Reign of the Supermen animated movie review

Review by Gregg Katzman

The Death of Superman is easily one of my favorite DC animated movies (you can read my review here). The 2018 animated movie delivered a legitimately epic slugfest between the Man of Steel and Doomsday, and despite knowing how it all ends, the way it played out still managed to make me tear up. I'm pretty sure the only other time that's happened with a DC animated movie is Batman: Under the Red Hood - that ending gets me every time.

Obviously, my love for The Death of Superman means my expectations were pretty high for director Sam Liu's Reign of the Supermen. But is that fair? After all, aren't these two completely different stories with completely different goals? Death was all about establishing a heartwarming relationship between Lois Lane and Clark Kent - as well making the Big Blue Boy Scout a more inspirational figure - before he throws down with the most savage foe he's ever faced. It's certainly not an ambitious storyline, but it's not easy to breathe new life into the tale since it's been adapted several times.

But Reign? It has to deal with Lois' response, fleshing out four (mostly) new characters, the Justice League's role, how humanity - including Lex Luthor, of course - reacts to the loss of Superman, eventually putting some dude wearing a black suit in the spotlight, and another thing I won't spoil. Yeah, it's got just a little more on its plate, doesn't it?

Plus, these two movies have different writers. Peter J. Tomasi wrote Death, while Jim Krieg and Tim Sheridan wrote Reign. So, we really shouldn't be asking ourselves, "Is Reign of the Supermen as good as The Death of Superman?" We should be wondering, "Is Reign of the Supermen a good movie?" Thankfully, it is! 

The movie rightfully revolves around Lois Lane, who's humanized by Rebecca Romijn. Considering the movie has a pretty limited runtime, we only see a bit of her dealing with grief before she feels motivated to solve the mystery behind these new Supermen. It shows off her talent as an investigative reporter by putting the "mystery" on the fast track and even gives her a chance to be truly badass. For the most part, it really does feel like Lois' movie and it understands that drawing out the mystery behind each Superman would be a mistake. That said, I wish they found a way around the "attractive woman tricks horny bad guy into revealing information" trope, and there's a gag taken straight out of Avengers: Age of Ultron and Justice League. Again, most of Lois' story was handled really well, but those two parts could've been approached differently.

While Death hits you with one long and gripping battle, Reign unleashes a flurry of fun brawls throughout its fast-paced story. It's a total blast watching these powerhouses trade blows as the world rumbles around them. Whether it's the impact of Steel's sledgehammer or windows shattering as Eradicator zooms past them, there are plenty of memorable moments that feel like pure fan service. I mean, this movie has Batman chopping a Parademon in the neck, after all.

Even if you're not feeling the overall storyline all that much, the sheer variety of well-crafted action sequences makes Reign a really entertaining ride. That said, two moments that should've felt especially intense - both involve characters being on the receiving end of several brutal punches - felt a little underwhelming because the ridiculously superstrong strikes weren't accompanied by shockwaves or appropriately loud sound effects. Instead, it felt like two regular humans fighting, so it was a bit of a missed opportunity. It's a minor complaint, I know.

Look, if you're a fan of the classic comic book storyline then you obviously know there's way too much stuff to adapt. Thankfully, this adaptation hits the essentials while making noticeable changes to fit into this evergrowing animated universe. There's no Mongul or shapeshifting aliens who feast on humans to be found (or maybe those hungry aliens were just super stealthy?). Instead, an appropriate threat emerges, and you should be able to predict who it is if you were really paying attention in Death. Even if you do see it coming, it's still embraced in a pretty cool way (you can tell the movie's made by people who really do love the comics) and it doesn't take away from the story's primary conflict. In the end, it also left me wondering what they have planned for the Justice League in 2020...

Other thoughts:

• Say what you will about Zack Snyder's DC movies, but the guy had some stellar shots in his films and I noticed at least two visual nods to his work. I'm pretty sure I spotted a nod to artist Patrick Gleason's work as well, but I'm not 100% sure about that.
• We need more of Nathan Fillion's Green Lantern. Bring on a Sinestro Corps War two-parter!
• There's talk about how Superman's body went missing. I get the movie has a very limited runtime and a lot of ground to cover, but it would've been nice to briefly see the Man of Steel's funeral and his body mysteriously vanishing instead of fast-forwarding and just hearing about it. Seeing more of the world reacting to the loss of Superman when the tragedy was still fresh could've added a little more emotional weight.
• It's a small gripe, but occasionally scenes would linger for a couple seconds too long, making the moment feel a little awkward before a line was delivered or it cut to the next moment. The bit with an empty chair in the Daily Planet comes to mind.
• Patrick Fabian sold Cyborg Superman as motivational, hurt, and enraged equally well - I really enjoyed the close-up shots of his drastic expressions, too. Cameron Monaghan also gave a standout performance as Supermanboy. He's just as obnoxious as he is lovable.
• I don't remember if this was a thing in the previous DC animated movies, but it seems like extra attention was given to the way red capes would flow in the wind. That little touch is definitely appreciated throughout the movie.

Because Reign of the Supermen is so ambitious and fast-paced, the more intimate and heartfelt moments - like a quick conversation between Lois and Superboy - feel overshadowed, but you've got to respect how Reign of the Supermen goes all-out with its worldbuilding, juggles a large cast without making the truly important characters feel disregarded, and features a ton of legitimately exciting action sequences. And it does all that in just 87 minutes. Oh, and be sure to watch the credits...

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