Justice League FLashpoint at comicon (+video clip)

[davejames]

Yeah thought this was one of the better movies they've done. I hadn't read the comic so I had no clue what was supposed to happen, but seeing all the dark, alternate characters was pretty fun and kept things nicely unpredictable. The idea of the Amazons going to war with the Atlanteans was a cool one, and the dynamic between Flash and this dark Batman was really interesting to watch as well.

Although the fact this whole, alternate world resulted from Flash saving his mother definitely came out of nowhere (did this scene get edited out or something?), and was a bit hard to buy.

And I couldn't help but be a bit disappointed that the final story involving the original DC universe (at least in the movie's version of the story).... didn't even involve the actual DC characters, but only their twisted, evil doppelgangers.

Somehow that just seems a bit wrong.

 

[Hound of UIster]

But these aren't the original DC characters or the original DC Unverse The originals all disappeared in Crisis on Infinite Earths.

 

[davejames]

^ Well you know what I mean. The DC characters that had been around for the last 25 years or so.

 

[indianatrekker26]

i watched this the other night. I found the story entertaining, but i was blown away by how violent and graphic the movie was. I told my wife, when my son gets a little older, i'm going to have to start watching these animated movies before he can.

 

[Christopher]

^The DVD movies are all made with a PG-13 rating in mind. So yes, it's a given that parents should watch them before deciding whether to share them with a younger child.

 

[indianatrekker26]

^The DVD movies are all made with a PG-13 rating in mind. So yes, it's a given that parents should watch them before deciding whether to share them with a younger child.

I guess i'm just getting old. There was a time when a DC cartoon was appropriate for children. Those days are long gone now.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Society is underestimating our children or infantalizing them.

Comics are too expensive for children.

Most adults won't buy comics written for a 6 year old.

 

[Christopher]

I guess i'm just getting old. There was a time when a DC cartoon was appropriate for children. Those days are long gone now.

No, there are DC-based cartoons from Warner Bros. directed at various age groups. TV shows on Cartoon Network tend to be aimed at younger viewers; Teen Titans Go! and Beware the Batman are both TV-PG, although TTG is aimed at a considerably younger crowd. But the DVD movies are deliberately aimed at an older demographic than the TV shows. The point is that the PG-13 rating on the DVDs gives the producers freedom from the restrictions they have to work within on commercial TV and be a little more adult.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Anyone ever been forced to watch Krypto while baby sitting your sister's kids?

I wouldn't mind seeing a Titans Go/Young Justice crossover.

 

[DEWLine]

Regardless of whether DCU characters and titles should ever be intended for children...

I found it poetic in a way how Flashpoint bookended my tenure as a DCU fan. I came on board more fully because of the consequences of Crisis on Infinite Earths. And because of Flashpoint, the only DC-published title I now buy is Astro City under the Vertigo label.

The same formula of grand crossovers creating line-wide reboots and relaunches that hooked me in the first place was what led me to the exit.

 

[indianatrekker26]

I guess i'm just getting old. There was a time when a DC cartoon was appropriate for children. Those days are long gone now.

No, there are DC-based cartoons from Warner Bros. directed at various age groups. TV shows on Cartoon Network tend to be aimed at younger viewers; Teen Titans Go! and Beware the Batman are both TV-PG, although TTG is aimed at a considerably younger crowd. But the DVD movies are deliberately aimed at an older demographic than the TV shows. The point is that the PG-13 rating on the DVDs gives the producers freedom from the restrictions they have to work within on commercial TV and be a little more adult.

well, that's good to know that there's some material out there for younger children who are fans of DC comics and characters. Being 34 now, i just remember a time when all DC animation/cartoons were appropriate for kids. I'm thinking back tot he Fleisher superman and superfriends cartoons. I haven't kept up with DC animation since the Batman the animated series. While even that series was more adult than the older superfriends, i don't remember it being so violent. I guess the violence in Flashpoint just really threw me for a loop. I havent seen any of DC animated movies other than this one.

 

[Christopher]

^But that's why movies have ratings -- to give people an indication about their content before watching them. The official MPAA rating for Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox reads "Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and action throughout."

If you don't want to be caught off-guard by the content of a movie -- or for your kids to be -- then you should pay attention to the rating information. That's what it's there for.

 

[Guy Gardener]

But what if you want to be caught off guard?

There should be a warning label "???".

 

[indianatrekker26]

^But that's why movies have ratings -- to give people an indication about their content before watching them. The official MPAA rating for Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox reads "Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and action throughout."

If you don't want to be caught off-guard by the content of a movie -- or for your kids to be -- then you should pay attention to the rating information. That's what it's there for.

i'm not disputing that at all, Chris. I was simply thinking back to a time when that wasn't even necessary, that cartoons had to have different types of ratings. But i realize those days are long gone.

 

[Christopher]

i'm not disputing that at all, Chris. I was simply thinking back to a time when that wasn't even necessary, that cartoons had to have different types of ratings. But i realize those days are long gone.

When was that? Animated films, like all movies, have been rated by the MPAA since the system was introduced in the late '60s. True, traditionally most American animated films have been rated G, but there have always been exceptions, including the R-rated Heavy Metal and the X-rated Fritz the Cat. And of course there have always been animated films in Japan and Europe that have been aimed at adults as well as those aimed at children.

You're talking as though it was preferable for all animated productions to be aimed solely at children. It wasn't. That was too restrictive on the art form. It's good to have productions accessible for children, of course, but it's good to have productions targeted at older audiences too. It's not a zero-sum choice.

Animation is a medium, not a genre. It makes no more sense to expect all animation to be alike in content than it does to expect all novellas or all musicals or all oil paintings to feature the same subjects. There have always been comics and cartoons aimed at children and there have always been comics and cartoons aimed at adults. In most of the world, there's never been a perception that cartoons were a specifically youth-oriented medium. That perception exists in the United States mainly because Disney came to dominate feature-film animation for so long and they chose to target their product solely at family audiences. And that limited the medium of animation in America for a long time, robbed it of breadth and kept it from fulfilling its full potential. Meanwhile, Japan was doing amazing adult-oriented animated films such as Akira and Grave of the Fireflies, while still doing plenty of family-friendly films and shows as well.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I am assuming he just means superhero films. In the past those were primarily aimed at children. Batman The Animated Series was the first time that started to change. Even there when it started at FOX they had a ton of limitations from censors. Unless it was an Android like in the HARDAC episodes, Batman could not punch anyone.

 

[indianatrekker26]

i'm not disputing that at all, Chris. I was simply thinking back to a time when that wasn't even necessary, that cartoons had to have different types of ratings. But i realize those days are long gone.

When was that? Animated films, like all movies, have been rated by the MPAA since the system was introduced in the late '60s. True, traditionally most American animated films have been rated G, but there have always been exceptions, including the R-rated Heavy Metal and the X-rated Fritz the Cat. And of course there have always been animated films in Japan and Europe that have been aimed at adults as well as those aimed at children.

You're talking as though it was preferable for all animated productions to be aimed solely at children. It wasn't. That was too restrictive on the art form. It's good to have productions accessible for children, of course, but it's good to have productions targeted at older audiences too. It's not a zero-sum choice.

Animation is a medium, not a genre. It makes no more sense to expect all animation to be alike in content than it does to expect all novellas or all musicals or all oil paintings to feature the same subjects. There have always been comics and cartoons aimed at children and there have always been comics and cartoons aimed at adults. In most of the world, there's never been a perception that cartoons were a specifically youth-oriented medium. That perception exists in the United States mainly because Disney came to dominate feature-film animation for so long and they chose to target their product solely at family audiences. And that limited the medium of animation in America for a long time, robbed it of breadth and kept it from fulfilling its full potential. Meanwhile, Japan was doing amazing adult-oriented animated films such as Akira and Grave of the Fireflies, while still doing plenty of family-friendly films and shows as well.

Chris, sometimes you really get worked up over things. I'm just talking about my own personal experiences and memories that I was reminiscing about. I wasn't planning to get into a dissertation over the whole history of animation.

 

[Corran Horn]

i'm not disputing that at all, Chris. I was simply thinking back to a time when that wasn't even necessary, that cartoons had to have different types of ratings. But i realize those days are long gone.

When was that? Animated films, like all movies, have been rated by the MPAA since the system was introduced in the late '60s. True, traditionally most American animated films have been rated G, but there have always been exceptions, including the R-rated Heavy Metal and the X-rated Fritz the Cat. And of course there have always been animated films in Japan and Europe that have been aimed at adults as well as those aimed at children.

You're talking as though it was preferable for all animated productions to be aimed solely at children. It wasn't. That was too restrictive on the art form. It's good to have productions accessible for children, of course, but it's good to have productions targeted at older audiences too. It's not a zero-sum choice.

Animation is a medium, not a genre. It makes no more sense to expect all animation to be alike in content than it does to expect all novellas or all musicals or all oil paintings to feature the same subjects. There have always been comics and cartoons aimed at children and there have always been comics and cartoons aimed at adults. In most of the world, there's never been a perception that cartoons were a specifically youth-oriented medium. That perception exists in the United States mainly because Disney came to dominate feature-film animation for so long and they chose to target their product solely at family audiences. And that limited the medium of animation in America for a long time, robbed it of breadth and kept it from fulfilling its full potential. Meanwhile, Japan was doing amazing adult-oriented animated films such as Akira and Grave of the Fireflies, while still doing plenty of family-friendly films and shows as well.

Chris, sometimes you really get worked up over things. I'm just talking about my own personal experiences and memories that I was reminiscing about. I wasn't planning to get into a dissertation over the whole history of animation.

Heh, I see you've fallen victim to one of the classic trekbbs blunders. anyway...

Going by just about every other DC DTV release I figured this'd be ok for my kids too. I didn't even check the ratings. Only by reading the reviews did I see the blood factor is kicked up a notch in this. I put the disk in and we watched the Justice League episode on it and I put them to bed. I just finished watching the movie and it's really not appropriate for kids IMHO. Lots of blood and death, even the death of a child.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Define "Kids"

Too young and they won't understand the bad thing, but too old and they're pushing pause to sneak out the back for a fag break every 15 minutes.

There is this absolutely tiny goldilocks moment of impressionability most parents would need a flashlight and tweezers to find.

 

[sojourner]

OK, finally getting to see this today and had to pause to post in the first 5 minutes. Anyone notice that young Barry's house looks just like Marty McFly's house from BTTF? Or is it just been so long since I've watched BTTF that I'm remembering wrong?