DC nails another feature this time detailing the arrival of Supergirl
Thank you DC for bringing back the voices that matter. The voices I’m referring to are Kevin Conroy as Batman and Tim Daly as Superman in the latest DC Comics animated feature Superman Batman: Apocalypse. While the animation may vary, having a stable and close to iconic group of voice actor’s helps fans identify and tie together these heroes whom we love. The banter, the way the actors work together, it’s just nice to see and it continues what has been an outstanding and somewhat surprising run of animated features from DC, ones that tie into various comic story treads. Past dandies include Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and Green Lantern: First Flight which have been good but Apocalypse takes it to such a sweet level … let’s take a look at what I’m blathering about.
A crash landing in Gotham harbor triggers a series of events that will see Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman go head-to-head with Darkseid. The question is what crash landed to cause such a monumental battle? Her name is Kara and she’s another surviving Kryptonian and Kal-El’s cousin. Kara holds untapped power, power Batman does not trust, that Wonder Woman wants to train and that Superman wants to embrace and believe in. If having the holy trinity of heroes interested in you wasn’t enough Kara has also drawn the attention of a more sinister, purely evil player in Darkseid. As Darkseid puts his plans into motion its Kara who’s front and center as the battle begins on Apocalypse and continues on Earth. What’s a girl to do with so much power, a new life and all shades of good and evil wanting to control you … shopping anyone?
Ok so cheesy ending to the synopsis but not too far off once you watch. That’s the key, you will need to watch if you’re a DC Comics fan, fan of Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman or just love what’s a well created piece of comic animation. The character design is mostly great. The ladies have a very anime vibe to them with nice curves, clean figures and larger ‘anime’ type eyes. Superman and Darkseid retain their closer comic and animated Justice League look while Batman goes in a taller, darker model. Its bats that seems a bit off in certain scenes as he does not have the heroic look of Superman and Wonder Woman all the time … hard to describe but he misses in a few scenes in his looks. Now this is nit picking at its finest as this feature really comes close to the feelings, the epic battles felt in Justice League and the voice work really, really makes this feature shine. The story moves along at a nice pace and manages to touch on enough key points without glossing over too much. Days, weeks and months pass but there is not feeling of drag or missing pieces in the story. Knowledge of DC Comics will help but is not 100% needed to enjoy Apocalypse.
So where does that leave the overall package? Solid voice work, great character design, quality animation and a story that paces itself between plot and action without missing a beat, well it’s a can’t miss feature. No quirky trouble in parallel worlds here, this is a great animated feature and one that’s I highly recommend. Hell, it even made me like Superman a little, a little.
