The Flashpoint Paradox

 

I read the original Flashpoint series by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert and enjoyed it a lot.  At the time, I did not know that it was going to be the linchpin to change the entire DC Universe.
 

The Blu-ray version of the comic series/graphic novel/series is condensed a lot, but all of the major points of the story are intact.  Since the Blu-ray is out now and the stories were released a couple years ago, I’m not going to worry about spoilers.
 

My 15 year old watched the movie version with me and wasn’t familiar with the story.  He’s more into reading Deadpool these days.  Like me, he was in awe of all the ramifications of the changes in the characters.  Thomas Wayne presents a much different Batman than Bruce Wayne, and I can remember being shocked by that when I read the original issues as they were coming out.
 

The whole Wonder Woman/Aquaman war just never really worked for me.  I just couldn’t see those two characters being so radically different than the heroes I’d grown up with.  I think a lot of comics readers felt the same way I did.  The thing that really worked in the comics, and works again in the Blu-ray, is the friendship that develops between Thomas Wayne and Barry Allen.  I also loved the way Barry is presented, how human and how much of an everyman he is in spite of his superspeed.  His dedication to “recovering” his powers is testimony to the kind of man he is.
 

The Blu-ray version kind of falls apart in relaying what’s going on in the rest of the world.  There are almost too many jumps, too many characters introduced, killed, etc., but leaving them out would have been a mistake.  I think the video should have been longer to allow such a big story to breathe.
 

I also want to warn parents that even though this Blu-ray movie is rated PG-13, I think it should have been rated an R for the violence and content.  People are constantly dying, sex is heavily hinted at, and at one point Wonder Woman stabs a young boy with her sword.  Even though the last is off-screen, viewers know what’s going on.
 

The colors were well done, but I wasn’t all that happy with the character art.  Everyone tends to look the same with that weird triangular head and big jaws.  The characters almost look like caricatures of themselves.
 

I  enjoy the DC Universe on video a lot, and I enjoyed this latest release a lot as well, but it’s just not for kids and some parents may make a mistake in thinking that it is.