Review of Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010) by Ian R — 03 Sep 2010

DC does it again! This movie was excellent, just like all the others they've been putting out in this line. I really like all the inspirations that got pulled in here, drawing from the old Crisis on Earth 3 crossover in the 60's and Grant Morrison's JLA Earth 2 mini-series in 2000.

I like that it was based on the Justice League: World's Colide script (which was to bridge the gap between Justice League and Justice League Unlimited TV series), and even though it is a little altered (Hal Jordan is Green Lantern and the like) it still hits a lot of plot points that make sense to the original DCAU storyline (Wonder Woman's jet, rebuilding the Watchtower, no Hawkgirl).

I'm also really glad they kept the comedic style Flash from DCAU; I think he's the best one to bring humour into the group, despite enjoying his more serious nature in the comics. I also like the mixture of visual interpretations of the different characters.

They pulled in the classic Aquaman look, but used the Jason Rausch Firestorm, and the post-Infinite Crisis versions of Martian Manhunter and Black Lightning. I greatly enjoyed the way they altered the Crime Syndicate a little to make them more like the Mafia, with family heads and "Made Men".

The characters they pulled in for Made Men were pretty awesome, given some of their relative obscurity. It was great to see that the Detroit Era Justice League members twisted into Owl Man and Superwoman's underlings (plus super-afro Black Lightning).

I also really enjoyed the dark Marvel family of the alternate earth. Another aspect of the alternate Earth that I enjoyed was using Slade and Rose Wilson so prominently. This I did not expect due to the lack of mainstream exposure that Deathstroke and Ravager get, plus they are usually more closely associated with the Teen Titans.

I thought it was a great touch. I really enjoyed how they borrowed part of Grant Morrison's opposite theory for this (Lex's internal organs on the opposite sides, Deathstroke was missing his left-eye on alternate earth, when normally he's missing his right).

However, this didn't play out into the nature of the entire Earth like it did in JLA Earth 2, which is probably for the best, because it didn't really lead to a satisfactory ending. I missed some of the subplots from Earth 2 that they could have used, especially the twisted love triangle between Ultraman, Superwoman, and Owlman; that was a pretty funny part of the mini-series by Grant.

I also missed exploring some more of the Syndicate's character, like the alternate Earth relation between Owlman and Jim Gordon, but given how the film played out, there wasn't really room for this.

I also found Batman portrayed a little darker than usual; he even went a little far, even for his mid-2000's-really-dark interpretation. *SPOILER* Letting Owlman die, and purposely aging Johnny Quick were both moves that I don't think mainstream comic Batman would have done.

But it's a stand alone movie, so I won't lose any sleep over it. Solid voice acting choices, as usual. James Woods calm, quiet interpretation of Owlman was different, but pretty good. Overall, I greatly enjoyed this movie.