Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010) Reviews

• Familiar yet Fresh. An all new Justice League tale that blows away the competition(I'm looking at you Marvel)

  xamtaro2010-02-26

  Though this is not the first animated movie based on the DC comics Justice League characters, it sure is the better one. Compared to the previous "Justice League: The New Frontier", Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths benefits from a more action driven storyline and mature writing that hearkens back to the style of the award winning Justice League animated TV series. Where New Frontier felt a bit squeezed and underdeveloped, Crisis on two earths gets the story pacing just right allowing for a fair mix of subtle character drama and high flying superhero smash-ups. The film starts on a pretty "typical" note as we see Lex Luthor and a Joker look-alike called the "Jester" break into a top secret facility and steal some device called the "Quantum trigger", prompting the DC superheroes to stop them. However things are not as it seems as apparently this is all taking place in an alternate reality where Luthor and the Jester are the good guys and the "heroes" are actually the "Crime syndicate", a corrupted bunch of super powered beings vying for world domination. The Jester is brutally dispatched as Luthor escapes to another alternate reality to enlist the help of our favorite super hero team, the Justice League. By now, this show is sure to remind long time fans of the Justice League episodes "a better world" in which the Justice League encounters evil alternate versions of themselves. Crisis on Two Earths carries that theme but that's where the similarities end. Dwayne McDuffie manages to craft a story that stands out on its own while carrying all the elements of what made the DCAU. Most DC animation fans would have heard the rumor that this movie was supposed to be set in the same time-line as the DCAU Justice League and justice league unlimited series. Aside from the great looking new character designs (Superman looks way handsome and Wonder woman has never been hotter) and the new voice cast, these are the same characters we know and love. It might take a while to warm up to the new voices for Superman, Batman and the rest but once past that, you'll realize that the cast does a wonderful job of fleshing out their characters to be both familiar yet fresh. The Crime Syndicate is a bunch of extremely interesting villains, the perfect foil for the heroic justice league, with James Wood's Owlman stealing the show with a perfect performance. No recent works of "Moi Animation" company comes to mind but their animation on this project happens to be the most fluid among all the DC animated movies so far. Every single scene has motion, even people in the background and in scenes of conversation where it would have been so easy to just settle with a few talking heads or a static matte painting. Not a single bit of "lazy animation" even down to simple walking. The level of detail in the artwork is maintained consistently and looks similar to the style of Green Lantern: First Flight and 2007's Wonder Woman; though one or two scenes could have been done better (for example, some scenes where walls are smashed. The part of the wall to be broken is obviously colored differently from the rest of the wall). Co-directors Lauren Montgomery and Sam Liu combine their talents to bring out the best in every scene from the subtle drama to the hard hitting fights. The best part about Crisis is that it works on both surface and a deeper level. Though the bad guys actually get more character development than the good guys, Martian Manhunter gets a well executed romance arc which comes across as very real and rather heart-warming (though it might seem a little uncomfortable at first). Among the well written script, straight forward narrative and human drama, Dwayne McDuffie manages to throw in some philosophy about free will, determinism and a theory on how choices give rise to alternate worlds (a driving force behind Owlman's insidious plot). Instead of just focusing on the main characters, the story also takes time to explore more of this alternate earth, the mindset of its people and the authorities that turn a blind eye to the deeds of the crime syndicate out of plain fear. Both this and Owlman's plot, as well as Luthor's determination to keep fighting the crime syndicate, all follow the running theme of rising up in the face of futility and attempting to challenge the unchallengeable. Bruce Timm and the rest of his production team have definitely outdone themselves this time. For fans of old, this show fits snugly between the end of Justice League and the first episode of Justice league unlimited (it explains how Wonder Woman suddenly got her invisible jet and how the JLU recruitment initiative got started) so whether you choose to watch this as a stand alone movie or as a part of the DCAU Justice League series, both ways work. For new fans, if you had to try out just one of the DC animated movies, get this one. My only caution is to Batman fans as Batman kind of gets his butt kicked quite often here. (Guess that goes to show how human he really is since he's the only one on the League without actual superpowers hence forcing him to rely on smarts to take down his much stronger opponents).

• Yet another excellent movie!

  rjvdsteen2010-02-15

  Ever wondered how Superman would act if he was evil? Or have you ever wondered how our favourite superhero's would use their powers if they were evil? Than this is a film for you! Dwayne McDuffie did a great job writing the scenario for this film. Although similar stories have been used in previous comics/animated films, he still manages to make it unique in appearance. The same kind of premium quality as the previous Justice league films/series we've come to expect from DC. Although everyone likes seeing hero's go toe-to-toe with their own alternative (evil) selves. But this film adds more than just "twin on evil twin" action. There's even a little present on the DVD/Blue ray, an exclusive short film featuring The Spectre. I highly recommend it to anyone that is even remotely into the genre.

• A Different Justice League

  work11132010-02-23

  I have to say I was skeptical when I reviewed the casting for this installment. I enjoyed "Superman: Doomsday", and "Public Enemies". I really like the animated movie series installments that Warner Brothers has been releasing. Having withdrawal from "Batman: The Animated Series" and "Justice League", these new animated movies are just what the doctor ordered. The main topic of discussion for this series will be why some of the main voice characters weren't cast. If I don't say it now, I will regret it. Kevin Conroy, I hope your listening, no one does Batman like you - period. I read around and didn't find a legitimate source on why you weren't cast as Batman, but I'm confident it has to do with the new "Batman - Arkym Asylum 2" that he is currently doing voice over work for. Warner Brothers is pretty set on the deadline of getting these series to the public, so I would conclude they made the decision to film this one with another cast of characters. I won't spoil the movie, but this particular story arc is very similar to season 2 of Justice League "A Better World" with a little bit of a twist. In short, If you liked the other installments - you will like this version. Yes it is a little different, and the mannerisms of some of the League members are different - but take it for what it is and enjoy the story. I give it an 8.5 (-1.5) just for the simple fact Batman isn't played by Kevin Conroy.

• Justice League Crisis on Two Earths: Paint by numbers DC effort

  Platypuschow2017-12-19

  When a good Lex Luthor from a parallel universe travels to see the Justice League they are forced to face their equals in a battle that truly could mean the end of the world should they fail. Featuring all your favorites and a few additional names making little more than cameo appearances this follows on from the Justice League television series though is a tad darker. The story is great, the execution however is exactly what you'd expect. It looks okay, sounds okay, everything is exactly that.......okay, but nothing more. Voice actors for this one include Mark Harmon, William Baldwin & James Woods who are really quite poor. James Woods who plays Owl Man sounds bored through the entire thing and Baldwin simply isn't Batman material. If you enjoy DC animations you may enjoy this but this is certainly not one of their strongest outings. The Good: Interesting story The Bad: Baldwin's voice doesn't suit Batman Proceeds to make Batman look remarkably weak Things I Learnt From This Movie: If Batman and Owlman are the same person from different dimensions why do they have different voices? Superwoman is not PG

• Any feature that can throw in both a Star Wars joke & a Star Trek joke is okay in my book

  DarthBill2010-10-27

  PLOT IN A NUTSHELL: When a heroic version of Lex Luthor arrives from another universe to ask the Justice League for help in battling the Crime Syndicate on his world, our favorite heroes find themselves locked in a life and death struggle against evil dopplegangers who'll stop at nothing to get what they want. But who is the greater threat - the thuggish Ultraman (an evil version of Superman) or the cold, cruel calculating Owlman (evil version of Batman)? This was originally planned as being part of the DCAU Justice League/JLU continuity, bridging a gap between the end of Justice League and the beginning of JLU, but for a variety of reasons it never quite came together as it was originally envisioned, so Dwayne McDuffie reworked his own script and turned it into a stand alone feature for the direct to DVD line that DC and Warner Brothers have been working on for the last few years. For the most part it is an entertaining action adventure with some clever twists on familiar characters and a strong voice cast. James Woods of course is chillingly brilliant as the nihilistic Owlman, with Gina Torres complimenting him as a thoroughly unlikable and sadistic Super Woman (she was also Vixen on JLU). Chris Noth is equally good as the heroic Lex Luthor, and it's a shame he didn't get more recognition for his voice work in this (much like how Aaron Eckhart's work as Harvey Dent in "The Dark Knight" was sadly overlooked in favor of the admittedly brilliant turn by the late Heath Ledger as the Joker). William Baldwin takes a little getting used to as the voice of Batman and probably won't make anyone forget fan favorite Kevin Conroy, but he throws out a decent enough performance. What I found interesting about Mark Harmon's Superman was that he gave the Man of Steel a more rural sounding voice, as opposed to previous voice actors such as Tim Daly (from the solo Superman series as well as Public Enemies and Apocalypse), George Newbern (Justice League/JLU), and Kyle MacLachlan (New Frontier) went for more neutral, region-less voices (though there are spots where he sounds a little like Newbern). Non-celebrity voice actors Vanessa Marshall (Wonder Woman), Josh Keaton (Flash), Jonathan Adams (Martian Manhunter/J'onn J'onnzz) and Nolan North (Green Lantern/Hal Jordan & Power Ring) all do solid work - Adams at times sounds uncannily similar to Carl Lumbly, who voiced the Martian Manhunter on Justice League & JLU, which makes one wonder if he was cast based on that. Nolan North though (better known for his voice work on video games and Marvel animation projects) is sadly underused in the double role of Green Lantern and Power Ring (the only actor in the cast to play both the heroic version and the evil doppleganger). While fans disappointed by the lack of Hal Jordan in the DCAU will probably enjoy seeing him for a third time after New Frontier and GL: First Flight, Hal is more of a special effect than a character this time around, which is unfortunate given that North has shown in past roles that he clearly has the ability to play Hal's characterization right on the mark, but I guess after NF & FF they felt it was Hal's turn to merely be 'present & accounted for'. There were things that could have been done better, of course. They could have done more to show the Justice League being disturbed by their evil parallel selves - Superman in particular should have been shown to be appalled by his evil counterpart Ultraman. On that note, I was disappointed at not getting more of a smack-down between Sueprman and Ultraman during the climax, but I guess they felt Superman's fight had to take a backseat seeing as how they had just done "Public Enemies", which was basically an hour of Superman kicking all kinds of ass left and right. They also could have done more with the working relationship between Superman and the heroic Lex Luthor. Batman saving the day near the end was predictable, but I'll let it slide seeing as how he was mostly absent from the first act and he actually got beaten up quite a bit here by the super-villains and was shown needing to call for help, which is a nice change of pace from him triumphing over more powerful enemies by way of "prep time". Overall, I give this a 7 out of 10.