JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time

Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman in JLA Adventures:
Trapped in Time
© 2014 Warner Bros

I don't always do reviews on this site, but I thought I would in light of the new animated DVD JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time, which is a direct-to-DVD Justice League animated film sold exclusively at Target, at-least so far.  Ultimately, it's your classic kiddie fare: harmless, but bland.  No big stars lend their voices to this film, and the animation is tepid but acceptable.  Sadly, the biggest flaw is the story, which was clearly inspired by an old Challenge of the Super Friends episode, but with some Legion of Super Heroes characters--Dawnstar and Karate Kid--thrown in.

And yes, there was a member of the Legion of Super Heroes called Karate Kid.  And he has to get back to the future.  Sorry, it had to be said and yes, I stole that from Linkara.

Dawnstar and Karate Kid
© 2014 Warner Bros

The 'toon starts off with the Justice League battling their old enemies, the Legion of Doom.  The Legion of Doom is a relic of the Super Friends and is basically a collective of various villains from each hero's rogues gallery, with Lex Luthor as the leader.  Now, I've always felt the Legion of Doom to be a rather lame idea, but it makes sense for a kiddie version of the Justice League.  That's what the Super Friends were and that's what this is.

The DVD gives us new looks for each member of the team.  The best of these is Wonder Woman and the worst… I can't even think.  Superman looks like a cartoonish reject from Pumping Iron in a variation of the New 52 costume, Aquaman's got no sleeves, and the design of Robin's costume is just odd.

© 2014 Warner Bros.

No secret identities are ever given except for Superman's, which is unchanging and important to the plot.  The only real battle where you think, "ooh, this is a cool matchup" is between Robin and Karate Kid.  What's also odd is that neither the Green Lantern--who's been played up so much by DC lately and was the subject of a $200 million film even if it ultimately flopped--nor the Green Arrow--the subject of a very successful live action show--are present, though it's no big loss.  Really, they almost could have put almost any roster in this film.

During the battle between the League and the Legion of Doom, Lex Luthor is trapped in the ice, where he stays in suspended animation much like Captain America.  He manages to survive into the far-off future, when he's discovered by our two kid heroes, Dawnstar and Karate Kid.

Dawnstar was one of the sexiest super heroines in comic book history, but here, she's drawn as a fairly young girl.  They've traded in sexy for cute, but that's okay, because again, was intended for kids.

When Luthor goes back in time by unleashing the Time Trapper--a Legion of Super Heroes villain, but here, he's used as basically a time-oriented genie--he gathers the forces of the Legion of Super Heroes to confront the Justice League.

Meanwhile, the two junior superheroes from the future travel back in time as well and enter the Hall of Justice.  After Robin takes them as intruders, he and Karate Kid duke it out until Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman put a stop to it.  Wonder Woman discerns that they're telling the truth thanks to her magic lasso and they confront Luthor, et. al who launches a plan to prevent Superman from being raised by the Kents.

A team of villains including Bizarro, Solomon Grundy, Toyman and the Cheetah manage to travel back to that period, while the Flash, Cyborg and Aquaman try to stop them.  But unfortunately, Bizarro manages to throw the baby Kal-El into space.  Superman fades away in the present and the Justice League has never been created as a result, so the villains go full-force.

Now, with time travel stories, a suspension of disbelief is a must, if they could not only prevent the existence of Superman, but the Justice League as a result, how on Earth is it that Bizarro didn't fade into oblivion as well?  He's a friggin' clone of Superman for crying out loud!

Anyway, after that, we learn that there's a paradox after the Luthor of "our time" is set free from the ice,  which starts a paradox so that the Time Trapper is no longer under the control of the future Luthor.  Blah blah blah, the League is back in business--including Superman--and they defeat him.  There's an interesting coda, but basically, this is a pretty ho-hum film.

This might actually be a pretty good kid-oriented alternative to the upcoming Justice League: War, but ultimately, I don't recommend it.  The voices are bland and the fact that it's available only at Target is just kind-of cheap.