Saturday, October 2, 2010

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse

Starring the voices of Kevin Conroy, Tim Sale, Andre Braugher, Summer Glau, Ed Asner

Directed by Lauren Montgomery

Release Date: September 28, 2010

A starship falls out of the sky. Its' inhabitant is a 16 year-old girl. Superman discovers she is Kara-Zor-El, his cousin from Krypton. While the Man Of Steel welcomes Kara with open arms, Batman remains skeptical of the young girl's arrival. Soon, it becomes a challenge to find the girl's place in the world. Will it be in the Fortress of Solitude? With the Amazons on Themescara? Or, will the young girl be abducted by the ruler of the planet Apoklypse, Darkseid?

Adapted from the comic series of the same name, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse is the origin of the modern age Supergirl and to explore her place in the DC world. Unlike the predecessor 'Public Enemies', I found Apocalypse to be a much better adaptation of a comic book storyline into a 78-minute animated film. The visual style is also based on the artwork from the story, the artistic styles of the late Michael Turner. Unlike 'Public Enemies' using Ed McGuiness's artistic style and suffered for it, Apocalypse takes advantage of a great art style that works well in animation. However, we have found a problem with the great Andrea Romano's voice directing credits: casting Andre Braugher as Darkseid. As she recast Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman with Kevin Conroy, Tim Sale, and Susan Eisenberg who have played these parts before and are greatly known for them, Romano should have recast Michael Ironside as Darkseid. Instead, we get Andre Braugher giving a very wooden, flat performance when we should be getting a dark, foreboding feeling whenever the voice of Darkseid is head on screen. Still, casting Summer Glau as Kara-Zor-El was a great decision as Glau perfectly captures the young voice of Kara.

A good movie, definitely better than 'Public Enemies'. Also, when you buy this movie, you get the superbly awesome DC showcase short, "Green Arrow".

Rating: * * * * of 5

Click here to buy
Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (Single-Disc Edition)
Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Superman/Batman: Apocalypse [Blu-ray]