It's Just Movies

— by JOSUE SANCHEZ —

Once again, Warner Premiere has graced us with another spectacular animated treasure. I am referring to its latest upcoming animated feature film: “Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.” In following with the tradition of the previously-released DC video features, this one rates very well for me and has all the elements I am sure fans will love.

There are amazing battles with lots of action, a great all-around story and many of your favorite characters have the opportunity to shine. Also, I find the art of this movie to be my favorite interpretation of the characters to date. In my opinion, Batman’s look was perfectly translated from the comics, especially the incredibly long and exaggerated pointy bat ears on his mask. Superman looked extraordinary, with each new animated feature film he looks more and more lifelike. Another thing I love is although this is a Batman and Superman movie, it is also a Supergirl origin story. And honestly, in my opinion – Summer Glau “steels” the show as Supergirl.

Before I begin, let’s get the official description out there: “Batman discovers a mysterious teen-aged girl with super-human powers and a connection to Superman. When the girl comes to the attention of Darkseid, the evil overlord of Apokolips, events take a decidedly dangerous turn.”

In the previous clips, we released (here and here), we were able to tie two scenes that follow each other in the actual movie. In those scenes, we got to see the arrival of the confused and lost teen-age girl, still unable to control her powers. When Superman and Batman catch up to her, they discover the girl is very connected to Superman, and she is followed by many revelations and surprises for the caped heroes.

I believe this will be the movie to top all the previous installments, and it very much deserves it. Most of the time, the fans look out for certain elements, like the art, the actors’ voices, the action, use of superpowers, and overall representation of the character. Therefore, I would like to do a brief character breakdown for you all, using these elements.

Superman

Once again, Tim Daly takes over the mantle of the Man of Steel, Superman, Clark Kent, Kal-El, in the animated world. His performance is as powerful and believable as usual. The artists have really taken their time here and with each new film it just seems the art is more exquisite. I sense a great deal of affection for the character in these projects. I was really impressed by the use of Superman’s powers in this movie. He really demonstrated how powerful he is, by standing above everyone else and ending many impossible situations in the movie single-handedly. Finally, though, I felt these masters of flight were grounded throughout the movie, when Superman did fly, there wasn’t a bad angle. It was majestic and impressing. Animated flight scenes never looked so good.

Batman

Batman is back to the basics here. He is a man without powers, involved in the affairs of these titans, yet he manages to keep up graciously. Besides looking amazing, he sounded amazing thanks to the experienced Kevin Conroy taking on the role once again. There is no Bruce Wayne in this film, this is about the Dark Knight never being unmasked, and never showing fear. He uses his advanced technology and gadgets as usual, but in the end, his distrust for the unknown and amazing intellect, is what sets him apart from the rest, and keeps him alive.

Supergirl/Kara

Here is the real star of this movie, as voiced by the lovely Summer Glau. She arrives unexpectedly, and is forced to adapt and accept to a whole new life and a world. For a teenager, this is no easy task, especially a teenage Kryptonian. We, the viewers, get to accompany her as she discovers most of her powers, and yet it does not feel rushed at any point. It is Impressive how they are able to space so much content into such little time and still not feel rushed. Well, we can all thank the genius writing duo Jeph Loeb and Tab Murphy.

Darkseid

The evil villain from Apokolips (Andre Braugher) goes through great lengths to replace the leader of his Furies. He is as powerful as always, yet I didn’t really feel really threatened by him throughout the movie … until the end. It is impressive how some villains actually live by the “if you want something done right, you must do it yourself” rule. This is Darkseid in “Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.” When it all seems finished, the movie and Darkseid throw us a surprise curveball battle of battles.

I was really surprised and impressed by this action-packed fight between the most powerful of comi cbook beings. What a ginormous encounter! In my opinion, it is the biggest, grandest fight out of all the PG-13 animated movies released in the last few years. And that’s another thing about this movie. This was a very hard PG-13 movie. There is violence, blood and killing in all sorts of ways.

If you enjoy your movies action packed and super-heroic, with surprises and a great origin story thrown in the mix, you will love “Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.”

Look for it Sept. 28.

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Follow Josue Sanchez on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Josue_can.