Review: Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010)

Next up in my quest to watch all the animated super hero flicks ever is another DC offering, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This one, while it follows the tradition of super heroes beating the crap out of each other and trying to do heroic things, ultimately falls flat when the interesting storyline and unique twists get buried beneath an avalanche of slugfests. And though it may not be the worst I’ve seen thus far, I definitely wouldn’t consider it one of the best.

The story begins with an alternate-universe Lex Luthor and his Joker-esque companion breaking into a vault and stealing away something. Of course, crime does not pay and soon the evil-twin versions of the Justice League members show up to deal some damage. Luthor manages to flee, transporting himself to the regular version of Earth where he seeks out the more familiar Justice League to help him straighten out the mess on his own world.

So off they go, minus Batman who decides to stay out of it, to fight their evil counterparts. As it turns out, the evil versions of the good guys run a group called the Crime Syndicate. They control all the illegal operations on the planet and basically push around whatever government they need to in order to maintain dominance. The good-guy Justice League sets out on a campaign of trashing their businesses and trying to throw their members in jail.

But evil Batman, aka Owlman, designs a doomsday weapons that can wipe out all life on the planet. The Syndicate hopes to use this device to hold the Earth hostage, but Owlman is a chronic nihilist. He decides he wants to hunt down “Earth Prime” and destroy it, which would result in the destruction of all the infinite number of parallel Earths and end life forever.

The premise of Crisis on Two Earths is intriguing, but the execution leaves something to be desired. The alternate versions of the familiar super heroes are kind of goofy in a lot of respects. And though the amount of action isn’t completely overwhelming, it does tend to go a bit overboard, thus detracting from what is an otherwise compelling plot. The best thing about the movie is the Owlman version of Batman, a darker and slightly more psychotic twin to the Caped Crusader.

Crisis on Two Earths is a bit darker than some other DC animated flicks, but it’s still low-key enough that it’s okay for kids. Adult fans of the characters will probably enjoy it as well. I wouldn’t be as generous as the folks at Rotten Tomatoes and give it a 71%, but I wouldn’t label it as atrocious either. A fun watch if you’re not expecting too much.

Photo Credits -           

Crisis on Two Earths courtesy of comicbookmovie.com