For an original animated adventure, we head to 2014’s JLA: Trapped in Time. After a battle between the Justice League of America and the evil Legion of Doom, Lex Luthor (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) ends up frozen.

Fast forward to the 31st Century, as we find Lex still stuck in ice – and on a display at the Legion of Superheroes. Lex comes out of his stasis and uses the Time Trapper (Corey Burton) to return to the 21st Century – but not before immature future heroes Dawnstar (Laura Bailey) and Karate Kid (Dante Basco) follow him.

After Lex reorganizes the Legion of Doom, he plans to use the Time Trapper to go into the past and eradicate Superman (Peter Jessup) and other heroes in their youth. Dawnstar and Karate Kid go to the JLA to appraise them of Lex’s return and fight him.

At less than 53 minutes, Trapped seems awfully short for an “original movie”. It’s really just a double-length TV episode, though it certainly could’ve been more. Its plot seems like something that’d inspire an epic, not a quick 53-minute romp.

I suspect Trapped flies by so quickly because of its apparent intended audience of younger kids. Unlike more dramatic fare such as Flashpoint Paradox, this one stays light in tone. That doesn’t make a ton of sense given the subject matter; with the events on display, a more serious take would’ve been more logical.

But Trapped prefers a “Saturday morning” feel, with the lightness and comedy that this format implies. In that vein, the film doesn’t do badly, but the lack of depth robs the effort of much impact. At its best, it generates a few laughs and some minor action, but it doesn’t go past that.

The introduction of the 31st Century characters comes as the worst part. Dawnstar and Karate Kid are pretty bland roles, and they create a hole at the project’s center. We don’t much care about them, so their presence tends to drag down the entire tale.

All of this leaves Trapped as watchable but disappointing. The story comes with potential, but the execution lacks the depth and power to allow the tale to prosper.

JLA: Trapped in Time appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. This was an acceptable SD-DVD presentation.

The movie demonstrated mostly good clarity and definition. Some shots could be a bit on the soft side, but they didn’t create major concerns, so the majority of the program appeared reasonably accurate. I saw no noticeable problems or moiré effects, but I did view some light edge haloes. The shows remained nicely clean and fresh, as they displayed virtually no signs of various defects.

Colors presented the strongest elements of the movie, as the hues came across as pretty bright and vivid. Black levels seemed dark and solid, whereas low-light scenes appeared clean and concise. The softness/haloes left this as a “B”, but it still looked nice for its format.

As for the movie’s Dolby Surround 2.0 soundfield, the track focused mainly on the front channels, where I heard good stereo imaging for the music and reasonable usage of effects. The mix didn’t use those elements in an especially broad, engaging manner, though; they added some breadth to the proceedings but failed to create much specificity. Surround usage offered general support of the front without much else to merit attention.

Speech remained perfectly adequate. The lines sounded crisp and warm, with no issues caused by edginess or intelligibility. The score was bright and concise, and effects seemed decent; those elements could be a bit loose, but they were fine. This was an average mix.

As a bonus, the DVD includes two TV episodes. We find 1977’s “The Mysterious Time Creatures” from The All-New Super Friends Hour (23:06) as well as 1980’s “Elevator to Nowhere” from Super Friends (8:41). Yeef, what awful fare! I’d not watched Saturday morning fare since around the time the 1970s Super Friends aired and had forgotten how bad it could be. How did we watch this junk?

The disc opens with ads for Scooby-Doo: Wrestlemania Mystery and the Lego Legends of Chima videogame. We also find trailers for Tom and Jerry, Beware the Batman, Tom and Jerry’s Giant Adventure, Teen Titans Go! and The Lego Movie.

Although its plot provides some potential thrills, JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time seems too light and brief to really succeed. It comes with occasional fun but never turns into anything especially memorable. The DVD offers good picture, acceptable audio and minor supplements. While I don’t think this becomes a bad show, it doesn’t stand out as better than mediocre.