Movie Review- Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
I'm going to go ahead and admit that I wanted to watch this movie because Mark Harmon was going to be voicing Superman and that was mostly it. I like DC stuffs well enough (though not enough to give it a separate tag from Marvel in my LJ Memories) and I liked Justice League when it was on Cartoon Network, so even if it was plotless and crappy, at least I would get to hear Mark Harmon make Superman awesome.
The movie was far from plotless and crappy. Holy wow it was far from plotless and crappy.
Quick disclaimer: I like characters more than plot. The characters move the plot, the plot shouldn't dictate the characters. My review? Totally character-driven.
The other!Earth characters were awesome, even the ones that only showed for a few moments of a group fight scene. Ultraman's accent made me grin and think of the kings of New York from before most of us were born. Awesome turf dispute after their variant of the Martian Manhunter died (I'm afraid I wasn't too torn up when he died; our Martian Manhunter is cool, but theirs was out to kill the Jester, who I really liked for someone who was there for all of four minutes. That was an awesome death). The Owlman/Superwoman relationship was better than just the passive-aggressive Batman/Wonder Woman shipping I thought it would end up being- Superwoman is a strong, developed character with a badass design in her own right, and Owlman is more than just evil!Batman. He was every way Batman could have gone wrong. Seriously, Batman totally called it: There is a difference between you and me. We both looked into the abyss, but when it looked back as us, you blinked. That, right there? Sums it up entirely.
While we're on the subject of Batman, his interaction with the Flash, limited to the beginning and end of the movie and in a way being the beginning and the end of the movie, was kind of awesome. Most of us are used to the Batman who's never happy, never tiring, never off the clock. He's all that, yes, but this Batman at least has something of a sense of humor. Stealing the Flash's pretzel is something Christian Bale's Batman would never do. I really can't think of a Batman that would, really. Not even 1960s Batman because as campy as that is, it's still not this guy. Another thing that the movie brings full circle with Batman and Flash is the entire business of whether Batman would risk Flash's life:
Batman: All right, Flash. Beginning test run.
Flash: I don't know, Batman. This is pretty radical. You're absolutely sure it works?
Batman: Pretty sure.
Flash: Pretty sure? That isn't...
[Batman teleports Flash aboard new headquarters]
Flash: ...good enough.
Batman: Teleporter's online.
Flash: Are you crazy? Is he crazy? How could he use that thing on me if the wasn't sure?
J'onn J'onzz: He was joking.
Flash: Yeah, how can you tell?
Wonder Woman: You really think he would risk your life if he wasn't sure?
Flash: Well, maybe. I mean, I don't think he likes me very much.
J'onn J'onzz: I don't think he likes anyone very much.
(Note: Batman just stole the Flash's pretzel there. I giggled, but so did everybody else.)
The Justice League has a good enough rapport from working together for a while (they're on their second Watchtower; I'm safely assuming they've worked together for more than five minutes at this point) but it's still early enough that Flash doesn't know if Batman would use him for a guinea pig. It's not like with the Superman or Wonder Woman, who could kick Batman's ass for gambling with their lives, and the Flash is kind of one of the first-string's second-string capes. But at the end, Batman tells the Flash he knows the Flash's limits (kind of expected; he's the Batman, after all) and that the Flash can't manage the speed Lex needs to open a portal, and Johnny Quick volunteers before they can ask him to do it because, after all, the universe is at stake. Multiverse. Whatever. And after Owlman commits suicide ("It doesn't matter." Dude, that was seriously badass and I shouldn't think suicide is so awesome but the ones for this movie so totally were) and Batman mostly saves the world and we find out that Johnny Quick maintaining that ridiculous speed pretty much killed him, we get this:
Johnny Quick: And all that rubbish about me being faster than Flash? You knew this was gonna happen. Good one, mate.
Batman had a choice between his Earth's hero speedster and a criminal speedster from another Earth who means nothing to him, Batman who steadfastly refuses to kill the Joker, that Batman, in the space of five minutes, left Owlman to die on a frozen wasteland (either by exposure, starvation, etc or via convenient world-ending bomb) and sacrificed the criminal speedster without a second thought. The Flash would've said yes to dying for everyone. He's the Flash, he's a hero, he's the kind of guy who would do that even if he hadn't donned the mask. For his world, for a world where Lex is the last good guy and the bad guys run everything, for people he doesn't even know and probably don't deserve it. Yeah, someone had to die, and Batman didn't want it to be the someone he knows. Sure, most people would do that, but Batman isn't most people. Batman keeps dossiers on all his teammates so he can take them down just in case. Batman made sure it was a situation Johnny Quick would have to say yes to dying for the world(s) by making the Flash a non-option. And people think Batman doesn't care.
In closing, awesome movie, good actions, even better characters. You should watch it, and the special feature on the DVD that talks about how super-awesome Batman: Under the Red Hood is. Because that's next on the watch list.
The movie was far from plotless and crappy. Holy wow it was far from plotless and crappy.
Quick disclaimer: I like characters more than plot. The characters move the plot, the plot shouldn't dictate the characters. My review? Totally character-driven.
The other!Earth characters were awesome, even the ones that only showed for a few moments of a group fight scene. Ultraman's accent made me grin and think of the kings of New York from before most of us were born. Awesome turf dispute after their variant of the Martian Manhunter died (I'm afraid I wasn't too torn up when he died; our Martian Manhunter is cool, but theirs was out to kill the Jester, who I really liked for someone who was there for all of four minutes. That was an awesome death). The Owlman/Superwoman relationship was better than just the passive-aggressive Batman/Wonder Woman shipping I thought it would end up being- Superwoman is a strong, developed character with a badass design in her own right, and Owlman is more than just evil!Batman. He was every way Batman could have gone wrong. Seriously, Batman totally called it: There is a difference between you and me. We both looked into the abyss, but when it looked back as us, you blinked. That, right there? Sums it up entirely.
While we're on the subject of Batman, his interaction with the Flash, limited to the beginning and end of the movie and in a way being the beginning and the end of the movie, was kind of awesome. Most of us are used to the Batman who's never happy, never tiring, never off the clock. He's all that, yes, but this Batman at least has something of a sense of humor. Stealing the Flash's pretzel is something Christian Bale's Batman would never do. I really can't think of a Batman that would, really. Not even 1960s Batman because as campy as that is, it's still not this guy. Another thing that the movie brings full circle with Batman and Flash is the entire business of whether Batman would risk Flash's life:
Batman: All right, Flash. Beginning test run.
Flash: I don't know, Batman. This is pretty radical. You're absolutely sure it works?
Batman: Pretty sure.
Flash: Pretty sure? That isn't...
[Batman teleports Flash aboard new headquarters]
Flash: ...good enough.
Batman: Teleporter's online.
Flash: Are you crazy? Is he crazy? How could he use that thing on me if the wasn't sure?
J'onn J'onzz: He was joking.
Flash: Yeah, how can you tell?
Wonder Woman: You really think he would risk your life if he wasn't sure?
Flash: Well, maybe. I mean, I don't think he likes me very much.
J'onn J'onzz: I don't think he likes anyone very much.
(Note: Batman just stole the Flash's pretzel there. I giggled, but so did everybody else.)
The Justice League has a good enough rapport from working together for a while (they're on their second Watchtower; I'm safely assuming they've worked together for more than five minutes at this point) but it's still early enough that Flash doesn't know if Batman would use him for a guinea pig. It's not like with the Superman or Wonder Woman, who could kick Batman's ass for gambling with their lives, and the Flash is kind of one of the first-string's second-string capes. But at the end, Batman tells the Flash he knows the Flash's limits (kind of expected; he's the Batman, after all) and that the Flash can't manage the speed Lex needs to open a portal, and Johnny Quick volunteers before they can ask him to do it because, after all, the universe is at stake. Multiverse. Whatever. And after Owlman commits suicide ("It doesn't matter." Dude, that was seriously badass and I shouldn't think suicide is so awesome but the ones for this movie so totally were) and Batman mostly saves the world and we find out that Johnny Quick maintaining that ridiculous speed pretty much killed him, we get this:
Johnny Quick: And all that rubbish about me being faster than Flash? You knew this was gonna happen. Good one, mate.
Batman had a choice between his Earth's hero speedster and a criminal speedster from another Earth who means nothing to him, Batman who steadfastly refuses to kill the Joker, that Batman, in the space of five minutes, left Owlman to die on a frozen wasteland (either by exposure, starvation, etc or via convenient world-ending bomb) and sacrificed the criminal speedster without a second thought. The Flash would've said yes to dying for everyone. He's the Flash, he's a hero, he's the kind of guy who would do that even if he hadn't donned the mask. For his world, for a world where Lex is the last good guy and the bad guys run everything, for people he doesn't even know and probably don't deserve it. Yeah, someone had to die, and Batman didn't want it to be the someone he knows. Sure, most people would do that, but Batman isn't most people. Batman keeps dossiers on all his teammates so he can take them down just in case. Batman made sure it was a situation Johnny Quick would have to say yes to dying for the world(s) by making the Flash a non-option. And people think Batman doesn't care.
In closing, awesome movie, good actions, even better characters. You should watch it, and the special feature on the DVD that talks about how super-awesome Batman: Under the Red Hood is. Because that's next on the watch list.