Justice-League:-Crisis-on-Two-Earths
October 29th 2010 22:46
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths - Review
Information:
Actors: Mark Harmon, William Baldwin
Language: English
Subtitles: French
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Number of discs: 1
Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Release Date: February 23, 2010
Run Time: 75 minutes
Synopsis:
In a parallel Earth ruled by the Crime Syndicate, the Justice League must fight their evil doppelgangers in a battle that would be dead even, except that their malicious counterparts are willing to do the one thing Batman and Superman never would: kill.
Review:
With that said, I want to tell the readers that the three most compelling characters in the movie were Superwoman (Wonder Woman's counterpart), Owlman (Batman's "anti-ego") and Batman, himself.
Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, Ultraman, Johnny Quick and Power Ring were given very little to do in this film and the Martian Manhunter's role seemed forced. [ The underutilization of these characters was a bit disappointing and the gratuitous Manhunter subplot caused me to rank this a bit lower than I really wanted to.]
However, Superwoman, Owlman and Batman chewed up the scenery!
SUPERWOMAN - Superwoman (and her surprising crew of henchmen) was given a lot of screen time. Her action sequences were amazing and her twisted interaction with Batman was to die for. If you ever wondered what Wonder Woman would be like if she ever stopped repressing her hot-blooded Amazonian tendencies, this rendering of the breath-taking reckless Superwoman will be a treat.
BATMAN - For his part, Batman is presented as his most Machiavellian self. He makes moralistically ambiguous decisions in this film that remind the viewer of just how he can be. If DC decides in future films to detail Batman's eventual expulsion from the JLA (a retelling of Mark Waid's "Tower of Babel" would be an excellent sequel to this film), the viewer can point to the decisions Batman made here as part of the reason why. While there is very little examination of Batman's actions here, his teammates must have been stunned by his ruthlessness.
OWLMAN - And I believe Owlman will become a fan favorite. While each character's reaction to the discovery of parallel universes is unique, Owlman's is as poignant as they come. In reflection (and Owlman's reaction is certainly open to several interpretations), it appeared to me the revelation of anti-matter universes caused Owlman to have a (very understated) nervous breakdown.
James Woods does a fantastic job showing the nuances of Owlman's character. He is equally a frustrated genius, opportunist, philosopher and (in the most nihilistic of ways) nearly heroic. While many villains we have seen in the DC animated past have been driven by money or a desire to rule the world, we have never seen one who so aggressively rejects the premise the super-criminal as alpha-male archetype.
Grade - B - Average. Good to pass the time.
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