God, I love getting to see DC UNIVERSE animated original movies so early! I wasn't blown away by the PUBLIC ENEMIES animated film, as it was little more than an excuse for battles. All under the pretense of Luthor being President. With JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS... well, we get a treat... a feature animated tale involving the concept of the Crisis on Infinite Earths type of story. Frankly, I wish the title had INFINITE instead of TWO, because while most of the action occurs on two Earths, it is very much a crisis that is a danger to infinite Earths... not just the two. And we do see multiple versions of Earth in the film. That said, it is MAINLY all about these two particular versions of Earth.
Essentially we have one Earth that has the Justice League that we know and love as a benevolent organization that is out to protect the citizens of Earth from foul play, and another Earth where the like powered super-powered denizens formed a group called THE CRIME SYNDICATE... which is a super-powered team of mobsters that have divided up the Earth and have been tormenting, extorting and killing all those that would oppose their reign. Meanwhile, on that planet - we have the former leader of the superpowered resistance, LEX LUTHOR - travel to an alternate Earth, with our regular heroes. He manages to convince them to come back to thwart the evildoers.
I've been familiar with the Crime Syndicate characters for ages now, but I have to say... hearing Owlman come to life with the voice of James Woods... bent on the destruction of existence itself. Watching how the Syndicate works... the way they operate... they're delightfully evil - and kinda remind me a bit of that episode of Classic Trek on the planet of Chicago Mobsters, which I always suspected influenced the creators of the Crime Syndicate.
As with each of these ANIMATED features, the style is different yet again. Mark Harmon is a strong voice for Superman, who is more in command here, than in any of the previous incarnations. He sounds powerful & a bit cocky. William Baldwin's Batman feels tamer than James Woods' Owlman, but that's how it should be here. And truly they seem mere degrees off of one another... with Woods' OWLMAN just being all the way insane.
This is another winning film for the DC UNIVERSE group. Sadly my screener didn't have the SPECTRE short, nor any of the other extras that this will come packed with, when it hits in late February.
If I were ranking these so far, this would be behind NEW FRONTIER, GREEN LANTERN & WONDER WOMAN features, but above the rest. You'll love how this wraps up. I certainly did.
