JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time, Coming Soon to Tubi

Val Armorr was the original “Karate Kid,” predating the 1984 movie by almost twenty years, from the 31^st Century. The member of the futuristic Legion of Superheroes was never a marque DC character. Presumably, that is why they never litigated the title (for which they were thanked in the credits). Unfortunately, Armorr makes a real dog’s breakfast of things in the future, causing trouble for the Justice League in the past at the outset of Giancarlo Volpe’s JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time, another animated DC film coming to Tubi this Saturday.

In the present, for now, the Justice League foils an attempt by the Legion of Doom to counter-intuitively build up the polar ice cap, to profit from the resulting environmental disruption. Unfortunately, Lex Luthor is buried within the ice, where he remains lost until the 31^st Century.

In the future, Karate Kid and Dawnstar, a more responsible prospective member of the Legion of Superheroes gawk at his display in the superhero museum. Unable to control his rash impulses, Armorr accidentally releases Luthor from the ice. The dangers compound when the mastermind steals a cosmic hourglass bound to the mysterious Time Trapper.

Using the Time Trapper’s powers, Luthor first returns to the present, with Karate Kid and Dawnstar secretly following him. He then sends Bizarro, Solomon Grundy, Cheetah, and Toy Master back to the past, so they can send Kal-El back into space. The Flash, Cyborg, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman manage to follow them—but maybe Aquaman isn’t perfectly suited for the Kansas terrain.

Unlike the R-rated Justice League Dark, Trapped in Time tries to deliberately evoke the tone of the 1970’s Justice League/Super Friends Saturday morning cartoons. However, screenwriter Michael Ryan offers some clever time travel twists. In fact, it is much smarter in the way it handles potential time paradoxes than the 2001 Justice League series.

Dante Basco, who has voiced many martial arts-related characters, sounds surprisingly youthful as Armorr. Laura Bailey compliments him nicely as the calming, spiritual Dawnstar. Diedrich Bader will sound familiarly commanding as Batman, having voiced the Dark Knight many times, including The Brave and the Bold. Yet, Fred Tatasciore might deliver the most distinctive voice-over, channeling his inner evil Ted Knight, as Luthor.

Trapped in Time clocks in just under an hour, but it delivers a lot of nostalgic fun. This is old fashioned heroes’ club against the villains’ club kind of stuff, which still works. For a lot of Gen X’ers, this is how we related to superheroes for most of our lives. Frankly, it is much more entertaining than many of the recent live-action films—and it is appropriate for all ages. Recommended as an enjoyable throwback, JLA Adventures; Trapped in Time makes its Tubi premiere this Saturday (11/30).