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“Superman/Batman Apocalypse” sounds wonderful on Blu-ray

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By Scott Mendelson HollywoodNews.com: It is perhaps unfair for me to be overly critical of “Superman/Batman Apocalypse,” as I was not a fan of the comic book story arc from which it is adapted from. The early Jeph Loeb issues of the “Superman/Batman” comic were full of fan-friendly moments and epic smackdowns, but they lacked a genuine emotional drive and anything resembling complex storytelling. And so was the case with the ‘Supergirl’ arc, which ran in issues 8-13 back in 2004. The story existed to reintroduce the character of “Supergirl,” who had been killed off in Crisis on “Infinite Earths” back in 1985. But the movie version has its own sins to account for, as (like “Superman/Batman Public Enemies”), it actually alters a rousing climax that robs the story of what geek-pleasing moments it initially contained. A token amount of plot – a Kryptonian spaceship crashes onto Earth, bringing with it a frightened young girl with powers identical to the fabled last son of Krypton. Superman is elated to discover that he apparently has a teenage cousin, Batman is deeply suspicious of this new visitor with untapped and unchecked powers, and Wonder Woman wants to take the child to train in Themyscira. As Kara Zor-El tries to decide what her own fate should be, the tyrannical Darkseid sees her as a potential weapon in his unending war against Superman. Like “Public Enemies,” the film has a bare-minimum of plot and character from which to hang a nonstop parade of super-powered smackdowns. Frankly, the entire last half of the film is one epic battle after another. Yes, there is a terrific mass battle scene at the midway point between the army of Themyscira and an army of Doomsday clones, but it’s never a good idea to peak at the start of your extended action climax. Furthermore, the actual climax alters the narrative of the original comic, robbing it of pathos (which to be fair, was partially due to some misdirection), and changing what is supposed to be an epic, possibly final battle against Darkseid into super-powered beings going at it in an empty cornfield. Considering all the blood-pumping showdowns that Superman and Darkseid have had in “Superman: The Animated Series” and “Justice League,” this one just comes off like a Tuesday-night beatdown. Speaking of Darkseid, that brings us to arguably the most shocking bit of miscasting in the entire DC Animated Universe history. I have [...]

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