Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

So many Earths, so little time.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III July 28, 2024

Arriving on disc three months after Part Two and half a year after the first chapter, Warner Bros. Animation's Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three is the final installment of the series. Like its predecessors, this multi-part production takes many of its core narrative cues from the fan favorite 1985-86 comic book series by Marv Wolfman and the late, great George Perez... but it also doubles as the conclusion to their "Tomorrowverse" film series (2020-23) that included Superman: Man of Tomorrow, Justice Society: World War II, the two-part Batman: The Long Halloween, Green Lantern: Beware My Power, The Legion of Super-Heroes, and Justice League: Warworld. Given my mixed feelings for these films as well as the first two Crisis chapters, does this final installment at least stick the landing?

The short answer is "no", but I'll be honest in that I enjoyed this final installment slightly more than the previous two. Maybe? My gut wants to tell me "because it's finally over", but really it's due to the obviously larger stakes presented this time around: Multiple (and I mean a lot) of Earth variants face imminent destruction at the hands of Anti-Monitor despite the efforts of multiple Justice Leagues, which leads to wave after wave of massive casualties as well-known characters and entire planets are vaporized with reckless abandon. Supergirl and multiple Green Lanterns step up the the plate and strike out. Aquaman and his family? Dusted. At least one version of Superman makes some progress, while one of the many Batman variants takes a crucial detour to investigate the origins of this multiverse.

As usual, the voice acting is at least good to great. With its large roster of characters comes a lot of great names behind the mic: Jensen Ackles, Alexandra Daddario, Matt Bomer, Katie Sackhoff, Jimmi Simpson, Meg Donnelly, Tory Baker, John DiMaggio, Jennifer Hale, Corey Stroll, Will Friedle, and Mark Hamill, just to name a few. Even the late Kevin Conroy, who gets a dedication before the end credits, gets a nice little send-off in a short scene with Hamill during their all-too-brief return to Batman: The Animated Series territory on one of the many Earths. (508? Honestly I can't keep track of these things at all.) And while all this multiverse bouncing around does make room for plenty of great character voices and even a few moments of fan service -- even The Super Friends get a quick scene -- this just reinforces what's inherently wrong with the whole production. It's messy, unfocused, and mostly forgettable, with countless moments and characters from the original 1985-86 comic book series either breezed over or ignored completely.

A story as huge and sweeping as Crisis on Infinite Earths all but demanded a multi-part epic, to be sure... but as a whole this animated adaptation ain't it, even if this third and final chapter manages to flirt with emotional moments with its intermittently unsettling doom-and-gloom atmosphere. But any hints of strength are due to the established characters, voice actors, a few stand-alone visuals, and of course the original score by Kevin Riepl... not the writing, dialogue, and pacing, which as as lackluster as the previous two chapters. All in all, this is a lukewarm ending to a disappointing saga, and that includes the Tomorrowverse in general: sure, a few of those earlier films linked above were legitimately good... but overall, it's been uneven at best and borderline unwatchable at worst.

Like both earlier chapters, Part Three is only offered in separate Blu-ray or 4K (Steelbook only) editions and priced far above what fans should be expected to pay. A/V strengths notwithstanding, I sincerely hope that a low-priced complete set will be made available in both formats; as-is, this isn't something you should have to rush out and buy.

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: These screenshots are sourced from WB's Blu-ray edition, available separately and reviewed here.

Unsurprisingly, the visual aesthetic of Part Three's 2160p/HDR10 transfer largely mirrors those detailed in my reviews of both earlier chapters, as this native 4K 98-minute film (along with a few short 1080p bonus features, detailed below) has been squeezed comfortably on a dual-layered (66GB) UHD disc. As before, there are no red flags as far as encoding goes and the main feature holds up in all of the expected areas: edge crispness, textural details (rare as they may be), color representation, black levels, and contrast, which gives it a more thick, stable, and visually impactful presentation than its respectable Blu-ray counterpart. Although the fairly stiff and generally uninspired character designs -- not to mention the animation's low frame rate, which seems even worse than usual this time around -- undercut its visual effectiveness, what's here at least seems to preserve its source material as faithfully as possible.

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Similarly, Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Three's DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix carries its own weight but, even more than the previous installment of this three-part series, sounds a good deal more weighty and detailed during several key scenes due to the greater frequency of larger-scale action sequences. Elsewhere, the remaining portions of this surround track keep pace with Parts One on Two and feature crisp dialogue, well-placed and nicely balanced effects, sporadic but noticeable use of the rear channels, and of course a solid amount of LFE when the situation demands it. Despite my ongoing reservations about the animation quality and of course the actual story, Crisis on Infinite Earths clearly sounds like a top-shelf production and, as such, serves up plenty of sonic delights.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are offered during the main feature and extras listed below.

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in matte-finish Steelbook packaging, which simply repurposes the Blu-ray edition's key art with a back cover image of asteroids colliding with a planet's surface. (Who even remembers which one at this point?) Inside, there's a two-panel spread of low-orbit combat and a Digital Copy is also included. The extras are predictably minimal; obviously there we don't get any more previews, just standard-issue behind-the-scenes fare.

• A Multiverse of Inspiration (9:23) - Executive producer Butch Lukic, director Jeff Wamester, producer/writer Jim Krieg, DC Group editor Katie Kubert, and DC archivist Benjamin LeClear -- many of whom already appeared on previous Crisis featurettes -- return for another round of discussion about how bits and pieces of DC history were apparently carefully chosen for this third and final chapter of the story.

• John and John: Stewart and Constantine (8:21) - DC writer Geoff Johns, Benjamin LeClear, Jim Krieg, Katie Kubert, Jeff Wamester, and Butch Lukic give us a brief history lesson for both characters while comparing and contrasting their personalities and talking about their specific roles in this story.

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Warner Bros. Animation's Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three wraps up the uninspired multi-part saga, one whose pacing, flow, and overall enjoyment level is hampered by a lack of narrative focus and almost painfully stiff animation. Given the subject matter at hand and the huge events that unfold here, one gets the feeling that the stakes couldn't be higher... but it's ultimately tough to care about, with sporadic bright spots that are unfortunately over as fast as they arrive. What's worse is WB's greedy release strategy for this three-part series: a few years ago we'd have gotten a 4K/Blu-ray combo pack of each chapter for under $30, but now the only way to currently get 'em on 4K is in single-disc Steelbooks at $40 a pop. That's highway robbery if you ask me, so I continue to urge all but the most rabid DC fans to ignore these releases until a low-priced complete series set is announced.