Yeah, I can't really claim to have been overly thrilled to sit down to watch the 2014 animated DC movie "JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time" with my 12 year old son. Why? Well, first of all, I am not overly keen on the superhero genre at all, and secondly, the synopsis for this animated movie just seemed fairly out there.
But still, I sat down to watch "JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time", as I hadn't already seen it before. And as it turned out, then "JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time" wasn't exactly a grand moment in the history of DC animated superhero stories.
Sure, it was watchable, but it was essentially just pointless and mindless action, as the storyline was pretty spaced out, and hardly proved to have much of any appeal to me. I have to admit that with this particular storyline then I shrugged and I was already on to the next movie once it ended. There was nothing memorable about this particular animated movie.
Everything that transpired in the storyline was superficial and there wasn't given any time to let the viewers submerge themselves into anything here really.
The animation was adequate, and the art style was passable, but not great. And there weren't any character development of much of any real interaction between the characters, as they were mostly like brawling with one another.
And as for the voices they opted for in "JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time", well that was something else in some aspects. I do like Diedrich Bader as a comedian, but as the voice of Batman/Bruce Wayne? No, not so much. His voice is just not deep and rough enough to pull that off in a very convincing manner.
All in all, then "JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time" came and went without leaving a lasting impression on me. It was watchable, yes, but this was hardly a DC animated movie that warrants more than a single viewing.
My rating of "JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time" lands on a less than mediocre four out of ten stars.
JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time
2014
Action / Animation / Sci-Fi
JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time
2014
Action / Animation / Sci-Fi
Plot summary
The Legion of Doom are attempting to use space satellites to freeze the Earth's oceans, creating more land mass at the coastal regions for which they own. The JLA quickly arrive and the two teams engage in a classic battle of wills. This clash leads to Lex Luthor becoming trapped in a glacier of ice. In the 31st century Legion of Superheroes trainees; Dawnstar and Karate Kid are tasked with minding the Legion's museum. Their tour leads them to Lex Luthor's memorial; his body still encased in a large chuck of ice discovered in the 29th century. Karate Kid Inadvertently frees Luthor who secretly explores the museum himself, and soon uncovers the shrine to his greatest nemesis Superman. There he learns of the Kent's involvement in Kal-El's discovery. Luthor following the voices of Dawnstar and Karate Kid takes possession of an hourglass which holds the Time Trapper within. Whoever holds the hourglass controls this entity who is the master of time. Luthor returns to the 21st century, but not without the young Legionaries close behind. The Legion of Doom regroups with a new plan in place; they will prevent the Kent's from ever raising Kal-El, and with no Superman the JLA will cease to exist as well. The JLA arrive but Luthor's efforts prove to be successful, and the Time Trapper causes the time paradoxes to vanish from this reality. Now it's up to Dawnstar and Karate Kid to stop Luthor's plans for worldwide dominance. They find a loophole freeing the Time Trapper from Luthor's control, but now nothing is preventing him from wrecking chaos throughout reality. The JLA return, but well their power combined with Dawnstar and Karate Kid prove to be enough to stop this new menace, or has our time just run out?
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
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Very little more than just pointless brawling...
On the level of a mediocre Saturday morning cartoon
This is a very childish superheroes movie for the kids. If your under 10 and is up for a Saturday morning cartoon movie, this might work for you. If not, this movie is silly, from the animation to the character directions. This is pretty much a very simple time travel movie. With the main DC superheroes not really leaving much of an impact when it comes to the story as a whole. There is one clever idea to defeat the villain in this story, but besides that it's on the lever of another regular Saturday morning cartoon and a mediocre one at that. Batman practically does almost absolutely nothing in this.
4.3/10
Good for a person who is getting into DC
I will be honest I back when I saw this movie I wasn't very keen on mature DC back in 2015 but as time went on I got into them.
I will be honest this might not be the best DC movie I have seen but it is reasonable but I kinda wish that the movie was longer because it is not even 1 hour, in fact, it is the same amount of time as it takes for a CW series episode length.
I was actually even more happy that they got Diedrich Bader back as Batman and Kevin Michael Richardson as Black Manta. In fact, the whole cast was good.
In these, I am very surprised that not many people know who Karate Kid is. He is not from the movie Karate Kid he is from Legion Of Superheroes another DC TV show, in fact, there is an episode dedicated to him.
If you are a fan of DC golden age heroes, Superfriends and Batman the brave and the bold then you might love this movie.