"Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths" Feature Talkback (Spoilers)

[James Harvey]

The Justice League Has Never Faced A Crisis Like This!

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
Release Date: February 23rd, 2010

Producer: Bruce Timm
Written by: Dwayne McDuffie
Directed by: Sam Liu, Lauren Montgomery

Synopsis: A "good" Lex Luthor arrives from an alternate universe to recruit the Justice League to help save his Earth from the Crime Syndicate, a gang of villainous characters with virtually identical super powers to the Justice League. What ensues is the ultimate battle of good versus evil in a war that threatens both planets and, through a diabolical plan launched by Owlman, puts the balance of all existence in peril.

Comments on Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths?

Please post all discussions and comments about the Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths feature in this thread! Please discuss the home video release of Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths in the proper talkback, as linked below.

Related Threads:
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-Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Soundtrack Talkback (Spoilers)
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-Superman Doomsday Feature Talkback (Spoilers)

Note: Remember, this talkback thread is for discussion of the feature film. If you wish to talk about the home video release, please click on the appropriate link above. We appreciate and encourage discussion, but please keep your posts civil, relevant and insightful. Please do not post any improper or inflammatory material, as we will issue warnings if we believe it necessary. And remember to keep the discussion ON-TOPIC!

[Ed Liu]

We've got two reviews of the movie up for Toonzone News:

"Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths:" It Rocks in All Realities



Also, don't forget to check out Maxie Zeus' review of the movie as well:
"Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths": One Plus One Equals Two-and-a-Half

So we both really liked it for mostly the same reasons. Therefore, we must be right and anybody who disagrees with us is wrong and silly .

Mod Note: As linked above, The World's Finest also has three reviews of Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths available. Click here to check them out.

[jondoe297]

My review: Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths felt like a "What If" scenario since it is based on a reworked script for a canceled DTV movie for the DCAU's JL/JLU series. It balanced both as an awesome DC Crisis and adaptation story, specifically for Grant Morrison's Earth 2 graphic novel, and as an original story for these series of DCU animated films. It's like watching the DCAU JL after the "starcrossed" story bridging the gap between at the end of JL and before the beginning of JLU but w/ different, not to mention GREAT, character designs and animation is sleek and pretty sweet! :anime: But the voice actors are a hit and miss thou. William Baldwin is ok as Batman and reminds me of a tame (TDK) bale's voice, the others did good too. Batman pretty much gets beat on most of the time but pawned them at the end reminding us yet again why his such a Badass! , James Woods as Owlman is pure genius! He steals the spotlight and went out w/ a BANG!! and Gina Torres' Superwoman is HOT! Vanessa Marshall's Wonder Woman kicks ass! Josh Keaton's Flash is outrageous! Nice to see Green Lantern/Hal Jordan in the JL roster even from the background. Martian Manhunter's design and morphing animation is wicked! Mark Harmon's Superman sounds like a mix of Daly/Newbern which is good but quite stiff at times and Chris Noth's Lex Luthor gave a noble side showing what if luthor had used his intellect for the benefit of the greater good instead of feeding his huge ego. The subplot to J'onn J'onzz is an interesting quiet moment as a break from the action. Little character dev't but as a fan of the DCAU JL/JLU or DC Fan you know what to expect from these characters and more. A few surprising cameos and lots of DCAU continuity references here and there but despite all the references to the DCAU continuity it still is an original standalone DC Crisis story and perfectly balances all aspects. By far, THE BEST DCU animated film next to Wonder Woman and Green Lantern 1st Flight.

My list now stands as the ff:

1. JL Crisis On 2 Earths
2. Wonder Woman
3. Green Lantern 1st Flight
4. JL The New Frontier
5. Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
6. Superman Doomsday
7. Batman Gotham Knight

[James Harvey]

The World's Finest has posted a new studio-conducted interview from Warner Home Video featuring Gina Torres, the voice of Superwoman in the direct-to-video Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths animated feature. Click here or on the image below for more.

A new video clip, featuring Superwoman and Batman going toe-to-toe is also now available at The World's Finest. Please note the video clip is hosted in the Quicktime format.

Comments on Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths?

[Yojimbo]

Anyone else dig the Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars reference? Well, it was brief but I got a kick out of J'edd J'arkus. Sure J'edd has hillbilly connotations but his name and the four arms are a definite homage to that series. I definitely loved watching the movie then rewatching it for all the small things.

Luthor's Transit Device had a Brainiac-like symbol. But most likely whenever I see that arrangement of symbols, I immediately think Brainy.

Another naked Lex Luthor I know they did this on "World's Finest" and "Divided We Fall," but is this some in joke or vulnerability to man towards superheroes reference?

Owlman refers to the QED's construction as Project Damocles. So he's not splitting hairs about being tyrants...

Jester's monkey was named Harley.

Superwoman's 20 Made Men looked somewhat familiar. Spotted a Cyborg, Red Tornado, Zatanna, Shining Knight, and Blue Beetle analogues.

Black Lightning's tactic of draining the Watchtower to beat Uncle Super reminded me of when Supergirl fried Galatea in JLU's "Panic in the Sky."

White Martians, Dr. Erdel, and Starro got cameos in J'onn and Rose's mind-link.

Wonder what Earth Prime's onscreen coordinates were a nod to anything. 52 97 77. We know in the comics, there was that 52 arc just recently.

Lastly, I thought it was intriguing that Owlman was essentially taking a shortcut. We know Batman made the life-long promise to fight the war on crime and control that chaos that destroyed his childhood. Here, Owlman decides to go straight to source and just eliminate what he perceives as chaos, completely even at the cost of all human life. Basically, along with Batman's blinking line, it stands to reason that Owlman is technically weaker in resolve to Batman (and not to mention he wears a power suit...).

[screw on head]

Anyone else dig the Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars reference? Well, it was brief but I got a kick out of J'edd J'arkus. Sure J'edd has hillbilly connotations but his name and the four arms are a definite homage to that series.

Yeah that struck me too. I didn't realize he was named "J'edd J'arkus", very nice nod! When I first watched this I wondered if that was Phil Bourassa's idea while designing. After reading b.t.'s interview with CBR I think it was, he mentions that he gave Bourassa his designs from Worlds Collide to work from, so I'd imagine that was b.t.'s idea (not aware if that was already something from the comics).

After watching the film twice I've gotta say Phil Bourassa deserves a big round of applause, and the background designers/color stylists as well. I think the background design and color styling for these films have improved tremendously since Superman: Doomsday. The characters marry to the backgrounds really well, and there's a real pop and flair to the rendering in the backgrounds. I'm not a fan of some of the speckled texturing here and there (looks too computer-y) but otherwise this film sports the best atmosphere of any DC Universe film to date.

Phil Bourassa did a great job. I still can't get over his Superman. It's such a unique angle at designing Superman's face... never really seen a design like it before and it works really, really well. I also enjoyed there being no black lines around the emblem on his chest... solid color fill on it works really well. Bourassa's style is different from b.t.'s style but similar in an odd way, it's really interesting.

On the whole, design alone, this is my favorite DC Universe film to date. McDuffie did a great job on the script, but there was clearly a lot of care put into giving this film a unique look and I think everyone involved did a fantastic job!

[BigFatHairyDeal]

There were a lot of cool parts to the movie. Owlman was the man and James Woods nailed it. I liked how, as a DCAU fan, it was very apparent how this movie would've fit into JLU though I'm more than content that it doesn't. The action scenes have been up to the recent high standards of the previous movies. Few nice twists at the end.

On the other hand, the rest of the Crime Syndicate weren't all that appealing as villains. Superwoman was interesting, but that's because of all the villains she got to share a ton of time with the main guy Owlman. I don't think any of the voices outside of Woods and Gina Torres really stood out for me; Mark Harmon as Superman was kind of dry and the voice of Ultraman, whose name escapes me as I type, unfortunately for me never matched up to my mental voice for the comic character. And I'm sure there are people who'll disagree with my assessment or the conclusion, but the end of the movie turned into all Batman (by extension, since Owlman is the parallel universe counterpart loading up the movie with him is essentially more Batman). When I was watching the features of the World's Finest BluRay, I sort of shuddered when I heard Bruce Timm explain how it's difficult to write a scene involving without having Batman steal the show. I guess as long as we have the current creative team on board, it's something to be expected, which is kind of a shame when the League has 6 members and the others rarely get to show off their smarts, creativity, and problem-solving ability. Seriously, the other JL members just stand and watch while Batman goes universe hopping and saves the day? It made sense within the framework of the story, but so much for teamwork.

The one part of the movie I'm most on the fence about is J'onn and President Deathstroke's daughter. There was kind of a convenient device that allowed for the two to get closely acquainted (the Martian way, so to speak), and I thought it made for a nice side-story. On the other hand, it seemed kind of superfluous, so it didn't totally fit in with the rest.

Overall, I think my expectations were slightly too high for this movie. I liked it, will probably watch it again, but I didn't get the sense of satisfaction watching it as I did some of the other DC DTV's. Will check out the extras at a later date.

[DerekPowers]

Overall, I think it was pretty good, but no where near as good as WW or GL.

Theres a lot of great stuff in the movie, and technically, based on the concept of the movie, could be in continuity with the DCAU, just a different world. It was very similar to JL and JLU, which I think actually worked to its benifit, but also felt like its own thing.

Where I think the movie falls apart is the ending. The OwlMan vs Batman scene was great, but the rest of the ending seemed to wrap up really abruptly and without a real payoff. I also found the whole bad flash turning noble thing to be corny and out of character.

I just dont think the whole Crime Syndicate working with the JL thing was handled particularly well. It felt rushed and under whelming, and I think hurt the movie overall, as well as the whole "I brought the Marines" part.

It was good, w/ great parts, but falls far short of WW and GL, but was a massive improvement over "Public Enemies", imo.

[Yojimbo]

Yeah that struck me too. I didn't realize he was named "J'edd J'arkus", very nice nod! When I first watched this I wondered if that was Phil Bourassa's idea while designing. After reading b.t.'s interview with CBR I think it was, he mentions that he gave Bourassa his designs from Worlds Collide to work from, so I'd imagine that was b.t.'s idea (not aware if that was already something from the comics).

It's been awhile, but I want to say Bruce Timm and Dwayne McDuffie are Burroughs fans. I think b.t. even once said he preferred the lost world in the Earth's core than parallel dimension in regards to JLU "Chaos at the..." and I remembered after the fact that during the big Justice League vs. Justice Lords fight at Stryker's in "A Better World," one of the J'onn's morphed four arms, the Lords version I think.

The one part of the movie I'm most on the fence about is J'onn and President Deathstroke's daughter. There was kind of a convenient device that allowed for the two to get closely acquainted (the Martian way, so to speak), and I thought it made for a nice side-story. On the other hand, it seemed kind of superfluous, so it didn't totally fit in with the rest.

I thought it was clever way to reel in the theme and point of view of a normal person observing the Syndicate. My take on it was:

At first glance, this romance appears to be out of place and an unnecessary lull in an otherwise action-packed slugfest. I beg to differ. Rose Wilson is perhaps the most important character in the movie. She is the vehicle for the many recurring themes that resonate in the film. Wilson first appears protesting the Crime Syndicate's might is right authority. Perhaps a homage to those who have used this aphorism in past times, nonetheless, she brings up a strong point that those with super powers are guardians of mankind, meant to serve and protect. They were never meant to rule as absolute power corrupts and once that happens, who can stop them?

Another idea is she is at odds with her father, a war hero, who seemingly bows to the Syndicate without a fight. However, she fails to see he is a soldier who doesn't want to see the bloodshed of war again at any cost. Wilson then unknowingly falls in love with Martian Manhunter, who himself was his people's greatest warrior, whisked away from a genocidal campaign initiated by the savage White Martians. Thus she rediscovers her father in the Martian.

[rggkjg1]

i thought it was ok. at first, batman's voice really bothered me. his voice sounded more appropriate for the new frontier than this. i actually thought he sounded like adam west too.

one thing i never really liked about the alternate earth with the crime syndicate, is their names. ultraman? owl-man? superwoman? ect. they just sound lame and unoriginal. the jester? seriously? i'd rather have the evil counterparts be almost exactly like the originals, or at least have the same names as the originals.

i wish through out the film we got some background on each of the main crime syndicate villians. if anything we should have at least gotten owl-man's since he teased batman at the end asking what wrong was done to him for bruce to become batman.

with this release, and the upcoming batman: under the hood, i think we might be settling for "mediocracy" in these animated movies for the moment.

my rankings:
1. superman/batman: public enemies
2. the new frontier
3. wonder woman
4. justice league: crisis on two earths
5. green lantern
6. superman: doomsday
7. batman: gotham knight

so we got 2 justice league movies, 2 batman movies (upcoming under the hood), and 1 superman movie. how about we get another SOLO superman movie to level the field here.

[Rud]

I agree that the ending was too abrupt, the way the Syndicate just gave up at the end was simply ridiculous, not to mention disappointing. Green Lantern being pretty much a background character was pretty lame too.

Superwoman and Owlman were easily the best thing about this movie IMO

lol at "this is not the Jedi mind trick"

[Simpler Simon]

And here it is, the "lost" chapter of Justice League that has been retooled and finally made available to the fans. And yes, it rocks.

Watching this pretty much took me back to the series - yes I know this officially isn't in continuity, but there are so many connecting pieces between JL/JLU and the tone of the script is so in line with what we've seen before - I'm so glad the production team managed to dig this out of the archive and have it produced. You can almost hear where the original theme music and character motifs would've been used. Lots of great character moments, tons of action and a myriad of comic-related nods and cameos. They didn't have to sneak Lobo into the alternate world, but it's sure fun that they did.

Ambivalent about the Martian Manhunter love story subplot - kinda felt like it needed an extra scene or more to really develop and resonate - it ended up feeling like a convenient excuse to get him out of the way for the final fight, since his analog in the Crime Syndicate world was already dead.

Acting was generally strong - I don't know if it's a pro or con that so many of the voices ended up sounding like their old TV series counterparts - pretty much everyone but Batman (and GL, obviously), and oddly enough I thought Batman was the only voice that didn't quite fit. On the Crime Syndicate side, Gina Torres and James Woods stood out the most, probably because they has the most screen time.

Having just recently read Grant Morrison's JLA Earth-2, my only other thought is that while the film sticks pretty closely to the Crime Syndicate concept, it does deviate in one important way - in Grant Morrison's story, the alternate Earth is doomed to be ruled by evil because good will always triumph in the other world. It's a balance that is kept in cosmic check. I would've liked to have seen that touched upon - would've made for a downer ending probably, but also a more thoughtful one.

Overall though, if you're looking for a good Justice League story and an almost-reunion with old friends, this is highly recommended.

[CaptainCanada]

A good action story, though not my favourite of the DTVs. This was originally, of course, Justice League: Worlds Collide, and you can see vestigial elements of the buildup to JLU, some of which just don't have much point outside that context (the origin of the Invisible Plane works fine, but the whole membership drive thing is really pointless).

The portrayal of the Crime Syndicate was interesting, in that they were shown working like an actual syndicate, though the whole nuclear exchange threat would have no impact if they hadn't conveniently built a base on the Moon; if they'd just kept in the shadows, there'd have been no possibility of deterrent.

Lots of good fight scenes (though Batman's broken rib just vanishes, apparently, because he never mentions it again and appears in top form throughout).

J'onn romancing AU-Ravager was kind creepy, being familiar with Rose solely from the Teen Titans. I kept thinking "she's underage, get away". Though if his final line was meant to be a joke at her regular characterization, Ravager was never really evil, just messed up by Deathstroke.

Mark Harmon as Superman was kind of wasted here. In fact, the whole JL vs. Crime Syndicate thing is never fully developed; half the team never really gets a decisive encounter with their opposite.

James Woods as Owlman was brilliant.

[ashleesmach1]

Well I liked it!!!

[Yojimbo]

but the whole membership drive thing is really pointless).

How so? Five of them saved Batman's butt from the Super Family. In the end, it was a nice nod to how the same thing happens on every parallel Earth, just in a different way. The Crime Syndicate had a six families with Made Men each and thousands of criminals working for them. With the Justice League, they are going to expand their ranks, too, and hopefully not let all that power corrupt them.

[adoptedBatpuppy]

The World's Finest has posted a new studio-conducted interview from Warner Home Video featuring Gina Torres, the voice of Superwoman in the direct-to-video Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths animated feature. Click here or on the image below for more.

A new video clip, featuring Superwoman and Batman going toe-to-toe is also now available at The World's Finest. Please note the video clip is hosted in the Quicktime format.

Comments on Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths?

Good Interview, very informative. Gina Torres sounded great as Vixen in JLU. I liked when Gina Torres said that we need more positive images of female superheroes. I agree with her. We have Wonder Woman, a few others but that's about it. It was good to hear that she enjoys playing the evil characters too, I bet doing voice for Superwoman was more fun.

[CaptainCanada]

How so? Five of them saved Batman's butt from the Super Family. In the end, it was a nice nod to how the same thing happens on every parallel Earth, just in a different way. The Crime Syndicate had a six families with Made Men each and thousands of criminals working for them. With the Justice League, they are going to expand their ranks, too, and hopefully not let all that power corrupt them.

We're not going to see this League again, them adding new members just doesn't mean much of anything. In WC, it's an effective beginning of the new expanded League; at the end here, it's kind of a random way to end things.

[Crimson]

Thus far, I have not been particularly impressed with these DCAU DVDs, which have ranged from adequate (NEW FRONTIER) to boring (SUPERMAN: DOOMSDAY) to borderline awful (WONDER WOMAN.) That losing streak has finally ended, as CRISIS is pretty darned good.

The animation is solid, and most of the character designs are good (although I disliked both the designs and the vocal acting for Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman.) The action scenes are top notch, and the plot moved along briskly. I'll be watching this one again real soon.

[Yojimbo]

We're not going to see this League again, them adding new members just doesn't mean much of anything. In WC, it's an effective beginning of the new expanded League; at the end here, it's kind of a random way to end things.

Alright, how would you have ended it? After the first viewing, I thought the ending would have centered on the Crime Syndicate Earth but then I remembered the title starts with Justice League.

[Wonderwall]

I really liked this, you can definitely see some JL/JLU aspects but it's different enough to be it's own thing.

I actually had no problem with Billy Baldwin as Batman, I thought he sounded kind of cool. Superman seemed pretty stiff in his opening scenes but he seemed better from the interrogation scene and onwards. Vanessa Marshall sounds a lot like Susan Eisenberg to me, just kind of..smokier( I know not a word ) but I can see why she was the runner up for WW in JL.

Action was awesome and it never dragged. I don't think there was enough time for the J'onn subplot but it did it's job adequetely and filled time. Still a little weird that the girl would take to a green alien so quickly.

I'll be putting this through another spin once I get my TV back so I can see it with the surround sound.