Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three
Studio: Warner Bros. Animation
Runtime: 95 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray – July 23, 2024; Digital – July 16, 2024
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Synopsis: Based on DC’s iconic comic book limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, join DC Super Heroes from across the multiverse in the action-packed conclusion of the three-part DC animated film Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Three. The eagerly awaited film brings to a close the thrilling trilogy that marks the end to the Tomorrowverse story arc.
Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, DC and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, the all-new, action-packed DC animated film features some of DC’s most famous Super Heroes from multiple universes including Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, who come together to stop an impending threat of doom and destruction. Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Three will be available to purchase exclusively on digital on July 16 and on 4K UHD in limited edition steelbook packaging and Blu-ray on July 23.
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Three features returning popular voice cast members: Jensen Ackles as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Emmy winner Darren Criss as Superman & Earth-2 Superman, Aldis Hodge as Green Lantern/John Stewart, Meg Donnelly as Supergirl & Harbinger, and Stana Katic as Wonder Woman & Superwoman, along with Corey Stoll as Lex Luthor. The star-studded ensemble voice cast also includes Gideon Adlon as Batgirl, Ike Amadi as Martian Manhunter/J’Onn J’Onzz, Geoffrey Arend as Psycho Pirate/Charles Halstead, Troy Baker as The Joker & Spider Guild Lantern, Brian Bloom as Adam Strange & Sidewinder, Matt Bomer as The Flash, Ashly Burch as Nightshade & Queen Mera, Zach Callison as Earth-2 Robin & Robin/Damian Wayne, Kevin Conroy as Earth-12 Batman, Alexandra Daddario as Lois Lane, Brett Dalton as Bat Lash & Captain Atom, John Dimaggio as Lobo, Ato Essandoh as Mr. Terrific, Keith Ferguson as Doctor Fate & Two-Face, Will Friedle as Batman Beyond & Kamandi, Jennifer Hale as Hippolyta & Green Lantern Aya, Mark Hamill as Earth-12 The Joker, and others.
Justice League Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Three is produced by Jim Krieg and Kimberly S. Moreau and executive produced by Butch Lukic, Sam Register, and Michael Uslan. The film is directed by Jeff Wamester from a script by Jim Krieg. Casting and voice direction is by Wes Gleason. The film is based on characters from DC and the graphic novel “Crisis on Infinite Earths” by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.
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By James Harvey
Lofty creative ambitions and great voicing acting sadly can’t save Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three from its muddled, uneven story and frequently disappointing animation. The finale to this three-part animated adaptation of the classic comic event (and also, essentially, the “Tomorrowverse” series finale) is packed with more than a few epic and unforgettable moments, no question, but the underdeveloped and oversized cast and some confusing creative choices rob the film of its emotion and urgency. Part Three is clearly a legitimately earnest effort from the cast and crew, but their efforts ultimately fall a little short.
It’s a race against time in Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three as the biggest heroes in the DC Universe desperately try to stay one step ahead of the Anti-Monitor, who seeks to wipe out all existence. As different Earths fall one after another, and the remaining Earths in chaos as time itself shatters and inhabitants brace for the inevitable, hope has all but vanished. As the Justice League and their rag-tag allies from across the multiverse make their last stand, shocks and surprises await as their final moments arrive!
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three picks right up from the closing moments of Part Two with the Anti-Monitor revealed and moments away from obliterating the multiverse’s remaining heroes just as The Monitor is killed by a Psycho Pirate-influenced Supergirl. The Monitor’s death triggers a safety measure which sends his satellite and all remaining Earths and their respective inhabitants into The Bleed, a dimension which exists outside the multiverse. From there, the heroes must find a way to stop the Anti-Monitor and stay alive in their increasingly unstable safety net.
While Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three offers an admittedly interesting take on the final chapters of the original comics event, even with its myriad of changes, the movie can’t quite drum up the same intrigue generated from the source matreial. While there are a host of neat moments and undeniably cool surprises, Part Three can’t overcome it’s thin characters, uneven script, languid pace and tepid tension. That said, viewers who’ve enjoyed Part One and Part Two might be pleased with how Part Three wraps it all up.
Please note that while spoilers will be kept to a minimum here, as usual, there will be mentions of specific scenes and events.
With Part Three, it’s hard to escape the feeling that, at this point, everyone is just kinda waiting around for the end to come, be it the characters in the movie or the actual viewing audience. Once Part Three settles into its story after an early (and fun, albeit pointless) dino-centric action sequence, the majority of the film’s runtime is spent with characters just bouncing ideas back and forth as they try to figure how to avoid the end of the multiverse. And, save for the few action sequences and some heavy, dramatic moments, Part Three doesn’t really amount to much more than that.
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Also working against Part Three is that the story really doesn’t start to pick up steam until John Constantine pops in about 30 minutes into the film’s 98-minute runtime. Those first 30 minutes – a sizable chunk of the film’s real estate – act mostly as a recap to get Wonder Woman (and the audience) up to speed, punctuated by an action scene and a few conversations before John Stewart just casually mentions Constantine’s name (and finally pushes things along). Given that there’s apparently eight months since the end of Part Two and the events of Part Three, that’s a curiously long time not to mention running into a sorcerer with world-altering powers.
This type of bewildering reveal woefully plays out again in roughly the same way about 45 minutes later, during the film’s third act, when a character just casually mentions the existence of a device that – just by its name and describing what it can do – is something of obvious importance. The device ends up playing a crucial (and massively MacGuffin-ish) role in the heroes’ survival, which makes it a little bizarre that the characters who knew of its existence wouldn’t have mentioned it months ago. Unfortunately, this latter reveal here ends up making a lot of the proceeding 75-ish minutes of Part Three feel a little bit like a waste.
But really, the ultimate problem of Part Three is, despite the film constantly reminding us of the world-ending stakes, the urgency never feels tangible. Outside of a few set pieces, Part Three is mostly just people standing around and talking. And that isn’t the most exciting thing. Instead, Part Three gives off the vibe that the end of all existence seems no more than a big inconvenience (or no more important than dealing with of a B-list baddie). Only Supergirl’s subplot, concerning her guilt and overall sense of hopelessness, comes anywhere close to convincingly selling the gravity of the situation and how dire things truly are. The scene where Supergirl is charged up on solar energy and guns it for the Anti-Monitor? Legit awesome.
And yes, Supergirl’s iconic moment from the original Crisis on Infinite Earths is recreated here, mostly to good effect. It’s perhaps the only real time the movie effectively sells the grave position our multi-versal heroes are in, but it woefully comes a little too late to turn things around. We also don’t get nearly enough time with the vast majority of the film’s cast, even the core members, which robs their respective key moments of importance and interest. While Part Three‘s story doesn’t quite connect the way it needs to, the film’s impressively large cast works exceptionally hard to mine every last bit of melodrama from the film’s catastrophic events, and they essentially nail it.
Notable work includes Jensen Ackles nailing the assignment yet again as Batman, and the same can be said for Darren Criss’ spin as Superman and Meg Donelly as Supergirl. Stana Katic also puts in admirable work as a tortured Wonder Woman, Jimmi Simpson remains perfectly cast as Green Arrow and Matt Ryan hasn’t lost a single step as he returns as Constantine here one last time. Despite a couple rough deliveries here and there, it’s a pretty solid body of work. The DC Universe Movie titles rarely falter when it comes to voice acting, and this entry is no exception.
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Also worth pointing out is the absolutely fantastic score by Kevin Riepl. He’s pouring every last bit of himself into the film’s music here and, yeah, he delivers some of his best work by far. Whether it’s boosting Part Three‘s dramatic moments, selling an action-heavy set piece or recreating a beloved score from decades past, Riepl’s enthralling soundtrack doesn’t miss a beat (terrible pun intended).
Unfortunately, the film’s strongest attributes are overshadowed by its shockingly low-quality animation, which seems to have gotten progressively weaker with each installment of the Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths trilogy. While budget constraints on these titles have been obvious for years now, and nothing new to the audience, it’s never appeared this glaringly bad. Stiff, lifeless movements, weightless and erratic action scenes and clear shortcuts and cheats paint the screen from start to finish, with only a scant handful of moments where the animation actually performs adequately. “Disappointing” doesn’t even begin to cover just how underwhelming this movie looks and moves.
The animation is even (very) noticeably weaker than the earliest installments of the “Tomorrowverse” titles from just a few years ago. Given the size of the cast and the movie’s massive scale, it’s understandable it wouldn’t look entirely great, but that still doesn’t really lessen the impact of how depressingly cheap the movie looks. It’s a shame Warner Bros. Discovery couldn’t fork over a few extra bucks to let this movie series go out on a visually strong note.
These character designs genuinely look great in action, as we’ve seen in earlier entries like Superman: Man of Tomorrow and Justice Society: World War II, but Part Three is a relatively steep drop from those titles’ respective quality. It’s a shame, too, especially given the original comic event’s importance to DC Comics’ overall publishing history. That said, and to quickly note, after revisiting the entire “Tomorrowverse” line-up in preparation for Part Three and, looking back at it all, it’s really clear (and fairly cool) how these titles (even the Constantine: The House of Mystery DC Showcase animated short) were all laying the groundwork for Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, and that’s definitely something to be commended.
Some applause also feels warranted for the film’s quick visits to a few familiar Earths around the multiverse, offering a couple quick cameos that will undoubtedly satisfy more than a few viewers. Despite its brevity, the short sequence on Earth-12 – featuring Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as The Joker from Batman: The Animated Series – is an especially moving (and even beautiful) few moments that should resonate hard with fans. Miraculously, this brief visit to the DCAU is decently animated.
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Director Jeff Wamaster and writer Jim Krieg are clearly trying their best to make the classic Crisis on Infinite Earths comics event fit within the confines of the DC Universe Movie line, and the “Tomorrowverse,” but it just really doesn’t work in the end. Given how complicated and layered the original comic event was, it’s not really a surprise this adaptation struggled to find a strong focal point within its sprawling narrative. The desire was there, and the excitement with Part One landing as strong as it did was palpable, but it’s clear Part Two and Part Three weren’t able to find the same focus and and emotional core as that initial installment.
Despite sporadic bright spots, Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three falters the finale to the Crisis trilogy with wobbly writing and abysmal animation. There’s some neat and bold ideas, strong performances and a bona fide surprise or two, but it’s just not enough to overcome Part Three‘s significant shortcomings. Viewers curious to see how this trilogy ends will likely still check this entry out, and understandably so given the buzz around this film’s small batch of big cameos, but make sure to keep those expectations low. Watch At Your Own Risk!