Liga da Justiça: Crise em Duas Terras

I have to say I was skeptical when I reviewed the casting for this installment.

I enjoyed "Superman: Doomsday", and "Public Enemies". I really like the animated movie series installments that Warner Brothers has been releasing. Having withdrawal from "Batman: The Animated Series" and "Justice League", these new animated movies are just what the doctor ordered.

The main topic of discussion for this series will be why some of the main voice characters weren't cast.

If I don't say it now, I will regret it. Kevin Conroy, I hope your listening, no one does Batman like you - period.

I read around and didn't find a legitimate source on why you weren't cast as Batman, but I'm confident it has to do with the new "Batman - Arkym Asylum 2" that he is currently doing voice over work for. Warner Brothers is pretty set on the deadline of getting these series to the public, so I would conclude they made the decision to film this one with another cast of characters.

I won't spoil the movie, but this particular story arc is very similar to season 2 of Justice League "A Better World" with a little bit of a twist.

In short, If you liked the other installments - you will like this version. Yes it is a little different, and the mannerisms of some of the League members are different - but take it for what it is and enjoy the story.

I give it an 8.5 (-1.5) just for the simple fact Batman isn't played by Kevin Conroy.

When a good Lex Luthor from a parallel universe travels to see the Justice League they are forced to face their equals in a battle that truly could mean the end of the world should they fail.

Featuring all your favorites and a few additional names making little more than cameo appearances this follows on from the Justice League television series though is a tad darker.

The story is great, the execution however is exactly what you'd expect. It looks okay, sounds okay, everything is exactly that.......okay, but nothing more.

Voice actors for this one include Mark Harmon, William Baldwin & James Woods who are really quite poor. James Woods who plays Owl Man sounds bored through the entire thing and Baldwin simply isn't Batman material.

If you enjoy DC animations you may enjoy this but this is certainly not one of their strongest outings.

The Good:

Interesting story

The Bad:

Baldwin's voice doesn't suit Batman

Proceeds to make Batman look remarkably weak

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

If Batman and Owlman are the same person from different dimensions why do they have different voices?

Superwoman is not PG

Story/plot: Good. In fact better than some real life movies Voice Actors: Good. Professional quality.

Artwork/Animation: Good. This is the US standard without becoming CGI.

Length/Run-Time: Good. It isn't too short and isn't too long for my kid.

Comment: I wish there were more animations on the justice League. DC is doing much better than it was with its animations over the past decade. The story is simple with a touch of complexity and the moral is made clear enough that even my 5 year understood. The depiction of alternate Earths can lead to bigger expansion in the near future. Overall I would recommend this to other parents for their children

One of the things that makes these DC animated movies, specifically those as of late (with very few exceptions) so strong thematically is that they take the foundations of the characters from the comics and the TV shows, keep them strong, and build upon them as their own forms of mythology. We see this in Superman: Doomsday with the concept of 'Can Superman be taken down?', to even a slightly lessor film like Wonder Woman, which asks, simply, 'Is this a man's world, or is there some I Am Woman Hear Me Roar too?'

While the best of the lot, Justice League New Frontier, is hard to get eclipsed in its storytelling, this new direct to video release, Crisis on Two Earths, does its best to come close. At first it might appear to be a simple bizarro-world story (or Elseworld tale as it can be called, i.e. Superman: Red Son), where the Justice League is visited by Lex Luthor(!) from the other world, who is actually battling the bad-guy versions of the JLA, and they have to stop them- specifically the mastermind Owlman- from destroying possibly both worlds... or all.

What makes it richer is how the writers and directors build upon the tropes and even add some philosophy to the mix - the way Owlman looks at all of the worlds, the nihilism present, and his disgust of free will, is rather morbidly fascinating for the few minutes its given light in what would be otherwise a "kids" movie - and keeps fans happy. I wouldn't say this is a good place to start for newbies to these characters; not so much for a complex story, which is isn't entirely, but that some of the characters are already so well established and that some of the smaller ones may just float by without much consequence (I, who has been catching up on the Justice League animated show, didn't recognize some of the characters unless named). It really is made by fans of the series (the directors are also well-established with these films, practically covering all of the recent ones for better and worse), for fans, as a rock-em-sock-em elseworld story.

While some small parts do frustrate a bit (how Owlman is so set in his path towards the end... and then proceeds to go and beat up Batman anyway seems rather redundant), it gives us some great moments in DC animated history. That one line from Batman especially to Owlman, "The difference between you and I - we both looked in the abyss, and you blinked", is a keeper, and some of the quips given by Superwoman and the Flash (yes, the Flash) are really funny. And though the overall outcome of who will triumph and so on can be called practically from the outset, the fun and danger comes in the instances of uncertainty between character fights and the intensity of one-on-one action, or just unexpected moments (the 'Green Arrow' in the elseworld is basically painted Red and made into the Batman villain Deadshot) that delight.

One last note - the voice acting here was surprisingly good. It's tricky not having the standard voices for Super/Batmen (I'm always wary hearing Batman not as Kevin Conroy), but William Baldwin actually didn't do too bad, and same for Mark Harmon. Best of all were Gina Torres as the femme fatale in Superwoman, and James Woods dialing down his usual hammy bad-guy acting for Owlman, who sounds so cerebral one wonders why he has that big suit of armor.

i gotta say, DC continues to impress with their animated offerings.i liked everything about this latest offering.not only was the story really good,but the voice acting was stellar in my mind.the fight scenes were spectacular,but they didn't overpower the rest of the movie.i also really liked the opening title sequence.i thought it really stood out.the movie also had a dark edge to it,which i really liked.definitely adult oriented,which suits me fine.all i can say is i hope they keep up the quality and make sure the movies continue to have the adult edge to them.as an aside,there's a great bonus short included called The Spectre,which i recommend watching as well.for me,Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths is an 8/10