricket. There’s even some fan service for those of us who loved Young Justice!

Overall, Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox is fun. You feel every one of those 75 minutes, but at least half of them fly by without you noticing. Let me know what you thought about it once you pick up your copy!! By the way, Amazon so far has it for the cheapest.

Leia Calderon/@ladyvader99