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Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths

Crisis is an entertaining action animated romp with some amazing fight scenes.

Based on loosely on Grant Morrison’s JLA: Earth 2, JL: Crisis on Two Earths starts out in an alternate universe where some of DC’s villains are now heroes. Lex Luthor and Joker being good guys, while there are ‘bad guy’ versions of the Justice League called the Crime Syndicate. Lex Luthor jumps over to the main DC universe to convince the Justice League to help defeat the Crime Syndicate. Yet, Owlman has something bigger planned for all the universes, and it is up to the Justice League and Good Lex Luthor to stop him.

Before I go any further with the review, it should be noted that this movie was supposed to be a direct tie-in into the DCAU’s Justice League. The movie was going to be a bridging story between Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. The story was called Justice League: Worlds Collide. Because of time constraints, the project never got off the ground. So, they changed certain aspects of the script to move it out of the continuity of the DCAU. (I personally think that was a huge mistake, but I’ll get back to that later.)

Like Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, this DC film is full of great action scenes and stunningly fluid animation. There are hints of the Japanese-style like animation with some of the larger action set pieces.

For the most part, the voice acting is good. James Woods is probably the best one out of the bunch. His chilling take on the evil and crazy Owlman is something every comic book fan should listen to. Gina Torres is also a notable voice that fits the character. Torres really sounds like she’s enjoying the role a little bit too much at times.

On the other hand, there are a few voices that don’t match the roles too well. And, the main problem is the voices that did the series of DCAU. Kevin Conroy really should have been asked to do the voice of Batman in this movie, but instead we got William Baldwin doing the voice of Batman. Baldwin isn’t bad, but it just doesn’t seem the correct fit for the voice of Batman. George Newbern or Timothy Daly should have been the voice of Superman. Mark Harmon does an okay job as Superman in this story.

The story is also a compelling tale that involves the use of the multi-universes (Something both Marvel and DC have used of late). Long time animated and comic book writer Dwayne McDuffie does a great job balancing the 20-plus characters. Each character receives their own storyline and proper payoff. But, it really is Owlman and Batman’s story as the story comes to an end. These two are great together.

I also enjoyed the evil Alt-versions of the DC super heroes. The Crime Syndicate is basically a group of thugs and criminals acting just like the Mob or the Drug Cartels but with super powers. That makes them completely different from the DCAU’s Justice Lords. They want money and power, but care very little about keeping people safe.

My biggest problem with the movie is that it isn’t a DCAU story. There are so many plot threads from the series thrown in that is almost set in the Justice League universe. The Watchtower is being rebuilt, and Batman recruits some new members into the League toward the end. These were things happening between the change from Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, and it would have fitted in right at home with the DCAU stuff. Yes, they changed John Stewart to Hal Jordan, but that is just minor. I really don’t see why they didn’t just make it a DCAU giving the long rich history of Justice League series. I would have cared about the characters a bit more. (J'onn J'onzz even receives a love interest.)

Overall, Crisis on Two Earths is a very cool story and it makes it a real shame that the WB live studio can’t make something this compelling for their movies. The story is more of an action piece, but there are some interesting things going on with the Alt-realties and how all the Earths tie into each other. If you’re a DC Comics fan, check this movie out.

Grade: B+