Because superheroes fighting crime isn’t enough, DC has to water it down even further for some reason. “Trapped in Time” is only a slightly edgier version of “Superfriends” placing the greater emphases on younger Leaguers and superheroes rather than focusing on the actual Justice Leaguers. That Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are so square, man. They don’t know today’s youth. Now, whiny impulsive Robin? He knows what the youth is about. Running at under an hour in length, and with a pacing that’s breakneck, “Trapped in Time” is kind of a Justice League movie. But then it really isn’t.
Lex Luthor and the Legion of Doom are at their old tricks again intending to use freeze rays to expand the polar ice caps. The Justice League arrive to stop them, and engage in a vicious battle that traps Lex in a massive ice cube. Disappearing in the midst of the fight, and frozen, the group believes him to be dead, and the League are victorious. No one went looking for him, I’m assuming and the Legion were defeated. I think. In either case, we fast forward years later where teen superheroes Dawnstar and Karate Kid are anxious to be taken seriously. Lex is now encased in ice and has been on display for decades. That is until a reckless Karate Kid releases Lex accidentally. Lex seizes the Time Trapper and goes back to the past to help him conquer the League.
He plans to do this by going back to when Kal El landed in Smallville and launch the child back in to orbit, before he was discovered and became Superman. Dawnstar and Karate Kid follow to help the League best him, and lend hand. “Trapped in Time” is a brutally disorienting animated adventure that never settles down long enough to suck us in to the entertainment. I’m not sure why we have to focus on Karate Kid and Dawnstar, when we have the League there, but surely enough we have these pseudo heroes as our portal to the adventure. There’s also Robin who plays a shockingly large role, who does nothing but whine, moan, and act recklessly. It’s a wonder Batman hasn’t pushed his ass to the curb, by now. This surely can’t be the same Robin from “Teen Titans.”
There’s a lot of potential to be mined from the premise of “Trapped in Time,” it’s just a shame that the movie really dulls its edge by the time the movie is partially over, and is more focused on gags and silly scenes rather than action. Solomon Grundy and Cheetah actually dress as farmers to collect baby Clark from Ma and Pa, and then there’s a very stupid slapstick chase scene as the heroes and villains run back and forth wrestling over the carriage holding baby Kal El. And poor Aquaman. He really does nothing in this movie. Even Cyborg gets more mileage than this guy. “Trapped in Time” is a bore, and one I only credit for noting that DC begins and ends with the introduction of Superman.