Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox Blu-ray Movie Review

Gotta get back in time...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown August 2, 2013

Count yourself among Flash's loyal legion of fans? You'll have a blast with The Flashpoint Paradox, and walk away with a few complaints. Love all things DC Comics but consider Flash a peripheral hero to your little slice of the DCU? You'll have a blast, and walk away with a few complaints. Rarely pick up a DC comicbook but greedily gobble down any films or series populated by the denizens of the DC universe? You'll have a blast and... detect a pattern? The latest DCU original animated movie has something to offer DC fans of all stripes, speedsters and non-speedsters alike. And the reason is simple. For better or worse, The Flashpoint Paradox is a Justice League movie first, an Elseworlds tale second and, trailing at a distant third, a solid Flash story last. Fortunately, the alternate timeline heroes and villains -- each one more deliciously dark than the last -- help make up for the unintended slight until, by movie's end, Flash narrowly inches ahead and proves he can hold his own in the race. JLA or no JLA.

After capturing the Rogues and stopping the Reverse-Flash, 25th Century madman Professor Zoom (C. Thomas Howell), from leveling Central City, card-carrying JLA member and resident super-speedster Barry Allen (Justin Chambers) makes the decision to go back in time to his childhood and prevent his mother, Nora (Grey DeLisle), from being killed. Little does he know, though, that such a seemingly harmless act will create such a wildly alternate future, one in which Batman isn't Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) but Thomas Wayne (Kevin McKidd), the still-grieving, gun-toting father of a murdered boy; a future where Superman (Sam Daly) is nowhere to be found; where Hal Jordan (Nathan Fillion) never stumbled across a spacecraft piloted by a dying alien; where a cold-hearted Wonder Woman (Vanessa Marshall) and her Amazonian warriors are locked in a bitter war with an unforgiving Aquaman (Cary Elwes) and his Atlantean armies; where Cyborg (Michael B. Jordan) is struggling to become America's Man of Steel; where six foster siblings become Shazam with a word; and where virtually every hero and villain of Barry's universe has been affected by his single act of compassion.

The fun of The Flashpoint Paradox is in checking off familiar and not-so-familiar DC faces as they come and go (or die, as is more often the case), and in seeing how radically different each one is from his or her traditional incarnation. Everyone from Lex Luthor (Steve Blum) to Lois Lane (Dana Delany), Deathstroke (Ron Perlman), Etrigan (Dee Bradley Baker) and even Jim Lee's Grfiter (Danny Jacobs) earns a memorable moment or two, so much so that the movie sometimes feels like a cameo parade. An emaciated Superman and a truly twisted, all too brief take on the Joker take the cake on shocking but wickedly effective variations, although it's Wonder Woman and, yes, Aquaman whose gripping and tragic conflict is the most engrossing, and really the force that propels the entire movie along. Flash, on the other hand, spends far too much time dealing with the loss of his powers (a tiresome subplot that pops up far too often in comicbook movies and series), and even more time out of the mix, working his way toward the war between Wonder Woman and Aquaman at a snail's pace. The upside is that The Flashpoint Paradox clocks in at 81-minutes, rather than the standard DCU 75. And while that doesn't sound like much, director Jay Oliva and screenwriter Jim Krieg spend those six minutes frugally, fleshing out the alternate world just enough to prevent the movie from devolving into an episodic action-fest.

The downside to it all is that The Flashpoint Paradox is a lot of dark, violent fun but not much else. Thomas Wayne, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Lois, Superman... each one demands their own Elseworlds animated movie. And yet a necessary evil quickly reveals itself: each hero and villain is shortchanged as the script hurries from character to character, often blazing past more fascinating storylines in pursuit of a rather standard fare right-the-timeline nail-biter. More distressing, at least to Flash fans, will be poor Barry, who's a key player to be sure, but one who doesn't come into his own until the final minutes. Even then, notice that it's Batman, not Flash, who makes it possible for Barry to patch up the universe; Batman who eliminates the final obstacle in Barry's path, meaning all Flash has to ultimately do is run really, really, really fast down a road cleared for him by other heroes. Paradox is Flash Lite (zero pun intended). If the wonderful wizards of the DCU want to give Flash the stage, then they need to give the man room to work. Let Flash show himself a hero worthy of his own original animated movie; one who can stand on his own, face a formidable foe and save the world, or all of reality, with only the skills at his disposal.

As a Justice League actioner, The Flashpoint Paradox works, and works with brutal, and I mean brutal, tenacity. (This is easily the most bloody, hard-hitting PG-13 fare Warner Premiere has churned out. Arrows through the neck, bullets to the brain-pan, disintegrations, dismemberments, decapitations, impalements... parents of young children beware.) As an animated powerhouse, it packs punch too, courtesy of terrific anime-esque animation and character designs from Studio 4°C in Japan. As anything more character-driven, though, particularly as it pertains to Barry Allen, Paradox is just that: a paradox.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox features a reasonably impressive but inherently flawed 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation; one that suffers from several issues that will be instantly familiar to anyone who's ever evaluated a DCU animated release with any level of scrutiny. Unfortunately, these issues appear at a higher frequency and with more troubling severity than in recent DCU presentations, even though it should be noted that most, if not all, trace back to the animation and digital source rather than Warner's high definition encode. Aliasing, mild to moderate banding, faint macroblocking, fine line pixelation and other anomalies abound, and in the dark timeline especially, with shadow-draped shots of Thomas Wayne bearing the brunt of the burden. Tricks of the animation trade are largely to blame -- artificial zooms and pans tend to take a toll on the crispness and clarity of the image, while dramatic lighting overlays bring with them stair-stepping and other eyesores. For those willing or able to overlook such imperfections, the presentation will be more than satisfying. For those sensitive to the disruptions and distractions, the presentation is a bit too problematic for a higher score.

Even so, all is not lost. Not only does the Blu-ray edition run circles around its DVD counterpart, it does so with an array of grim but confident colors, deep primaries, inky blacks, and consistent contrast leveling. Detail is notable as well, with (generally) clean line art, painterly background textures, and a faithfulness to the nuances of the original animation. Does The Flashpoint Paradox deliver the best of the DCU animated presentations? No, it falls more towards the middle. Do the problems that arise amount to a deal-breaker? Again, no. So long as you're willing to put up with the usual bumps and bruises, nothing about the presentation, good or evil, should come as a surprise.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Warner's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is the highpoint of the disc, with enough punch and power to leave a lasting mark. The LFE channel throws its weight behind every sonic boom, Atlantean weapon of destruction, Amazonian ground assault, heat blast, atomic explosion and Speed Force surge The Flashpoint Paradox deploys. The rear speakers get it on the chaos too, even though the resulting soundfield isn't as full or enveloping as a big screen DC adventure. It makes for a suitably furious action-oriented experience, with enough directional assertiveness to make each clash of the super titans an exciting, multi-channel battle. A prevailing front-heaviness accompanies quieter conversations, but voices are always clean, clear and nicely prioritized in the soundscape, no matter how restrained or aggressive the mix grows. All told, The Flashpoint Paradox couldn't sound much better.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary: Producer James Tucker, director Jay Olivia, screenwriter Jim Krieg and comic writer Geoff Johns discuss Krieg's adaptation of Johns' original comicbook story, the differences between the two, and everything from the Studio 4°C animation to the character designs, voice casting, action beats, favorite scenes and more.
• A Flash in Time: Time Travel in the Flash Universe (HD, 22 minutes): "The Hero's Journey" author Phil Cousineau outlines a brief history of time as interpreted in stories by the Greeks and other cultures, followed by an overview of the manipulation of time as conceived and implemented in the Flash universe. It's a rather dry doc, though; overly serious and rather tangential to the animated movie and the Flash mythos.
• My Favorite Villain! The Flash Bad Guys (HD, 19 minutes): Flash fans will enjoy the disc's second documentary much more. The Rogues are front and center -- chief among them Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Heat Wave, The Weather Wizard and The Reverse Flash -- and their origins, personalities and roles in the DC universe are dissected by the filmmakers and other talking heads.
• Sneak Peak at Justice League: War (HD, 8 minutes): A look at the next DCU animated movie, Justice League: War, an adaptation of "The New 52" origin story of the JLA. War features fresh versions of the characters, new voice actors, a quippier "buddy movie" tone, and the first battle between Darkseid and the JLA in the New 52 universe, and is set to arrive on Blu-ray sometime in early 2014.
• From the Vault (HD/SD, 89 minutes): Four DCU animated TV series episodes are included -- "Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster!" from Batman: The Brave and the Bold and "Flash and Substance" from Justice League: Season Two are presented in standard definition, while "Legends, Parts 1 & 2" from Justice League Unlimited is presented in HD.
• Flashpoint #1 Digital Comic Excerpt (HD): An 8-page excerpt of Geoff Johns' Flashpoint #1.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox isn't the definitive, be-all end-all animated movie Flash purists have been patiently waiting for, but JLA junkies with a soft spot for Elseworlds-esque tales will enjoy all the alternate timelining, from its deviously dark heroes and villains to the climactic battles to the death that litter the fray. Striking Studio 4°C animation, terrific voice casting and performances, and a smart adaptation of Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert's "Flashpoint" comic crossover event further overshadow the movie's problem areas, making Paradox an entertaining but flawed entry in the DCU animated canon. Warner's Blu-ray release has a few issues of its own, although none that completely spoil the proceedings. With a solid video presentation, excellent DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, a decent selection of extras, and a low pricepoint, The Flashpoint Paradox is an easy one to recommend to DCU fans, shortcomings and all.