Reign of the Supermen

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Reign of the Supermen is the newest movie in the DC Animated Universe. Following the events of The Death of Superman, several new people claiming to be Superman crop up. They include Superboy (voiced by Cameron Monaghan), Steel (voiced by Cress Williams), Cyborg Superman (voiced by Patrick Fabian), and the Eradicator (voiced by Charles Halford). Their will and strength are soon put to the test when it is revealed that Darkseid (voiced by Tony Todd) is planning an invasion. As usual, the animation is pretty damn strong, especially for an animated film that only had a one-night theatrical release and was primarily a direct-to-video film. However, this is true of most of DC’s animated outings. I think the animation is probably at its strongest during the action sequences. I also have to say that you shouldn’t go into this expecting a Justice league movie. They are a part of the film, but the part they play is very minor. As usual, a lot of the voice actors are pretty solid, especially Tony Todd as Darkseid. Todd, in my opinion, has always been one of the actors who elevates whatever movie he’s in just by being in it. It can be one of the worst pieces of dogshit, and he’ll still care. He also has one of those voices that just lends to him playing a great villain. I can’t say this film is perfect—or even one of my personal favorites of the DC Animated movies. For example, some of the tonal shifts didn’t always work for me. There’s a scene where a character dies (and it feels like something out of a horror movie). It just feels weird for a movie that, otherwise, does a strong job trying to balance action and humor. It’s hard to pinpoint who the main character is. I say this because Superman (voiced by Jerry O’Connell) really isn’t in the movie very much. I suppose it’s possible to pick out Lois Lane (voiced by Rebecca Romijn), as a big part of the film is how Superman’s “death” affected her. She’s also the one investigating the new Supermen and is the one who discovers that one of them might not be all that he appears to be. I didn’t hate Romijn as Lois Lane, but I can’t really say she’s my personal favorite either. She isn’t awful. But, there’s something about her voicework that doesn’t suck me in 100%, and I can’t exactly say what it is. Despite the movie’s problems, I still enjoyed it overall. Am I going to rank this among the ranks of, say, Mask of the Phantasm, Under the Red Hood, Return of the Joker, Wonder Woman, Batman/Superman: Apocalypse, and Assault on Arkham? No. However, I still think this is decent enough to give a watch. 

6 / 10