A kid had to face the world in his own animated version and conquer life's biggest monster. ANI (The Harvest) It's as if a child's imagination is a safe haven, a place where the world is a playground for all the possibilities the mind could think of. And even the tight and humble space called home, situated on a busy Metro could not hinder the inquisitive headspace of a young Mithi (played by Zyren Dela Cruz), a boy who accomplishes the day by playing with his colorful toy robots that perform a vital role in his imaginary narrative. With a loving father and a mother that sings him a self-assuring lullaby, Mithi is blissfully unaware of the harsh reality. But life decided to toy with his fate, and Mithi's perfect little world is now showing its cracks, putting his vulnerability to the test and slowly depriving him of his happiness he thought would last forever. And through his eyes, the world suddenly transforms itself into a menacing monster. Set in a lush
DC has done an impeccable job at bringing one of its pivotal comic book storylines into an animated picture. Director Sam Liu, who also did a number of comic book animated adaptations over the years, has done a wonderful job at providing a strong follow up at last year's Death of Supermanmovie, delivering one of the most faithful interpretation from the 1993 comic book of the same name.
Reign of the Supermen picks up six months after the sorrowful demise of Superman under Doomsday's deadly outrage. Lois Lane, who is still mourning the loss of Clark Kent, has found a new bond at the company of Diana Prince (aka the Wonder Woman), and was now investigating the mysterious disappearance of Clark's corpse as seen from the ending of Death of Superman.
Metropolis was still heavily recovering from the attack, but was overwhelmed when several people suddenly appeared to fill the gaps left by Superman. Specifically, four 'Supermen' presented themselves as the next possible successor — Superboy, Steel, The Eradicator, and Cyborg Superman.
As each of them fight their way to the top, a cosmic threat was slowly heading into the Earth's realm, taking advantage of the haywire situation.
The Good
Director Sam Liu's ingenuity provides the backbone for this wonderful animated flick, giving a meaty comic book experience and carefully crafted storytelling in just under 87 minutes. The story was solid, despite borrowing a lot of heavy plot lines from its source material, and is easily a more complete, exciting and fun experience than that atrocious Justice League movie from Zack Snyder.
The animation was crisp, colorful and arguably the best out of all DC animated films. The action sequences were aesthetically pleasing and action-packed, which was exciting and beautiful to look at without it being overly produced and superfluous.
Speaking of the Supermen, I thought the way they present each of them were very smart, with all the nuances and unique powersets to separate them from one another. Cameron Monaghan, famously known for his quasi-Joker portrayal in Gotham, provided the voice for Superboy, and did an amazing job at giving a youthful and free-spirited attitude and vibe for the boy wonder, expanding his underrated talent through voice acting.
Rebecca Romijn, who played as Mystique in the Brian Singer X-Men franchise and provided the voice acting for Lois Lane, also did an amazing job. I always thought that she was an incredible actress and her performance in this film gave Lois Lane's character justice. I'm also pleased to see that the character itself wasn't written off as a typical damsel in distress, which most romantic female characters often fell under these days.
The Bad
One small nitpick that I noticed was how the Justice League was handled in this movie. I'm not giving too much of what happened but I thought the way they were temporarily extracted out of the scene was cheaply done and ridiculously unbelievable. It wasn't much but I thought that that scene could've been written in a more compelling and innovative way.
Should You Watch It?
Reign of the Supermen was DC's best addition to its decade long reputation of producing quality animated films. An action-packed offering for 2019 for the long-time fans and non-fans alike and a sophisticated adaptation to Superman's best moments in comic book history. A must-watch.
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