DC Comic’s movie Reign of the Supermen picks up where The Death of Superman movie left off–namely with Superman dead. But, the four new Supermen (Cyborg Superman, Visor Superman/Eradicator, Superboy, and Steel) have already arrived. The story deals with deciding who is Superman. Along the way, they must deal with a dangerous threat.

First off the animation was pretty good. It followed the recent animation style the other DC animated movies have been using. I like how it is a mix of realistic and comic book (or animation) styles; the characters seem cartoon-like but also have a slight human/real quality to them. 

The characteristics of the four Supermen followed their comic book versions well. Superboy is the slightly annoying teenager and Steel is a serious/mature inventor. Cyborg Superman still has that ability to pass himself off as Superman while at the same time making you feel uneasy. Eradicator had that machine logic coldness to him. 

At first, I was a bit disappointed that the movie didn’t follow the comic series closer; but in the end, I was glad it was a new story. I was glad to see that they didn’t destroy Coast City like in the comics–for a bit I thought it might have a happier ending, but then they flipped things at the last second (like after the final battle was over–you think everything is fine, but it’s not). 

I enjoyed the Easter Eggs of them showing the comics’ cover art as the news article photos. During a montage showing the four Supermen as they saved the day, various news articles were shown and the pictures with the article were copies of the Reign of the Superman cover art.

It was kind of a let down to see that Cyborg Superman wasn’t as much of a “big bad” as he was in comic. For most of the movie, he is just a pawn to the real threat. He does finally rebel and become the threat, but he just didn’t have that same uneasy, scary nature he did in the comics. In the movie, he was more of a crazy person than this hate filled man that seemed incredibly powerful. In the comic, people were scared of Cyborg Superman. In the movie, he was just a pawn.

I liked how Lois had more of a part to play in the movie version. She, as you would expect, was right in the middle of everything. You could say she was the main character and the four Supermen were just supporting characters. 

I also liked how the movie staff managed to develop the four Supermen’s characters in such a small time. I felt like I knew Superboy and Steel by the time the movie was over. I didn’t know everything about them, but enough to like them. I would have liked it if they were given more screen time though. I really hope there are some Steel and Superboy movies coming, even just one for each or something–maybe a new take on the Bloodlines series.

The ending left me unsatisfied though. I’m going to spoil a part of it here, so skip this if you want.

After the battle, all the people change back into humans. I’m thinking, “Whoo, they’re all right!” but they remained motionless and one person, the girlfriend of one of the affected people, stays crying. It then changes to six months later and everyone is happy. There is no mention of hundreds of people dying or a memorial being set up or stories of people getting out of the hospital; it’s just Lois and Clark eating and the audience finding out that Lois and Wonder Woman are going to have a Girl’s Night Out. It then shows everyone being excited that Superman is alive. It just made me feel like, “WHAT?!” It was like, “Oh, yeah, uh, hundreds of people died but that’s okay, everything is awesome now.” It just kind of left a bad taste in my mouth and left me feeling like things were unresolved. The movie had been great up till then. Now I’m just kind of left feeling “uh…what?”

I did enjoy the end credit scene. It was hilarious. Green Lantern’s “Who left the front door open” line just made it even better.

Overall, the movie was really good. I felt like the plot kept to the comics but added to it. The animation and music was enjoyable. The acting and characters were believable. I’d been waiting for DC to do this movie pretty much since the series came and it didn’t disappoint. Other than the fact that I wish Superboy and Steel would have gotten more airtime, and I would have liked Cyborg Superman to have been more of a threat, I was glad I bought the movie. My main problem was the ending and how they just kind of swept the pervious scene under the rug. It made it feel unresolved. 

I have to give the movie an 8/10 maybe 8.5 if I’m being generous. I really liked the movie. I had a great time; I’ll probably watch it again (and again most likely), but there just was some strong issues that stopped it from being a 9.5. It would have gotten a higher score if they would have resolved the final scene in some way.

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