Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths

If you enjoy superhero cartoons you'll enjoy this one. It's a well executed piece of work with outstanding production values, a tight storyline and a polished finish. But... Like most of the more recent DC Animated Universe (DCAU) movies to come out, it just doesn't have the depth and resonance of Bruce Timm's earlier work. You know - the stuff from back when all the shows really did make up a cohesive universe with its own continuity.

These days... the characters aren't quite so three dimensional; the dialogue not quite so mature. Perhaps as a result I find that I just plain don't care quite so much about either the characters themselves or the world they inhabit. I definitely get the feeling that Timm is more of a pure producer these days. That he isn't so directly involved in the actual writing.

For those deeply entrenched in the history of the DC comic book universe, this is a movie that references, but is far from married to the "Crisis" meta-series in DC comics. Fundamentally it is its own work, and needs to be taken as such. Personally, I think that was a wise move. You just can't compress something the size and scope of the comic book Crisis into the length of a movie and not wind up with a total mess.

Another real achievement that the creators of this work can be proud of is that they did manage to make the character of "Owl-Man" (Batman's alternate universe evil double) a credible and non-ridiculous opponent: surely a feat well nigh on par with making Shakespearian comedy actually funny.

But... in the end I find that I can't help but come back to where I began. This is a good movie. It is fun to watch. But it's not in the same league as Bruce Timm's earlier stuff. The stuff that made me proud to be a fan of the superhero genre. The stuff that easily held up as at least as intelligent as any of the live action dramas made for "grown-up" TV - if not considerably more so.

Theo.

Justice League Crisis on Two Earths is yet another in a long line of both DC and Marvel mini-movies that seem to be popping up with increasing frequency these days and is about average for the breed. (i.e. - pretty good.) The hook this time is an alternate earth on which the Justice League has been practically wiped out and our Justice League is recruited by an alternate good guy Lex Luthor to save them. Simple as that.

The animation is good, but not stellar and the plot at times is pretty ridiculous even by DC Universe standards. And unlike some of the more recent DC movies like Supergirl's origin in Superman/Batman Apocalypse or the Wonder Woman movie; I never really could connect with the storyline and it's characters. I'd rate the plot and character development at a 3.

However when it comes to action, this movie does exceed in spades! From the beginning with Lex Luthor's escape to our world; it's one battle after another with super heroes battling super villains at a drop of the hat. And there's something really neat about Superman versus Ultraman or Superwoman versus Wonder Woman. It's non-stop action. Overall, I'd rate the action a solid 4 stars.

Like all these DC & Marvel Bluray movies; this disc is loaded with extras. There's a 10 min. short on The Spectre which has been done art nouveau style complete with scratches and spots. It reminded me of an old Bogart film. There's also a 30 min. documentary on the effects of 9/11 on the DC Universe from Identity Crisis to Alternate Universes. And in addition, trailers on Under the Red Hood, Superman/Batman Public Enemies, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern First Flight. And as usual, these are not your normal trailers, but extended mini-documentaries that range from 8 to 12 minutes long!

As a further bonus, they throw in the pilot episodes for the old Lynda Carter Wonder Woman series (I'd forgotten just how cheesy that series was) and a pilot for an Aquaman series that I assume never got any further. And much better, four episodes from the old Justice League Unlimited TV series including the two-part series "A better world" which had a Justice League from an alternate Earth come to ours to take over. But they had gone down a different and darker path. It's almost as good as this movie.

The movie itself is a 1080P 16:9 widescreen. But unlike most DC BD movies, this one has no DTS high definiton audio. Instead it uses the same English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track as on the DVD. There are no other audio tracks but it does include French and Spanish subtitles. It sounds fine.

Overall, I'd rate this movie a three for the storyline, four for the action, three for the sound and four for the extras. So I'll call it a four.

J. A.

The animation was great. I simply enjoyed the fighting scenes with their other dimensional selves. Im always cheering for the justice league! Great DVD and extras!