Monday at the Movies - January 27, 2014

Welcome to another edition of “Monday at the Movies.” Everyone else is talking about Target’s “stealth release” of a new Justice League movie, so why not us too?

JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time (2014) – This film is a bit of a strange beast, but it’s ultimately not an unsuccessful outing for DC’s premiere superhero team-up.  The plot finds Lex Luthor awakened in the 30th century after a world-conquest scheme goes awry; with the power over time itself, Luthor sends his Legion of Doom to prevent Superman from being raised on Earth.  While Trapped in Time mostly features a New 52-era Justice League – including Aquaman and Cyborg in positions of prominence – it also includes two Legion of Super-Heroes applicants, Dawnstar and Karate Kid.  Surprisingly, though the Justice League mostly takes a backseat to these two, the film still works as an engaging team story, enjoyable for those of us who love these characters almost as much as people we actually know.  Newcomers, though, probably won’t find much to appreciate here, and indeed Trapped in Time isn’t the best animated feature with these characters (offhand, I’d give that honor to Justice League: The New Frontier).  But what’s refreshing is that Trapped in Time doesn’t take itself too seriously.  In fact, the best scene in the film finds the Justice League and the Legion of Doom playing football with baby Superman, a hilarious bit of physical comedy that actually gets funnier.  It’s the kind of absurdly lighthearted play with the material that you won’t find in the uber-reverent DCAU series, which usually takes the cake in terms of quality adaptation.  Kudos to Diedrich Bader for returning to the role of Batman after his Brave and the Bold cartoon ended; he’s the most prominent in the voice cast that does its work well without exceptionally distinguishing itself.  The cliffhanger suggests there might be more to come from this production house, and I say bring it on.  Trapped in Time is reliable and entertaining without the burden of past success; looks like a fun future from here.

That does it for this week’s edition of “Monday at the Movies.”  We’ll see you here next week!