SUPERMAN/BATMAN:APOCALYPSE (2010) rocks with a little help from WONDER WOMAN

Kara and Kal-El talking about their recent fight

While rival company Marvel has been churning out live-action movies of their biggest guns, DC has been getting by on only Batman and Superman. Until this year, when Green Lantern hits the screen this summer. But on the animation front, DC dominates like no other. Going back to the TV series of Batman, Superman, and the wildly popular Justice League, DC can do no wrong. Recently they have begun adapting the comic book series Superman/Batman for animated full length movies. The first was Public Enemies, which had our heroes hunted down by villains and other heroes at the order of President Lex Luthor. That was a very good start to this series, and Apocalypse continues that winning way, even surpassing Public Enemies.

Omigosh..I definitely took a wrong turn

The story has Kara, Superman's cousin arriving on Earth. Her initial encounter is with Batman, because the ship she crashes in is loaded with fragments of kryponite, so Supes has to stay in the background while Bats does his thing. Being an alien, Kara doesn't speak any English, so she mistakes Batman as a bad guy and flees. While she is frightened, her powers kicks in and wreaks havoc on the city by mistake. Supes finally shows and speaks Krypton and tells her they're cousins. A brief history lesson later and things calm down. But Batman doesn't trust Kara fully and that's where the tension comes in.

I'd appreciate it you boys quit checking me out..I'm married

Later on while out in the city of Metropolis, Clark (Superman's alter ego) and Kara are ambushed by Amazons led by Wonder Woman,who says Kara needs to be trained in the Amazonian way. Superman disagrees, Batman does not. The scene shifts to Paradise Island and Kara's training is going great until baddie Darkseid sends his Doomsday troops to take Kara back to Apokolis to be his queen. They succeed in taking Kara away only after Superman gets to cut loose and wipe out the Doomsday troops.

Yessir..I'm the Big Bad

So to get to Apokolis, our three heroes need help and that comes in the form of Big Barda, who used to be one of Darksied's fiercest warriors. She has a device that will transport our heroes to Apokolis to engage in a rescue mission. Once there, it's on. Superman goes head to head with Darkseid then has to fight a possessed Kara. Batman, a little out of his league has to deal with giant hell hounds. And Wonder Woman and Barda team up to take on Barda's former cronies...The Furies. Their battle is actually my favorite scene in this entire film as you get see Wonder Woman kick some major ass.

This is how we do it on Paradise Island

Superman eventually convinces Kara that she is being controlled and she breaks free while Batman scares Darkseid with a ruse that he will blow up half the planet if he doesn't release his hold on Kara. Our heroes go home and when things are peaceful in Smallville, Darkseid returns to take out some revenge on Superman. Actually it's Kara who steps in and battles Darkseid pretty good. And Supes comes in to finish him off.

Apocalypse is a terrific movie, loaded with epic battles and a great storyline. All the characters are presented in all their comic book glory and you feel for them as much as you would human characters in a flesh and blood movie. Like I said Wonder Woman stands out in this one, as she shows why she is the best super-heroine ever. Talking back to Superman, taking on the Furies, and running things on Paradise Island, she is awesome.
B+

Review - Batman: Under The Red Hood (2010)

Another winner from the DC Universe animated films library. These guys may be slacking when it comes to making live action films like their counterpart Marvel does, but they are definitely at the head of the class when it comes making entertaining animated films based on their roster of iconic super heroes. For this one, Under The Red Hood, they adapted one of their more popular stories from the last few years. The story takes place 5 years after the brutal murder of Jason Todd (the second Robin) by the psychotic Joker, which begins this film. After that strong opening, things switch to Gotham when a new player calling himself The Red Hood, arrives looking to shake things up. He targets the crime lords who work for the sadistic crime boss, The Black Mask and manages to interfere with Mask's criminal operations. Enter Batman and Nightwing (Dick Grayson, the first Robin) who stop one of Mask's illegal shipments, which happen to contain the powerhouse android Amazo, who has battled the entire Justice League a few times. The dynamic duo leap into action and it's cool as hell seeing these guys together again just like the good old days. Nightwing spits out the wisecracks left and right and Batman is his usual grim and determined self, but manages a few nice one-liners himself. Black Mask gets wind of all this and hires a crew of armored powered goons to take out Hood and Batman which leads to a fantastic throw-down. After that skirmish, Batman and Hood face off and Batman learns that Hood is indeed Jason Todd back from the dead. Only one person could have pulled that off..Ra's al Ghul, which sends Batman to question him. Things reach a boiling point when Black Mask has had it with these two and breaks The Joker out of Arkham to kill Red  Hood. Which sets up a knock down drag out fight between Batman, Red Hood, and The Joker. Under The Red Hood is one of the best comic book movies ever. And just because it's animated, it does not diminish the quality of the story and characters. I enjoyed this much as I did the live action The Dark Knight. A superlative voice cast which includes Bruce Greenwood as Batman, Jensen Ackles as Red Hood, Neil Patrick Harris as Nightwing, Jason Issacs as Ghul, and John Di Maggio as The Joker. Trust me, Under The Red Hood is truly a sensational film that will not disappoint comic book fans.
B+