Life is a funny thing sometimes. When I bought the last DC animated movie Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and watched the preview about Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths I wasn’t too thrilled about it. Having just been handed a crap sandwich with Final Crisis, the whole multiple worlds thing seemed over done and boring. Well, I’m happy to say I was wrong because after New Frontier, Crisis On Two Earths is my favorite DC animated movie thus far. It’s a plot driven, character heavy, action packed adventure that kicked my ass from beginning to end.
The plot for Crisis On Two Earths is pretty familiar. In a parallel universe a group named the Crime Syndicate (featuring evil duplicates of our favorite heroes) is wreaking havoc on that Earth. In that world Lex Luthor is a good guy and he heads to our Earth to enlist the Justice League in helping him bring down the baddies. The main reason the movie works is the direction, how the whole thing is put together.
Co-Directors Sam Liu (Superman/Batman, Planet Hulk) and Lauren Montgomery (Green Lantern: First Flight) really play well off of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Liu has a tendency to rush things (Planet Hulk) while Montgomery’s direction can be clunky and boring. Together they find a perfect pace that allows the plot to shine through but not at the expense of action.
The action is also head and shoulders above anything DC has done before. The battles are well executed and so much fun to watch. I was especially impressed by the Owlman/Batman duel which is both exciting and dramatic. The filmmakers also made a smart move by developing the Crime Syndicate rather than just having them be evil carbon copies of their Justice League counterparts.
Superman’s counterpart Ultraman is like Joe Pesci from Goodfellas on steroids. He’s a street thug tough guy who acts and sounds like a mob boss. Wonder Woman’s counterpart Superwoman is a psychopathic sex kitten, a bitch on wheels but with a conniving nature that makes her fascinating. The best though is Batman’s counterpart Owlman who is every bit as tough and stoic as Batman but with a subtle simmering insanity that’s really scary. Across the board these evil characters are their own people, which allows the movie to step up a notch.
DC is also getting better at the animation side of things. The flow is better; the camera angles and shot choices are better. This is the first of the DC animated films where I forgot I was watching an animated movie through the entire thing. Wonder Woman is more feminine, Batman darker, J’onn J’onzz a bit more regal, all of the heroes look great as do the world’s they inhabit.
If I had to pick anything to find fault with it would be the voice choices for the movie. I dig Mark Harmon as an actor but he doesn’t work as the voice of Superman. Harmon’s voice is too distinctive so instead of becoming Superman it sounds like Supes is imitating Harmon’s voice. William Baldwin is okay as Batman but he’s no Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series). Conroy is the only person who should be able to voice Batman, nobody does it better. The rest of the voices just seem like they’re there, doing a job and saying the lines. Nobody pops out or really nails the performance, even Chris Noth as Lex Luthor isn’t right.
The only one who nails the voice is James Woods as Owlman. Woods knocks it out of the park by giving Owlman not just a stoic insanity but also a quiet desperation that adds dimensions and layers to the character that are never shown. When he explains his ultimate plan for the end of the Universe, you almost feel bad for the guy. Then you realize how evil he is and you cheer when Batman fights back. Nobody but Woods and maybe Gina Torress as Superwoman rise above just doing the voice and saying the lines. Oddly enough it doesn’t take away from the movie, it just would’ve turned it into something even better.
The extras on this DVD are kick ass as well. After watching The Spectre short directed by Joaquim Dos Santos (Avatar: The Last Airbender) from a script by Steve Niles (30 Days Of Night) I am now incredibly amped to see a full length Spectre movie. Gary Cole (The Brady Bunch Movie) is awesome as Detective Jim Corrigan and even Alyssa Milano is great as starlet Aimee Brenner.
The first look at Batman: Under The Red Hood is excellent and whet my appetite for that to hit stores. I even dug the documentary “DCU: The New World” where DC vets like Paul Levitz, Dan Didio, Geoff Johns, Brad Meltzer and more talk about creating the stories and arcs from Identity Crisis to Final Crisis. Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths has so much to enjoy from huge battle scenes to cool extras like Aquaman appearing or a brief look at the league’s first battle with Starro. As time goes on DC just gets better and better at this, I can’t wait to see what they do next.
