FILM REVIEW: Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part Two

‘Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part Two‘ continues the DC Animated Universe’s take on the iconic comic book event. This is the second of three parts and gets viewers warmed up for the epic finale that is upon us in part three.

The film is directed by Jeff Wamester and adapted by Jim Krieg, with Krieg, Kimberly S. Moreau as Producers and Butch Lukic, Sam Register and Michael E. Uslan as Executive Producers. This second part allows us to delve into a more person take on certain characters, the most significant being Psycho Pirate and Supergirl and also sets us up for whats to come in part three, the finale of the story.

Essentially, ‘Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part Two‘ is a fun and entertaining ride. With that said there is quite a lot of the film that doesn’t really feel like the original comic book – there are scenes thrown in purely for additional affect and some key moments are slightly altered for entertainment value and to fit with this version of the story. Of course you can’t expect it to be exactly the same, but considering there are only three parts to tell this iconic story – there are aspects that feels like wasted space.

With that said we do get some excellent insight into Psycho Pirate and who he is. There will be some viewers who aren’t entirely familiar with him and his powers, and this was a great but rather dark origin story and introduction to him. It’s safe to say that the film has exaggerated his backstory from the comic series, but it’s a very welcome one that adds layers to the character. What I like about the film adaptions is that they really spend time introducing and making you care about a character. Personally whilst I love the comics, I found unless you are really familiar with them before reading, you aren’t too attached. Not to mention some of the character role changes from comics to film really make this story different to the one we know and love – and not in a bad way.

The voice acting is stellar throughout and each and every actor brought their respective characters to life with a believable and original take on them. The standouts for me were Meg Donnelly who voices Supergirl and Geoffrey Arend who vices Psycho Pirate, both bring the emotion to the film and really have you feeling for these characters.

Despite the lengthy explanation of plans and what’s going on, (which is needed for such a complex story arc) there are great stints of action where heroes and villains fight against each other and the shadows and I have to say I love the animation style for it, it suits it very well. Kevin Riepl’s score is used perfectly within these scenes to built on the emotion, the stakes and it really allows the viewers to FEEL what is going on. Personally these scores do not get enough praise, it really feels like it expands the story and key scenes.

This adaption really shows a focus on Supergirl too which I really enjoyed, her innocence, her goodness is really challenged here as we are reminded of what she has gone through to get where she is now. The main changes to her story arc is where she is placed in this film and her character role. I won’t spoil as to what but there are some significant changes which really add emotional affect.

‘Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part Two‘ is enjoyable but does spend a lot of time adding context to characters. In some ways it seems that some of the action and awe of the comic series has been stripped thin, but when it does ramp up I felt myself smiling at some of the action sequences. Personally, a lot of the film didn’t feel like Crisis, but overall I am enjoying this adapted version of the story that we are exploring.

Towards the end we get a TASTE of what’s to come as our heroes take on the anti-monitor and that is enough to get me pumped for the final instalment of this film series. It is going to be an all out action packed emotional rollercoaster!