Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox was a Direct-To-DVD film adaptation of the popular Flashpoint storyline from the DC Comics Flash series, kicking off the DC Animated Movie Universe that ran from 2013 to 2020. Much like the source material, the film sets in motion a redux of the DC Universe to allow for new stories that are not bogged down by years of continuity. But, even though this film is often looked upon as a launching pad, fans often forget that it may just be the best DC animated film in the last two decades, as well as the most faithful, comic to screen adaptations of all time. Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox changes very little from the source material, showcasing the power and strength of the comics that came before.
The film’s opening is really the biggest departure form the comic, as the first five-ten minutes are used to contextualize who The Flash, The Justice League, and Eobard Thawne (The Reverse Flash) are; the pathos behind The Flash’s origin story, and what the world looks like prior to the main events of the film. This opening works in several ways, think the beginning of Back to the Future. The comic is able to start in media res; however, this film is supposed to be self-contained, so it makes sense to add a lot of context at the beginning. Additionally, the film achieves all of this without having lengthy bouts of exposition, a rarity that does not carry over into the rest of the film series.
A huge benefit of including this opening is the introduction of Thawne, as the comic comes with presupposed knowledge of his existence. If the film followed this same structure, then the red herring of Thawne being at fault for the film’s events wouldn’t have made much sense. Here, the red herring is set up at the beginning, making the final reveal at the end of the film hit that much more. Additionally, with the way that DC likes to change the endings of their films from the source material, the idea that Thawne may be behind everything stays as a firm possibility. Needless to meander on much longer, the opening works for several reasons, save for some weird logical inconsistencies that will be mentioned later.
Following the title card, the film proceeds where the comic starts, as Barry wakes up at his desk at work, discovering that everything in the world has changed. Just to get this part out of the way, the world has changed in the main following ways: a world war has started between The Atlanteans and The Themyscira, Bruce Wayne died leaving his parents to become Batman and the Joker, Superman never landed in Kansas and was placed in a government cell, and the world’s superheroes never really came together like they did in the regular universe, leaving Cyborg as the main American superhero. While the film explains this in a much more well rounded way, these changes are important in the grand discussion of the film’s plot. The film and comic take a lot from The Butterfly Effect, where the most minor changes have ripple effects in the universe that cause the world to fall into disarray.
Like the title suggests, the main character of the film is The Flash, with the film revolving around the theme of change. As is told to him at the film’s opening, sometimes things happen in the world for a reason, and we never know what may happen if they never did. In this case, The Flash learns the lesson the harshest way by turning the world into a nightmare when just trying to save his mom. In fact, this is the revelation he learns, as most of the film he does not remember why the world is in such disarray. This allows the film to really focus on character growth for Barry, showing the audience who he really is while adding a pathos to the character that would define him for years.
When it comes to the film’s side characters, Batman really is the other main focus. There is truly no better way to showcase that everything is wrong in the world than introducing Batman as someone who uses guns and throws his enemies off buildings. Thomas Wayne’s Batman can really be seen as a prime example of what makes this film work as well as it does. He is a character that everyone is familiar with, but is different enough that everyone’s preconceived notions of the world can be turned on their heads.
Another example of this film taking the high road when it comes to other multiversal stories is how it handles Superman. DC seems to love making Superman the villain of these kinds of stories; however, here they showcase the hope of Superman even in the face of adversity. This is a Superman that was born on a doomed planet and then immediately thrown into a cage when he arrived on Earth. He was treated like an animal and has every right to view humanity as awful. But the film and source material take the approach of maintaining his humility. When he is rescued by The Flash and company, he views this small token of gratitude as a reason to see the kindness in humanity, proving that he still is the beacon of light and hope that he has always been in the comics.
Much of this film gets its ambiance from the world it builds for its characters. Much of this revolves around the war between Aquaman and Wonder Woman, which gets a lot of attention despite it mainly acting as the setting. The backstory reveals that Wonder Woman and Aquaman had formed a relationship that united their people. This is all disrupted when Mera intervenes due to her relationship with Aquaman, leading to death in a fight between her and Wonder Woman, starting the war. This short explanation really makes the events stand out and seem as daunting as they are to the characters.
As the film reaches its climax, the conflict of all the characters comes to a head in the battlefield. Leading to The Flash’s confrontation with Thawne where he learns that Thawne is not responsible for the events of the world. As mentioned before, this reveal really works in the grand scheme of the story, tying back to the themes of the entire thing while also setting up the idea that not all comics have to be heroes vs villains. This leads to the finale where The Flash sets everything right, creating the new universe and telling the whole story to Bruce Wayne’s Batman. This ending is pulled straight from the comic and really sets up what makes this story work so well as the best Flash book, and also one of the best DC stories of all time. It is the film’s insistence on sticking with the source material that really makes it work so well through and through.
While this is definitely the best of the DC animated features, the film is not without its flaws. Starting with is the opening conflict between Thawne, The Rogues, and The Justice League. The danger is revealed to be a set of bombs that Thawne has placed on all of The Rogues, requiring The Justice League to disperse in order to disable them all with their various powers. The danger here becomes a lot less severe when you look at the bombs and realize that they are all just attached to The Rogues’ costumes. The League could easily just remove the part of the costumes that had the bombs and throw them all into space. In fact, that is the solution for one of the League members. Logical inconsistencies that are not filmbreaking exist throughout the film in various ways and create a lot of opportunities to nitpick, but overall they do not detract too much from the rest of the movie.
The other piece that often produces a cause for criticism is the character design. Some of the characters with larger stature, such as Superman and Aquaman appear as jacked; however, their heads are disproportionately small. Additionally, many of the women in the film, like Wonder Woman, are portrayed as oddly and disproportionately petite. This is a very odd design choice, but one that stands out whenever you notice it. Once again, this is not something that breaks the film; however, it is something almost any article regarding the film will mention.