Hey folks, Valkor here. And it looks like the DC universe, in its animated form, is kickin some serious ass. The last slew of films from Batman: Gotham Knights, Wonder Woman, Green Lanter, even Batman/Superman: Public Enemies has been a huge hit with TOV. And the latest film, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, is no exception and maintains the quality, explosive action, and pure geekiness fun the previous films had.
Crisis on Two Earth's is actually a take on the DC graphic novel "Earth 2" and follows along the lines of the comic where the original Justice League: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter are pitted against an alternate universe of themselves called "The Crime Syndicate". In this alternate world the bad guys are the good guys and the good guys run the planet like a Mob. Alternate Lex Luthor along with The Jester (The Joker) invades the Syndicate's base to retrieve this item called the Quantum Trigger. With the device, Lex uses it to enter the world of the Justice League and asks to enlist their help in ridding his world of the Crime Syndicate run by Ultra Man, Owl Man, Johnny Quick, Power Ring, Superwoman, and Red Archer among other Syndicate members. The only person not along with the plan is Bats. But when Super Woman returns to retrieve the Quantum Trigger that Lex purposely left behind, well Batman has no choice but to get involved. And his involvement is much needed as Owl Man has a plan that involves the trigger and destroying all earth's after he locates "Earth Prime", which is a direct opposition to how the Crime Syndicate wanted to use the item.
Two things: First I wanna give kudos to Ninja Turtles gang for using a very similar story for "Turtles Forever" where the current TMNT teamed with alternates ofthemselves (TMNT of the past and comic book) to save "Turtle Prime". But that's another review entirely. And second, it's been a little more than two years since I first reviewed "Justice League: A New Frontier". So I'm really proud to cover the JLA's latest animated flick. And now on with the show.
The Good:
First this was a great comic to make into an animated movie. The story is pretty straightforward, loaded with great characters, and crammed with action, suspense, and… action. And speaking of the action, it's definitely knock down drag out and it has to be so, because you're dealing with the biggest names in superherodom. I loved the air battle with the JLA vs. The Crime Syndicate; Oh so much fun and very intense. Lex vs. Ultra Man? You can feel the pain of their hits! And Batman vs. Owl man… yea I won't say anything more about that. Next the animation is definitely above par then the usual animated fare; it's pretty consistent and very detailed - Definitely high quality stuff. Finally we have the voice acting which is definitely hit and miss. I enjoyed the voice-work of Chris Noth as Lex Luthor, James Woods as Owl man, and even Gina Torres as Super Woman. Also I have to give big ups to Jonathan Adams as Martian Manhunter, and Josh Keaton as The Flash.
The Bad:
I'm not a big fan of other actors chosen to play voices in this film, ESPECIALLY William Baldwin as Batman – didn't work for me. And Mark Harmon for Superman? Why not Tim Daly and Kevin Conroy… or better yet, why not ANYONE ELSE other than these two?
The Ugly:
See bad section. Ok maybe not THAT bad, but still...
Overall, Justice League: Crisis on two Earths is a definite "don't miss" and a must add to any superhero collection, especially those who follow the DC Universe. It's a great story, some decent acting, and great action that's out of this world. So, out of TOV 5 stars, and even with sad "bad voices" I'm still giving Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths 4 stars. And it's been Valkor tested and TOV approved!
