‘Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One’ Review
Features the voices of: Nolan North, Matt Bomer, Jensen Ackles, Darren Criss, Ashleigh LaThrop, Ike Amadi, Zachary Quinto, Jonathan Adams, Stana Katic, Lou Diamond Phillips | Written by James Krieg | Directed by Jeff Wamester
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One is, the first part of a trilogy adapting one of the major milestones in the history of DC Comics and ending the “Tomorrowverse” series of movies. For those unfamiliar with it, Crisis on Infinite Earths was a comic book crossover original published from 1985 to 1986 as a 12-issue limited series, with events spilling over into other comics. It was written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by George Pérez, to whom this adaptation is dedicated. It has since been reprinted in other formats including a graphic novel and as part of TV’s “Arrowverse” in 2019.
As the android known as Amazo (Nolan North; Rick and Morty, Blaze and the Monster Machines) wreaks havoc in Metropolis, The Flash (Matt Bomer; Justice League: Warworld, The Magnificent Seven) brings Batman (Jensen Ackles; Supernatural, My Bloody Valentine), Superman (Darren Criss; Legion of Super-Heroes, Midway) and several others together to form The Justice League.
This is complicated by Flash constantly shifting between worlds in the multiverse including one in which the counterparts to Earth’s superheroes are evil and have formed a superpowered crime syndicate and another in which his alter ego Barry Allen is about to marry Iris (Ashleigh LaThrop; The Kominsky Method, Justice Society: World War II).
As a more casual fan, I initially found the constant cutting between the worlds confusing but as the film went on I started to catch on. And that’s saying a lot because Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One has a huge cast with alternate versions of several popular characters, some of which I recognized, others I had to figure out.
It’s the same with the various plots that span these worlds, although most of the focus for the first hour is on Amazo, his creator Ivo (Ike Amadi; Green Lantern: Beware My Power, Apex Legends: The Movie) and the man who corrupted him, Lex Luthor (Zachary Quinto; Passage to Mars, Star Trek) and how they led to the formation of The Justice League.
Director Jeff Wamester (Guardians of the Galaxy, Legion of Super-Heroes) and writer James Krieg (The Death and Return of Superman, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight) do a good job of making sure viewers can follow along until the last half hour when The Monitor (Jonathan Adams; The Death of Superman, Last Man Standing) makes their appearance and the Crisis actually begins.
While that brings the expected, and quite impressive scenes of death and destruction, the fates of individual characters haven’t been minimized either. There are some surprisingly touching moments mixed in with the destruction, something I expect there will be more of in subsequent films, along with more of the many characters such as Wonder Woman (Stana Katic; The Possession of Hannah Grace, The Librarian III: The Curse of the Judas Chalice) and The Spectre (Lou Diamond Phillips; The 33, The First Power) who merely cameo here.
I was impressed with Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One, although those more familiar with the original may have issues with whatever changes were made in the process of adapting it. Once I got my bearings the script did a good job of both keeping me entertained and keeping me from getting lost again among all the film’s characters. Hopefully it can maintain that level of quality through the entire trilogy.
****½ 4.5/5
Warner Bros. Animation released Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One on digital download on January 9th and it comes to Limited Edition 4K UHD & Blu-ray SteelBook on January 29th. Parts two and three of the Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths trilogy will debut later in 2024
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