From the Rental Vault: Changed Histories

In the years leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, two competing parties struggled for control of the Japanese government. The militarist party, helped by then-Colonel Hideki Tōjō and then-Captain Isoroku Yamamoto and led by Prime Minister Giichi Tanaka, won out in its campaign to strengthen the Imperial armed forces and secure territory through conquest.

But in the late 1920s, the outcome of that struggle was still in doubt, and the publication of the Tanaka Memorial, supposedly a plan by the prime minister for world conquest, caused quite a bit of uproar. Its authenticity is still an open question.

The authenticity of James Cagney's fictionalized version of that publication -- 1945's Blood on the Sun --  is not -- it's got very little to do with the actual history and a lot more to do with giving Cagney a chance to be a tough guy in pre-war Tokyo. He's Nick Condon, editor of an English-language Tokyo newspaper, and his stories exposing some of the militarists desires for Manchurian Chinese territory have him in hot water with the prime minister's secret police. Believing Condon knows where a secret copy of the Tanaka Memorial is, the prime minister has him falsely arrested to discredit him and bring pressure to get the memo and turn it over. Is Tanaka's mistress, the Chinese-American Iris Hilliard (Silvia Sidney) on Condon's side also? Or is she playing her own game?

Many of Cagney's movies have him playing James Cagney, and Blood on the Sun is no exception. He's as cerebral as he is physical, and the judo training he took for the movie's fight scenes helps make them as convincing as his banter with Sidney or his verbal sparring with the police. There are some stereotyped accents from some of the characters, but the lead villains of the piece speak precise English without any pidgin and Cagney himself appreciates several Japanese customs. The Japanese had worse treatment in any number of WWII-era movies -- aside from that low-key stereotyping and the fast-and-loose treatment of history, Blood on the Sun spends less time running down its villains and more time letting Cagney be Cagney all over the screen. (PS -- Boo to Netflix for renting the colorized version).

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By the early 1960s, the Silver Age of comics was in full flower, which left some comic book publishers with a conundrum. They had some great new heroes, but what about the greats of the World War II era and early 1950s? How could they mesh?

Enter the idea of the alternate universe, and in 1961, modern Flash Barry Allen met his Golden Age counterpart, Jay Garrick. Soon after, the Justice League of America would meet their own Golden Age forbears, the Justice Society of America, in the "Crisis on Earth-Two" story. In 1964, the JLA ran into a different kind of parallel world in "Crisis on Earth-Three," where they fought the super-powered Crime Syndicate of America. The idea of mirror-images of the heroes of our world as villains has stayed around since then in various forms. In 2010, Warner Animation mixed the original 1964 story with the 2000 Grant Morrison JLA: Earth-2 graphic novel to bring out Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths as its 14th direct-to-video animated superhero feature.

Lex Luthor, the last hero of his world, has traveled to the world of the Justice League of America to enlist their aid in fighting the Crime Syndicate -- Ultraman, Super Woman, Johnny Quick, Power Ring and Owlman. The Syndicate has been slowly freezing out the authorities of the world through fear and is building an ultimate destructive bomb to complete their takeover. The heroes of the JLA are the last hope of Luthor -- and his world.

Even though the heroes agree to help, they realize a punch-out-and-lock-up strategy won't be any help after they leave, so they have to try to weaken the Syndicate's base and the people's fear. And the discovery of alternate worlds causes a psychotic break for Owlman, whose own plans may be even more dangerous than the Syndicate.

Warner recruited several name actors for different roles, although James Woods as Owlman, the alternate Earth's version of Batman, is the only one to stand out. Dwayne McDuffie's script takes some interesting explorations of what familiar characters might be like on the other side of the legal fence -- what kind of hero would Lex Luthor's strengths and weaknesses make him? In the JLA world, Slade Wilson is the mercenary assassin Deathstroke. But in the Syndicate world, he is the president of the United States -- how do his character traits show up in the new role? An unfortunately brief stint for the Jester -- a heroic version of the Joker -- tantalizes on those lines more than informs, but the dialogue between Batman and Owlman offers some interesting thought about what might make a hero or a villain out of the very same person.

The overall uninspired voice-casting hampers Crisis, but the fun of playing "Spot the evil twin" and the deeper-than-expected character examinations make it a diverting and interesting 77 minutes.