DC is at it again with the second act of their “Death of Superman” animated feature, this time recreating the classic story line Reign of the Supermen.

The film is directed by Sam Liu and features the voices of Jerry O’Connell as Superman, Rebecca Romijn as Lois Lane, Rainn Wilson as Lex Luthor, Cress Williams as Steel, Rosario Dawson as Wonder Woman, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, Jason O’Mara as Batman, Cameron Monaghan as Superboy, Charles Halford as The Eradicator and Patrick Fabian as Hank Henshaw / Cyborg Superman.

Again, the story is heavily based on the “Reign of the Supermen” story arc which happened after the “Death of Superman” which was released last year.

The Good

• Loved the animation for more parts. The action scenes were really cool to watch and everytime the Justice League is present, you just want to see more of them in a regular format.
• The character designs for the four main characters here are great. Superboy was the one I really dug. It’s got Young Justice-feels while at the same time having something that’s got 90s written all over here.

• There’s also the pure nostalgia present for this feature film. I mean, who wouldn’t get these retro vibes with the likes of Cyborg Superman making a grand appearance in the movie or somebody as intimidating as Eradicator…

• The other good thing? We get Superman in his 90s post-rebirth costume..

• The stellar cast is, well stellar. It’s definitely something to have these actors and actresses working to voice your favorite DC characters. I especially loved the Justice League’s appearance in this film.

• The action scenes were amazing. Whether its that final fight between the Supermen and the Justice League against the Parademons or that one on one fight with Cyborg Superman and Superman. Top notch for this line.
• Who wants a Darkseid War? It looks like the next time we see these guys, they will be going to wage war against Darkseid. Pretty neat.

Darkseid War (DC Comics)

The Bad

• They swapped out Mongul for Darkseid. Not that I don’t like Darkseid as an over-reaching villain, but it would have made a more compelling story with Mongul.

• Still on the subject of Darkseid, they really need to stop trying to connect him too much with the other stories.
• I shudder to think what could have been if they did an animated version of the Emerald Twilight storyline. It’s a missed opportunity too. Sadly, they don’t want to go too much Green Lantern. Shame, Hal Jordan had a lot of great stories and again, WB is focusing too much on Batman AND Superman.
• I can’t point a finger on it, but there’s something wrong with Superman (animation wise)

• I also don’t see the point of having the Justice League in this. This was a Superman story. And while its great to see a cameo, having them figuring into the central plot is kinda “ugh” for me.

Reign of the Supermen Verdict

8/10

Nothing I haven’t seen before in terms of animation from WB and DC Comics. They’ve become very complacent with their art style and I was really hoping they could have upped the ante a little more. Ballsy move for doing both Reign and “Death” and I had hoped that they would do something scarier i.e. the destruction of Coast City.

The film had a lot of good parts that drowns out all my gripes with the film. Steel is a likeable character from start to finish while Superboy turns his story beats into something that’s more akin to a redemption story. Seeing Superman in his black overalls is also a joy to watch even if they forgot to give him his jetpack and his BFG (big f*cking gun).

Still would recommend for Superman and DC fans. Even fans of the comics culture should see this film at least once.