Rented the DC animated movie Reign of the Supermen off iTunes the other day. This is the direct sequel to their Death of Superman animated flick from last year.
Set shortly after Superman is “killed” by Doomsday, the film is about the appearance of four new superpowered beings claiming to be Superman (or at least doing what they can to cover for him). Each Superman has his own angle on the crime fighting thing and the humans – including Lois Lane and Lex Luthor in prominent, well-written, and well-acted parts – have to get out of the way and figure things out. And, of course, the shoe does drop, Superman returns (spoilers), and a big climactic fight ensues.
And half of this movie was decent, but once various Supermen fight each other, it just get tedious. Because how long can you sustain the idea that super punches to super faces results in no damage because they are basically Superman? No real drama, just fast action and few consequences. Wouldn’t be bad in short doses but the fight scenes just go on and on and on.
Not the worst DC animated movie I’ve seen but far from the best. I guess if you just want to see a cinematic version of the comic story (which I don’t think was received well at the time) or if you just need to know if Superman is really dead (from a 20 year old story), you might like it. And if you think the pummeling scenes are just the bee’s knees, then you might like it. I guess. Maybe.
Score: 69