Superman/Batman: Apocalypse

• Directed by Lauren Montgomery
• September 28, 2010
• Based on Superman/Batman: The Supergirl from Krypton by Jeph Loeb and Michael Turner

Voice Cast

• Uxas/Darkseid-Andre Braugher
• Bruce Wayne/Batman-Kevin Conroy
• Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman-Tim Daly
• Kara Zor-El/Supergirl-Summer Glau
• Diana Prince/Wonder Woman-Susan Eisenberg
• Big Barda-Julianne Grossman
• Granny Goodness-Ed Asner
• Harbinger/Lyla Michaels, Artemis-Rachel Quaintance
• Gilotina, Mad Harriet-Salli Saffioti
• Stompa, Vicki Vale-Andrea Romano
• Radio DJ, Cop-Jim Ward
• Bearded Longshoreman-Dave B. Mitchell
• Terrified Longshoreman-Greg Alan Williams
• Male Radio Caller, Gus-John Cygan
• Female Radio Caller 1, Treasure-April Winchell
• Female Radio Caller 2, Lashina-Tara Strong

A mysterious teen-aged girl with superpowers comes to the attention of Darkseid, the ruler of Apokolips.

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse is a sequel to Superman/Batman: Public Enemies though the connection to the latter is just some brief audio while the plot of this movie is getting set up by onscreen events. It’s a completely independent story. Luthor and his madness have no part here. We don’t even get a cameo by any supporting character that showed up in the last movie. And despite the title, Batman is not a main character but rather a major supporting character with the focus on Supes and his newly arrived cousin.

A bit of a cliché often used in film and television (and one that bothers me) is when some confused woman walks up to a group of men, those men are automatically all rapists. Here it is a group of longshoremen that Kara stumbles upon while in the buff once on dry land. The best we get is a guy that offers her his coat after she beats up the others. I guess he was going to do the honorable thing and just watch.

Ever suspicious Batman keeps a watchful eye on Kara as the ever trusting Superman treats her like a relative he has not seen in decades. After a few oopsies with her developing powers, she is sent to Themyscira via an ambush that causes massive destruction to a park in Metropolis and ruins Superman’s statue. Nobody can just approach her calmly first? That destruction proves to everybody Kara needs Amazonian training when she was doing just fine up to that point. Everything that happened in the park was because the Amazonians jumped her at the behest of Batman and Wonder Woman over a vision had by Harbinger. Speaking of…

That vision is pretty important but happens completely offscreen. Given the character of Batman it is tough to believe he would go along immediately. It struck me as a necessary scene they chose not to depict. That and the close friendship of Harbinger and Kara were just stated instead of minimally developed.

While all this is going on Darkseid gets word of Kara and decides that a brainwashed Kryptonian is best to put in charge of his Female Furies rather than continue a search amongst his own for a doggedly loyal follower. Huh? I would by it more if she was to be used as a weapon against Superman and nothing more.

When Big Barda joins the story in full gear the Jack Kirby influence becomes much clearer. Her look alone makes things visually more like his work than the stated influence of Michael Turner. From the appearance of Apokolips to Granny Goodness this can often appear like King Kirby himself drew this though that vanishes once they leave Darkseid’s world.

Barda feels a little dropped in. They talk like more has happened with her but I can’t recall it being mentioned in the last movie or in any previous film in this particular iteration of the DC animated movie series. That’s a bit of a problem. I don’t mind a sensation of life beyond a film’s events but when it’s a sequel and it sounds like they are building on previous happenings but they’re not that kind of bothers me. It’s a fine line and people may call me nitpicking for noticing this.

With the addition of Wonder Woman and Barda there is a necessity to have scenes without the two title characters. Those scenes between Wonder Woman and Barda are or mix of cool and “You go girl!” The fighting was cool. Them trudging through the sewers (I guess that’s what they were) of Apokolips with Barda giving a Steven Seagal level speech of how awesome Wonder Woman is was rough. It wasn’t so much an exchange where things were revealed but a dump of feelings.

I like that Batman gets to show how much of a badass he is with his mind alone. He can’t out fight most villains but he can certainly outthink them. His mind is so great that he can even pose a threat to Darkseid. He is also scary enough to frighten the guards on Apokolips in a rather humorous scene.

The trick ending felt like a good ending. Supergirl is on her way to adjusting to life on earth and Superman has finally settled into a groove with his cousin that abruptly showed up in his life. Then they toss in Darkseid coming to kick Superman’s ass in a bit of going back on his word since he then sets his sights again on Kara. More or less. I think things should’ve been flipped. Have them get to Smallville and then somehow Superman used his brains to beat back Darkseid after a good ass whooping to Superman. It would’ve worked much better for me.

This needed more time and either a greater connection to the previous movie or even less of a connection to the previous movie. For a little bit you’re expecting Lex Luthor or Amanda Wahler to have some hand in things. Or at the minimum somebody from the last movie to show up but not at all. I can applaud a movie that stands on its own but on the same token it’s as if nothing ever happened. The characters reference so much that was never shown at all with almost no mention what was actually seen on the screen.

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse has its moments. It’s just needed a little fixing here and there and I think it would’ve been a truly great movie. It’s not a complete disappointment but certainly could be better.