Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010) Review

"Welcome to Earth Prime. Before there was thought, there was this place. One Earth, with a single history. But with the coming of man came the illusion of free will. And with that illusion came chaos. With every choice we make, we literally create a world. History branches in two, creating one Earth where we made the choice, and a second where we didn't. That's the secret of the universe, you know. Billions of people, making billions of choices, creating infinite Earths. Some so similar to each other that you could spend a lifetime searching for any distinction. Others so radically different, they defy comprehension."

Let's continue looking at the DC Universe Animated Original Movies with Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths.

In an alternate universe, heroic versions of Lex Luthor and Joker (called the Jester) are stealing a device called the "Quantum Trigger" from the headquarters of the Crime Syndicate (villainous version of the Justice League). When an alarm is tripped, the Jester sacrifices himself to allow Luthor to escape.
Luthor is nearly captured by the remaining Syndicate members (Ultraman, Superwoman, Power Ring, Johnny Quick and Owlman) but escapes to the Earth of the Justice League by activating a device that enables interdimensional travels.
Luthor locates a police station, but is mistaken for the evil Luthor and ends up strip-searched. The Justice League is summoned and Superman's x-ray vision confirms Luthor's reversed organs indicate that he is from a parallel Earth and that their Luthor is still incarcerated at Stryker's Island.
The Justice League take the alternate Luthor to the Watchtower, where they learn of the Syndicate threat. As the Justice League debates the matter, Luthor hides the Quantum Trigger on the satellite. With the exception of Batman, the rest of the Justice League (Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash and Martian Manhunter) travel to Luthor's Earth.
Arriving at the parallel Justice League's base, the heroes attack Syndicate targets. After a successful series of raids in which they capture Ultraman, the League confront US President Slade Wilson, who releases Ultraman and explains that acceding to the Syndicate's demands saves millions of lives, e.g. hardly anyone would be brave enough to testify against the Syndicate, lest it be nearly impossible to guarantee safety until trial.
His daughter, Rose, however, regards him as a coward. Martian Manhunter inadvertently reads her mind and explains that as a military man her father actually holds life more dear than others.
Meanwhile, Owlman has developed a weapon, the Quantum Eigenstate Device, which the Syndicate intend to use as the equalizer to the threat of a nuclear reprisal.
When pressed by Superwoman, Owlman reveals that he's secretly planning to take control of the Crime Syndicate. He also admits the weapon can destroy entire worlds. Believing there are many parallel Earths, and that each one develops from the choices that each person makes, Owlman becomes obsessed with the idea that nothing he does can possibly matter, as there will always be parallel worlds where he explored another option. As a result, he searches for Earth Prime, the very first Earth from which all other universes originated, intending to use the Q.E.D. to spark a chain reaction that will erase the entire multiverse.
Now it's up to the Justice League to face the Syndicate, and stop Owlman before the entire multiverse is destroyed.

The story is very well written, intriguing, and engaging with plenty of suspense and action. The pacing is well balanced and there are little to no scenes that drag.
The action scenes are very thrilling and suspenseful, especially during the climax as the fate of the multiverse is on the line.
There are a few pretty funny bits from Flash, like the teleportation and Jedi Mind Trick lines.
The animation is very well done, props to the animators. The characters all have decent designs and are animated well, the backgrounds are pretty good, and the action is given it's edge.
Plenty of the characters are well developed and interesting.
Batman goes through some decent development as at first wants nothing to do with the Syndicate, but after hearing of their plans, he now has no choice but to help his fellow heroes.
Martian Manhunter is pretty likable and goes through a decent romance plot with Rose, who's also pretty decent as the one person who has the cahones to speak up against the Syndicate publicly.
Lex Luthor is pretty interesting as it is neat to see a legit heroic version of him.
The Crime Syndicate are pretty intimidating and threatening villains. Of all of them though, two really stick out as amazing.
First there's Superwoman, who unlike many of the others who do bad but take no joy in it, she's enjoys what she does.
And then there's Owlman, whose beliefs and motives make him the most terrifying of the bunch.
All the other heroes and villains like Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Ultraman, Johnny Quick, and Power Ring all fall in the same boat. They're good, but not great.
James L. Venable, who also did music for The Powerpuff Girls and Samurai Jack, delivers some great music here, alongside returning composer Christopher Drake.

Overall, despite some characters not being as awesome as others, this is an awesome Justice League movie, and it's among DC's best animated films. I highly recommend it.


Cast:
William Baldwin as Batman
Mark Harmon as Superman
Chris Noth as Lex Luthor
Gina Torres as Superwoman
James Woods as Owlman
Brian Bloom as Ultraman
Jonathan Adams as Martian Manhunter
Josh Keaton as The Flash, Aquaman
Vanessa Marshall as Wonder Woman
Bruce Davison as President Slade Wilson
Freddi Rogers as Rose Wilson
James Patrick Stuart as Johnny Quick, Jester
Nolan North as Green Lantern, Power Ring
Jim Meskimen as Captain Super, Archer
Kari Wührer as Model Citizen, Black Canary
Bruce Timm as Uncle Super, Captain Super Jr. 
Carlos Alazraqui as Breakdance
Cedric Yarbrough as Firestorm, Black Power, Black Lightning
Richard Green as Mister Action

Crew:
Directors: Sam Liu, Lauren Montgomery
Producers: Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, Bobbie Page
Writer: Dwayne McDuffle
Composers: James L. Venable, Christopher Drake

Misc.
Based on JLA: Earth 2 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
Production Companies: Warner Bros. Animation, DC Comics, MOI Animation, Warner Premiere
Distributor: Warner Home Video
Runtime: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Release: February 23. 2010