User reviews

Good follow-up to Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. As with that movie, this is adapted from a comic book story written by Jeph Loeb. The story introduces Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-El (aka Supergirl). Not long after she arrives on Earth, Kara is kidnapped by the evil Darkseid. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman must travel to the planet Apokolips to rescue her before Darkseid can brainwash her into becoming one of his Furies.

Enjoyable and fun, with some pretty intense action scenes. The dialogue and characterizations are good. Love the voicework from old pros Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, Susan Eisenberg, and Ed Asner. Summer Glau does a great job as Supergirl. Andre Braugher's Darkseid is unimpressive. Nice music and animation. The story is a little rushed and probably could've used more build-up before all of the Apokolips stuff, which is the weakest part of the movie. The action is exciting, particularly the climactic fight scene. It probably plays better to fans than people unfamiliar with these characters' histories but I don't think casual viewers will be completely lost. There's enough to enjoy that I doubt you'll regret trying it out.

"Superman/Batman Apocalypse" is yet another winner from DC Animation. Good story, great chemistry between all the characters, lots of action/fights & pretty good animation. The story takes place after the events of the excellent "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies". I wish I could go into specifics on how S/B Apocalypse starts out but it would give away the ending of S/B PE. A meteor crashes in Gotham Harbor & of course Bats checks it out. It is a ship with strange writings on it. After many awesome mishaps, it is discovered that the lone occupant of said spacecraft is none other than Superman's cousin from Krypton who is confused, scared & highly destructive. Superman of course wants to give her a chance, Batman doesn't trust her & smells trouble. Now before any of you here start to think " Oh great, a Barbie movie with Supergirl" let me reassure you, it's definitely not. She's never even referred to once as "Supergirl" during the course of the film. Wonder Woman, Darkseid & yes, even Doomsday make significant appearances in the film (especially Darkseid who has his own evil designs for the cousin of Superman). Overall: a 8/10 & one definitely worth checking out even for casual fans.

The Superman/Batman comic stories' main attraction has always been the character interplay. How the two famous superheroes, different in every aspect like oil and water, lend their perspective on similar situations and in the end, pull together for the greater good. In that respect, "Superman/Batman: Apocalypse" does not disappoint as Superman, Batman and even Wonder Woman bring their unique personalities to the table when they face their latest little "problem".

The "problem" in question is the unexpected arrival of Kara Zor-El (Summer Glau), Superman's cousin who crash lands to earth, disoriented, unclothed but unhurt and lost in Gotham. In perhaps an intentional homage to Glau's previous Terminator character in "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles", She "procures" a coat from a trio of overly eager warehouse workers, but not before almost accidentally killing them. The unintentional destruction she causes while trying to flee from the cops alerts both Batman and Superman who take her into their custody. While Superman is overjoyed at finally meeting a fellow survivor of his home planet, Batman is skeptical and naturally suspicious (she did trash Gotham without even trying). More trouble follows when Superman tries to get Kara assimilated into earth culture but Wonder Woman has other plans for her as she too fears Kara's lack of control over her powers. But on the burning planet of Apokolips, the dreaded DarkSeid has his sights on the young kryptonian girl to be the latest addition to his warriors. What follows is a perilous incursion into Darkseid's palace with one deadly confrontation after another with the forces of Apokolips.

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse adapts the "Supergirl" story arc (NOT "Death of Superman" as another review mistakenly pointed out) of the Superman/Batman comic series by Jeph Loeb and the late Michael Turner. It is a rather faithful adaptation barring a few changes here and there and as such shares both the good points and the shortcomings of its source material. For one thing, the story proceeds at a rather fast pace, which is good as it keeps things from getting boring. However that means the time frame of the tale is difficult to follow. For example Kara was supposed to have been training with the Amazons for a few months but it seemed like only yesterday. We only know about the time skip thanks to some mandatory exposition.

Rather than its truncated story, it is the snappy character interplay, well written dialog and a top notch cast of actors that carry this show. Tim Daley, Kevin Conroy and Susan Eisenberg return comfortably to their DCAU roles of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Everyone else is perfectly cast, especially Summer Glau, lending much emotional weight and realism to the characters. The only role that did not seem to fit as well was Andre Braugher's unmistakably African American sounding DarkSied. The tone of voice was right but a more neutral accent would have fit better.

Judging from the way the characters are handled, the target audience is most definitely long time fans who are already familiar with the personalities of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. That is because the "DC trinity" get little character development here, allowing Supergirl to take most of the development spotlight. That is not to say that the main trio do not get their chance to shine. Their differing views on life clash often and shed some light on their inner natures. There is even a dramatic comparison between Batman and one of the villains regarding Batman's code of ethics.

Viewers who have watched the previous "Superman/Batman: Public enemies" can treat this as a sequel despite the differing art styles. As the previous movie replicated Ed McGuinness's muscular look, this one manages to translate Michael Turner's bold designs barring a slight drop in art detail. The animation by "MOI Animation" is very fluid with no visible short cuts and a high frame rate.

For DC animation fans, readers who loved the Superman/Batman comics and superhero action junkies, "Superman/Batman: Apocalypse" would no doubt be a hit. More time could have gone into letting the story "breath" a little or making it a smart anecdote about growing up, stepping out from under a overprotective sibling/parent's shadow and finding one's place in the world. But no point lamenting what it could have been. Rather, enjoy it for what it is.

Nice teamup of Superman & Batman vs Apocalypse. The plot is OK, the action scenes are well-written, and the characters are well-voiced and their actions stay true to their...well, their characters. Superman is the well-meaning boy scout, Batman is the dark, gritty enforcer. The animation is decent for American classic cartoon animation. The best new-school animation I've seen of American productions is the motion-comics style presented in The Astonishing X-men and Iron Man Extremis.

The only negative stuff was a little cheesy dialogue and a flat Summer Glau. Otherwise, pretty decent pace to the story and action, and a good finish.

I am not a comic book fan. I have enjoyed watching series like the Justice League and of course the other animated movies but I have never bothered with comics. This perhaps one of the reason why for me this movie is the best animated one till now

The previous movies(except maybe for the Wonder Women one which I also found quite interesting albeit not as alluring as this one) shot your right into the middle of the action and frankly a lot of the movies focused on the near worship of Superman and Batman. Don't get me wrong the characters are good but maybe because I am not a comic book fan they get boring fast. I was really starved for some new material. Seeing another hero rise up

And this movie delvers it. We follow the journey of Kara aka Supergirl (voiced excellently by the amazing Summer Glau )from her landing to Earth to the point where finds herself and her place in life. The story is great and the action well placed. And while the story centers around Supergirl we also get to see Superman,Batman and Wonder Woman shine on their own. They compliment the story excellently.

Not to forget that while the story itself is truly great the action doesn't leave you wanting either. They are some great fight scenes each perfectly showing the abilities and strength of the characters.

Overall I would highly recommend this movie to everybody and I really hope we get to see another movie centered around Supergirl. She is a character with a lot of potential

Superman/Batman-Public Enemies is definitely hard to exceed, but this movie had all the basic essentials to do just that: solid story, wonderwoman, the return of darkseid. The fatal mistake in this endeavour is the artwork: the characters were not convincing(excluding diana). The new Darkseid simply doesn't project the fear and darkness, superman is too pretty(way too young) and bats is not coldblooded enough. Tops for the story, flops for the conception and artwork. I understand that maybe the producers felt the need to reinvent the main characters, but after they blew us away with the Justice League final episode(Destroyer), Batman(Red Hood) and Public Enemies, this was like a return to kindergarten. Great story that totally missed the mark in intensity thanks to the misguided exhuberance of the Artists trying to distinguish themselves, and the producers who totally failed in their professional duties. For the high standard of Batman/Superman, this was really bad artwork, and a great disservice to Darkseid(or whatever the hell that was).

The DC Comics Animated Universe has another high quality, fun DTV animated film in its' library, the sequel to "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies". A little longer, "Superman/Batman: Apocalypse" is darker and effective.

If you haven't seen the first one, don't read this and see it. If so, you know a big meteor, composes of Kryptonite, has landed in Gotham City Harbor, containing a Kryptonian spacecraft, containing Kara Zor-El (voiced by the cherub Summer Glau of "Firefly" and "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles"), Superman's adolescent cousin. The Man of Steel (Tim Daly of "Private Practice" is more than welcoming to her than the brooding Batman (Kevin Conroy of "Dynasty"), who sees her as a potential weapon.

Apokolipian monarch Darkseid (Andre Braugher of "Men of A Certain Age") takes advantage of that point by kidnapping Kara and molding her to be his captain of his Femme Furies squad. Even with the help of Amazonian princess Wonder Woman (Susan Eisenberg reprises her role from "Justice League: The Animated Series") and ex-Furies leader/Mr. Miracle's wife Big Barda (Julianne Grossman), can the Big Blue Boy Scout and the Dark Knight save Kara from Darkseid's clutches?

Nicely adapted from the story arc/graphic novel, "The Supergirl from Krypton" by Jeph Loeb ("PE") and the late Michael Turner (miss him), "Apocalypse" packs a punch at 78 minutes, giving an ode to anime, with a fun script by Oscar nominated scribe Tab Murphy ("Gorillas In The Midst" and the animated takes on "Tarzan" and "Atlantis") and crackerjack direction by Lauren Montgomery ("Green Lantern: First Flight").

As usual, Daly and Conroy are perfect reprising the roles they did when they had solo shows. Braugher's no Mike Ironside, who voiced Apokolips's lord in "Superman: The Animated Series" and "JL", but is dutiful. The female voice actors are equally superb, yet it's screwball funny to head Ed Asner ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show", "Up") as Darkseid's lieutenant, Granny Goodness.

Like the other recent DC Comics animated films, "Apocalypse" has a hard PG-13 rating; this isn't light kids' fare. Still, it's damn cool.

Honestly, an average movie, a good story, but the narration was a bit fast, the characters were mostly average, except for Batman of course, the voice acting of Darkseid was not good, the drawing and the soundtrack are good. A good movie that's all there is to it.

About: JLs greatest hero Superman and sidekick batman going up against once again the Dakseid

Story: Not bad. Could use some more spice

Production: It was not bad. Some areas could be better manily animation movements

Highlight: Nothing notable

Should you watch this movie? Sure. If you want to. We've seen Darky too many times before and after.

Rather than this movie being a Superman/Batman team-up movie they should have just simply titled it "Supergirl". Because this movie seemed inconsistent from time to time. By focusing more on what Kara aka Supergirl was going through and more focus on her origin would have made this a better watch in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, Batman and Superman does play a pivotal part in the movie. But it just seemed like the focus should have been more on Supergirl. The fight scenes are pretty good, especially the team up between Superman and Supergirl against Darkseid near the end. It was choreographed very well and had some clever moments. The plot is alright, nothing all that grand or amazing. But it does have enough entertainment value and the superb fight between the heroes against Darkseid makes it worth a watch. The movie does have it's moments, but overall it's pretty average.

7.3/10

I love animation and greatly enjoy superhero movies. I found Superman/Batman: Apocalypse to be one of the best DC movies. There is very little that I found particularly wrong with it actually, though Andre Braugher for my tastes wasn't menacing enough as DarkSeid. Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly and Susan Eisenberg however are the embodiment of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman though, while Summer Glau is a nice surprise and Edward Asner is great fun as Granny Goodness. The characters are likable and are developed well, while the animation is full of lavish and atmospheric detail in background, character design and colour and the music is hauntingly rousing. The writing is razor sharp and intelligent and the story has exciting action, affecting drama and compelling storytelling in general, even if a tad rushed towards the end. All in all, has much to love about it. 9/10 Bethany Cox

With so many Warner Premier animations coming out these days it is especially hard to keep up with them all. Superman/Batman: Apocalypse follows on from their Public Enemies team-up in 2009. Supes has his name come first in the title as this is primarily his story with Batman playing sidekick.

The movie opens with a meteor splashing into Gotham Harbor and causing untold damage and misery to boat owners and businesses around the water. Batman investigates and is surprised to find naked, pretty Kara Zor-El (that would be Supergirl) has arrived on Earth with not much recollection of what happened.

Her cousin Superman takes her in and promises to teach her how to use her powers correctly on Earth. Kara just wants to be an ordinary girl and Supes is happy to spoil her. Too bad that Darkseid, in the Apokolips realm (or whatever it is) has sinister plans for her and temps her into corruption with promises of almighty power.

As soon as Bats, Supes, Wonder Woman, and that other tall girl go after her things go downhill. I suppose it's a lot like the first Thor movie in that regard (I never bothered with the second one) - the scenes set on Earth were fun and entertaining, but all of the gibberish on Asgard bored me to tears. This DC effort is no different. Watching Kara try to fit in on Earth is nice, but last third in the Apokolips realm is tedious and repetitive, and then it carries on into Smallville too. Someone smashes into a building, they hit back and someone else smashes into another building, then they hit back and the first person smashes into a building again. I'd love to see the scripts for these comic book movies, it must be the same words printed over and over. Thankfully, the 9/11 porn of tumbling skyscrapers seen in abundance in Man of Steel (and far too many others) is absent here.

The movie was surprisingly violent in some scenes too. It is by no means a bad entry in the Bruce Timm DC universe, just a little derivative.

OK, so this is the film. The first half or so is very choppy, going from this to that in an instant and you're just like "Wait, what?" and I feel like they could've done a lot better with the introduction of one of the characters (because the character comes off as bratty and annoying even though the character isn't). There was also a big action sequence that I felt made very little sense (keep Superman: Doomsday in mind and you'll get what I mean). The second half is a lot better, especially towards the end. In fact, if they removed pretty much all of the first half, the second half would have been a really great film at about 8 or even a 9 out of 10. Batman and Superman are portrayed pretty good, and you'll enjoy when they are on screen. The animation is good, but I feel like there were missed opportunities here and there, like certain angles and ways they could've done things that would've had more of an impact emotionally. Overall, I'd say a 6/10.

This film is probably the best of all the Superman animated movies that have been released over the least few years, better even than Doomsday. The animation quality, the voice acting, the comic timing, the action scenes, the story, and especially the writing are all of the highest standard.

Telling the story of Kara Zor-El's arrival on earth this film is notable for its use of realistic elements, such as language barriers to truly reinforce the realness of the story; although having Kara have powers from the start even though she crash landed at night is a tad annoying. The voice for Darkseid was a little too refined as well, but the talent of Andre Braugher makes up for this.

Great action, good drama, well placed and perfectly timed comedy, great voice acting and a very good story mean this movie was wasted on only being direct to video.

If you're fat, ugly or nerdy looking, don't expect to get into the DC Comics superhero clique... all those present are either hunky broad chested men ripped to infinity, or sexy skinny babes in cleavage and navel revealing outfits. Some may complain, but I say thank goodness this is one genre that hasn't fallen to the lamebrained political correctness that's befallen a lot of our culture. Go and sort your own life out, instead of trying to modify everything to suit your insecurities.

Considering the amount of female characters in the film outnumber the males by precisely 50 to 1 (mainly on account of a lot of the action taking place on Wonder Woman's secret Amazonian island, and some extended scenes involving four vicious ladies who form an evil fighting quartet known as The Furies) it seems rather unfair that Batman and Superman are the only ones who are billed on the cover. They're the franchise's biggest stars though, and therefore it's main selling point. Again, get used to it.

It's wall-to-wall fighting, which is much more intense than your traditional animation... hence the 12 certificate. There's individuals slammed into walls at light speed, burnt to a crisp with lasers, almost being devoured by huge beasties... and get this... STABBINGS that result in BLOOD and DEATH. You wouldn't get anything like this on He Man. Oh, I almost forgot, it's also an origin story for a teenage Supergirl, so we have some cute bits involving her introduction into our world. Not to mention, some great repartee between The Caped Crusader and The Man Of Steel, which is worth the price of admission alone.

So, yeah. Pretty cool. 6/10

The plot is very shallow and quite obvious. The character development is poor. Batman has a very small part in this film. The majority of the film is focused on Kara Zor-El a.k.a. Supergirl.

I have seen much better films namely:

1. Batman Under The Red Hood (2010)(my vote best animated film 2010) 2. Batman Superman Public Enemies (2009) 3. Batman Vs. Dracula 4. The Batman Superman film: World's finest (2004) 5. Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm

Plot: A strange meteor crash lands on earth and Batman sets out to investigate it. The meteor is actually a spacecraft carrying a female passenger who is later revealed as Kara Zor-El a cousin of Superman.

Batman captures Kara using Kryptonite. He carries her to his cave and analyzes her molecular structure. He is joined by Superman who takes Kara under his wing. He takes Kara on a tour of the city which she enjoys immensely.

After the tour Wonder Woman appears and takes Kara (against her wishes) to her island for training. While she is training there she is kidnapped by Darkseid's minions.

Darkseid wants Kara at his side because of her powers. However Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman And A new ally Big Barda all stand in Darkseid's path.

Will they be able to save her ? Watch the film to find out.

In conclusion: after watching it I felt it lacked a strong plot and character development. Batman should have been given a more better role as well as Superman. Darkseid has a very brief role too.

The best I have seen is still Batman Under The Red Hood (2010), and it has definitely set the standard.

Overall 5/10 passable watching.

I was excited about this movie, but at the end I was seriously disappointed. The story line is quite simple, not too much action, and poor choice for the voice of Darkseid. Let me elaborate in the last point, it has happened before that producers (Bruce Timm) try a new voice for one of the main characters, I am not afraid of a change, but you don't make a change when the voice is perfect. For instance, who can say than there is someone else that can be Batman's voice but Kevin Conroy?, well It did happen the same for Superman/Batman Apokolips... Darkseid's voice is Michael Ironside, period. Superman and super girl are corny enough to add a soft flavor to the antagonist.

Being Darkseid as bad as he is, I was disappointed at the fight scenes. It cannot be possible that Wonder Woman had a better fighting scene that the main characters.

If I were you, I would rent the DVD.

My grade for this movie is 6 out of 10, and just because I am a fan, otherwise it would be much lower than that.