The next film from Warner Bros. in the line of DC Animation gives us another Superman/Batman film. Last year around this same time, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies was released and I thought it was a very poor film. So this year when they announced Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, I have to say I did not have high hopes.
Ultimately, this proved to be a little bit of a surprise.
Superman/Batman: Apocalypse takes the origin story of Supergirl from the pages of Superman/Batman and turns it into a film. The story was originally written by Jeph Loeb, who has also done a number of other Batman related projects. The art was done by the late Michael Turner. As far as an interpretation from comic to film, it was extremely close to what was originally published. There were only small variances. So that part was very true.
The voice cast was mostly comprised of actors and actresses we have heard in the past with a few differences. Kevin Conroy and Tim Daly reprise their seminal roles. Ed Asner and Susan Eisenberg both return to play their previous roles from the animated shows. We also get a couple of new additions. Summer Glau plays Supergirl which I thought was great. Andre Braugher plays Darkseid which I didn't think was very good.
As far as the overall film, I thought it was ok. There were a number of things that you just had to know about in order to follow what was going on. My wife watched the film with me and throughout was asking me about who this character they just introduced was and what their powers were. I found myself googling the Furies since I knew very little about them.
The special features are chalked with good stuff yet again. There are a couple going over the history of the New Gods, a character profile on Supergirl, and a sneak peek at All Star Superman. There were also four episodes from the DCAU that feature Darkseid. The short for this release featured Green Arrow, which I thought was one of the better shorts they have done. It was informative and introduced a number of characters.
I think the release of this is good. I don't think it was as good as Batman: Under the Red Hood, but I may be biased on that. I think it is a nice addition to the animated films from DC and Warner Bros.
Superman/Batman: Apocalypse:
Reviewed by Dustin
