Review Detail

9.9 2 10
crisis2_front
TV-to-Movie February 11, 2023 809
(Updated: February 14, 2023)
Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Part 2 of the Crisis Countdown! If Part 1 was a herculean task, then Part 2 is borderline sisyphean, as Bob takes 15 episodes of the Arrowverse (more than half a season of TV at the time) & condenses it into a near 3.5 hour movie!

I will admit, while the dreamlike editing is still present, it’s much lesser than Part 1. This edit was where the transition from TV with commercials to movie really hit me. However, aside from a part in the Arrow portion of the climax (when they realize that Lyla’s touch is necessary for their device) but I’d never call the bad. It’s all done in the service of getting this edit down to a manageable length (like trimming down the Speed Force & Ramsey’s battle for Barry’s soul down to the barest minimum, or removing Allegra & having Cisco figure out ultraviolet light being Ramsey’s weakness offscreen).

Plus there are still some really cute editing moments here & there, like Malefic telling Lena “You can’t touch me” in the Supergirl portion to Barry showing Joe the Elongated Man emblem, with the latter asking “Can I touch it?” Wonderful! Plus, admittedly, the solution to removing Allegra was really clever.

Another editing choice I have mixed to positive feelings about is the necessary evil of Rhama Khan in the Supergirl portion. From what I understand, Rhama Khan was a big deal for the remainder of Season 5 of Supergirl, so it’s slightly disappointing we get no follow-up on him in this edit. Then again, I know full well that Supergirl is a monster-of-the-week show with elements of serialization. Plus, as someone who watched all of the DCCW shows that had a direct tie-in to Crisis (including Batwoman) & stopped watching the CW after Crisis, I’m perfectly fine with this Rhama Khan being an unremarkable red herring in service of the Lena & Malefic plot.

Also, this edit & Part 1really showcase how the story of Countdown was found in the edit. On one hand, when Malefic appears to have been sent to the Phantom Zone & Ramsey fully becomes a villain feel like climaxes of Part 1, while Adult Mia’s introduction does feel like a beginning of Part 2, making me wonder if there was a way to move the Flash & Supergirl scenes back to Part 1 & give us edits of roughly the same length (or even include the Arrow episode where Oliver & Thea reunite as the Arrow climax to Part 1), calling back to Earth 2 Thea’s OD & setting up Mia in a post-credit scene).

On the other hand, I’m sure there’s a delicate balance between all three shows that Bob found in the edit, so who am I to ask him to go back & do it again? Besides, Bob probably wants to move onto bigger & better projects, like taking all of The Flash’s “Graphic Novel” arcs & turning them into movies. *wink*

Back to the edit we have, the music choices here are the real MVP. Loved the use of Pat Benetar (which I choose to see as a callback to Episode 2 of Supergirl Season 1, which also used it) and the instrumental version of “The Final Countdown” that we got really made the climax feel like a climax (if only the Flash portion had a literal ticking clock segment like the Arrow & Supergirl portions). And the use of Billy Joel made the resolution between Mia & Oliver really see, a truly nice moment before the Crisis begins in earnest.

I am extremely stoked for the COIE edit now. Hopefully there’ll be a much more focus story, a bunch of extra cameos some use of the last episode of Arrow (where we see just how much of the Multiverse got reset), & maybe even Kara & Lena making up (or, failing that, movie of Supergirl’s Season 5’s second half, lol).

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