Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths

Part one:

The first of three animated installments of the classic 1985 comic book event, Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One is the final piece in the Tomorrowverse timeline, which started with Superman: Man of Tomorrow in 2020. In order to fight this existential threat, the movie presents the Monitor (voiced by Jonathan Adams), a cosmic entity who is trying to stop the multiverse from being destroyed by an approaching wave of antimatter. To do this, he brings together heroes from different parallel Earths, such as Green Arrow, John Constantine, and different versions of Batman and Superman. The result frequently feels overstuffed with characters and exposition-heavy scenes that put setup above emotional impact, despite director Jeff Wamester and writer James Krieg's best efforts to distill the expansive source material into a manageable story. Though the cel-shaded look has started to reveal its limitations, with rigid character expressions and action scenes that lack the fluidity of earlier DC animated blockbusters, the animation style is still consistent with past Tomorrowverse entries.

Fans have been mixed, with many observing that although the movie effectively sets the stage for the more significant crossover event, it finds it difficult to stand alone as a compelling stand-alone chapter. The choice to divide the story into three sections has come under fire for squeezing too little content into several releases, creating a narrative that reads more like a drawn-out preamble than an engaging plot. The ensemble cast's voice acting, which includes Jensen Ackles as Batman and Matt Bomer as The Flash, offers moments of real connection, especially in passages that examine the personal implications of the multiversal catastrophe. But because of its cliffhanger finale and significant dependence on continuity, the movie intentionally feels unfinished. Part One provides enough world-building and cosmic scale teases to keep the attention of devoted Tomorrowverse fans who have followed the interconnected storylines through earlier films, but casual viewers may find the intricate plotting and lack of resolution annoying, implying that the full trilogy may end up being more satisfying than this disjointed first act.

Part two:

Though it mostly wastes the narrative momentum set by its predecessor, Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Two continues the Tomorrowverse’s ambitious three-part adaptation of Marv Wolfman and George Pérez’s legendary crossover. The film, which was directed by Jeff Wamester and released in April 2024, centers on Supergirl (Meg Donnelly) and the Monitor (Jonathan Adams) as the antimatter wave continues its deadly journey throughout the multiverse. But the story soon becomes a jumbled collection of subplots with different heroes protecting anti-antimatter towers from supervillains and shadow demons; Fans called these scenes "tedious" and "bland connective tissue" instead of engaging narrative. Barry Allen's emotional anchor from Part One is absent from the film's framework, which jumps aimlessly between Batman (Jensen Ackles), Superman (Darren Criss), and Supergirl without giving any one character enough depth to support the plot.

The story's critical reception has been overwhelmingly poor, with several critics questioning the need to divide it into three sections given the lack of significant development in the middle chapter. Others saw it as "a tedious and hollow waste of time that at points feels like an insult to its source material," noting that the movie "constantly feels like it's in this battle to prove that it's actually worthy of existing in the first place". These opinions are echoed in user evaluations, which criticize "monotonous color palette," "shamefully written scenes," and "hastily or even lazily done" animation. The general impression is that Part Two falls short of creating significant stakes or providing the multiversal spectacle that fans had anticipated, despite some praising the voice actors and the imaginative reworking of Supergirl as Harbinger. Even the live-action rendition of the Arrowverse feels like "the Citizen freaking Kane of comic book adaptations" in comparison, according to one fan. This middle installment may be unavoidable for Tomorrowverse fans, but it serves as a warning about how distributing content over several releases can lead to a story that feels more like "90 minutes of continuously boring and incompetent writing" than the epic crisis it promises.

Part three:

Though only somewhat better than its predecessor, Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Three concludes the Tomorrowverse with a conclusion that perfectly captures the trilogy's wasted potential. With the Anti-Monitor's last attack on reality and the valiant sacrifices necessary to stop him, the July 2024 release, which was directed by Jeff Wamester, aims to provide the multiversal extravaganza that its source material promised. The film's most poignant moments are its nostalgic callbacks, which include fleeting scenes from Batman: The Animated Series that include Mark Hamill's final portrayal of the Joker and Kevin Conroy's final Batman, as well as visits by the Super Friends and Bruce Timm's Justice League. These scenes, depicted in their original artistic styles, offer real emotional beats that the main storyline falls short on. However, despite Meg Donnelly's sincere voice acting, Supergirl's arc as the new Harbinger feels hurried and underdeveloped, and the movie maintains the trilogy's problematic tendency toward exposition-heavy scenes where characters stand in rooms discussing cosmic threats rather than actively confronting them.

Part Three is viewed by fans as a "whimper" rather than the "bang" that this epic ending demanded. They point to recurring problems including stiff, expressionless animation, complicated storytelling, and a failure to make the multiversal stakes feel important. Supergirl's death and the blending of universes are two examples of the film's attempts toward comic-accurate scenes, but the execution lacks the emotional weight required to make these crucial beats. The voice ensemble, which includes Darren Criss as Superman, Jensen Ackles as Batman, and Matt Bomer as The Flash, gives good performances, but their work is hindered by dialogue that puts character development last and explains complicated cosmology first. This finale provides closure and a few satisfying continuity nods for those who have been following the Tomorrowverse since Superman: Man of Tomorrow. Of particular note is the deft usage of John Constantine to connect the earlier DCAMU continuity. A dismal conclusion to an animated universe that never quite found its feet, the movie "can't escape the general lifelessness of the Tomorrowverse," as fans pointed out. In the end, Part Three serves more as an intrigue for ardent DC animation fans than as a satisfactory wrap-up to what ought to have been a historic rendition of one of the most significant plots in comics.

Staff:

Directed by: Jeff Wamester

Screenplay by: Jim Krieg

Based on: Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez

Produced by: Jim Krieg, Kimberly S. Moreau, Butch Lukic, Sam Register, and Michael Uslan

Starring: Matt Bomer, Jensen Ackles, Darren Criss, Meg Donnelly, Stana Katic, and Corey Stoll.

Edited by: Bruce A. King

Music by: Kevin Riepl

Production companies: Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment

Distributed by: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

Release dates: January 9, 2024 (Part One), April 29, 2024 (Part Two), and July 16, 2024 (Part Three)

Running time: 93 minutes (Part One), 95 minutes (Part Two), and 98 minutes (Part Three)