Back in 2013, the Flash became the focal point of an animated adventure called Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox. Eight years later, the Scarlet Speedster gets another starring role in 2021’s Justice Society: World War II.

Along with his girlfriend Iris West (voiced by Ashleigh LaThrop), Barry “The Flash” Allen (Matt Bomer) takes a vacation to Metropolis. However, when Superman (Darren Criss) battles Brainiac (Darin De Paul), Barry finds himself called into action.

This fight inadvertently sends the Flash back in time, and when he arrives in the 1940s, he winds up in the middle of the war against the Nazis. Flash meets Wonder Woman (Stana Katic) and the rest of the Justice Society, a team of superheroes. He joins forces to combat the Germans and find his way back to 2021.

Given the involvement of time travel, Paradox and War come with parallels beyond the presence of Flash and the other heroes. That doesn’t make War derivative, though, as both tell very different stories.

I did go into War with higher than usual expectations, though, because I really enjoyed Paradox. It remains arguably the best of the DC animated projects, so it set a high bar for War.

While War doesn’t reach the level of Paradox, that doesn’t make it a loss. Though it comes with some issues, it mostly offers a fun superhero adventure.

On the positive side, War throws a lot of action and characters and story points at us. We get nearly non-stop fights and intrigue along with a slew of wild plot dimensions.

On the negative side, War throws too many characters and story points at us. With a slew of heroes and situations, the movie bites off more than it can chew in a mere 84 minutes.

Among the DC animated flicks, that doesn’t act as a problem unique to War. With limited running times, these movies lack much breathing room, and they tend to cram in more content than they can readily accommodate.

A handful get two parts, and War would fare better in that circumstance. Add another 80 minutes to the narrative and we’d find a more effective rendition of the story.

Nonetheless, War still packs a fun punch. It gives us a lot of action and moves at a good pace, so it achieves most of its goals, even if it does tend to feel a bit rushed.

Justice Society: World War II appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. As expected, this became a satisfying image.

Sharpness excelled. The movie always came across as tight and well-defined, so don’t expect any signs of softness.

Jaggies and moiré effects also remained absent, and the image lacked edge haloes or artifacts. Outside of phony “defects” for some “old-time” elements, print flaws were a non-factor and didn’t appear at any point.

In terms of colors, War went with a palette that leaned teal as usual, but given the period setting, it also opted for amber, sepia and red as well. These hues looked well-rendered.

Blacks were deep and tight, while shadows showed nice clarity. Across the board, the image worked well.

I thought the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of War opened up the comic book material in an appropriate manner. The forward channels brought out the majority of the material, but the entire package added a lot to the movie. Music presented strong stereo imaging, while effects cropped up in logical spots and blended well.

The surrounds also contributed good information. For the most part, these reinforced the forward channels, but they also contributed a fair amount of unique material.

These instances mainly occurred during bigger action scenes – with all the combat on display - but they spread out in quieter scenes as well and even featured some directional dialogue. The back speakers brought out a nice sense of space and environment.

Audio quality always satisfied. Speech was warm and natural, without edginess or other issues.

Music sounded lively and full, while effects displayed good definition. Those elements seemed accurate and dynamic. All of this led to a positive presentation that deserved a “B+”.

A few extras fill out the disc, and a DC Showcase Short called Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth! runs 18 minutes, three seconds. In this program, Kamandi (voiced by Cameron Monaghan) stands as the only human to survive a major catastrophe, and he now inhabits a world populated by humanoid animals.

Boy gives off a serious Planet of the Apes vibe, but it still finds its own path. Though this doesn’t become a great adventure, it does well enough for itself.

Adventures in Storytelling goes for 30 minutes, four seconds and brings notes from supervising producer Butch Lukic, producer Jim Krieg, writers Jeremy Adams and Meghan Fitzmartin, and director Jeff Wamester.

In this round-table discussion, “Adventures” looks at the project’s development and story/characters, stylistic choices, and other production topics. Too much happy talk emerges, but we still get a good mix of insights about War.

Three Sneak Peeks follow, and the first looks at 2021’s Batman: The Long Halloween Part One. This promo spans 10 minutes, 29 seconds and involves Lukic, Krieg, writer Tim Sheridan, and actors Josh Duhamel, Billy Burke, Titus Welliver, Jensen Ackles, David Dastmalchian, Naya Rivera and Troy Baker.

The “Peek” gives us an overview of story/characters with some production choices. It makes me interested to see the movie but it doesn’t deliver much more than promotional material.

A view of Justice League vs. Teen Titans spans 11 minutes, 29 seconds and includes director Sam Liu, producer James Tucker, DC Entertainment Creative Director Mike Carlin, writer Bryan Q. Miller, and actors Jason O’Mara, Taissa Farmiga, Jerry O’Connell, Rosario Dawson, Shemar Moore, Jake T. Austin and Jon Bernthal.

Some notes about characters and story emerge. However, most of the piece just acts to sell the project to potential viewers.

Finally, a preview of Wonder Woman: Bloodlines occupies nine minutes, 59 seconds and features Tucker, Krieg, writer Mairghread Scott, voice director Wes Gleason and actors Rosario Dawson and Jeffrey Donovan.

This “Sneak Peek” follows the same path as the prior one. It also seems enjoyable but largely oriented toward selling product.

Finally, under From the DC Vault, we get two episodes from the Justice League TV series: “Legends (Part 1)” (21:57) and “Legends (Part 1)” (21:45).

“Legends” sends members of the JLA to an alternate earth where they encounter the 1950s heroes the Justice Guild. I’m not sure it sustains its plot for two full episodes, but it still succeeds most of the time and becomes another enjoyable story.

The disc opens with ads for Wonder Woman 1984 and Superman: Man of Tomorrow.

As an “alternate universe” adventure, Justice Society: World War II mostly offers a fun experience. It lacks much depth and would fare better at a longer running time, but it still turns into a lively tale. The Blu-ray brings strong picture and audio along with a decent array of bonus materials. Though not among the best DC animated efforts, War largely entertains.