Batman and Superman: Battle of the Supersons

DC has always had Marvel in one storytelling category and that is animated films. DC does straight from the comics stories for their animated films and for the most part they work.

The latest entry is Batman and Superman: Battle of the Supersons. It showcases the best of what makes these characters DCs top notch heroes. The family aspect of Superman and Lois always helps make a movie more grounded. Jonathan was given such a vibrant personality in this film. I really enjoyed everything that they did with him. Making him that easily excitable kid was a very fun dynamic. It is really fun to always see Smallville and the human life of Clark Kent and Lois Lane as well.

His budding friendship with Damian is what carries the film. Damian is cold and calculated while Jonathan is finally just coming into his own as a person and now a hero. This friendship is becoming one of the best DC has to offer and this film shows every reason why that is. They come from two very different lifestyles but find common ground when it comes to saving the world and ultimately doing the right thing.

Storywise this film left a little to be desired. Starro is becoming a villain that is overused in DC. Even though they made the reason so Jon and Damian were the only two left, using Starro felt redundant. He had just been used in The Suicide Squad. There was little difference to the character other than design and who he was facing. Starro is a one dimensional character and hopefully this is the last time DC uses him for the foreseeable future. He just doesn't have the same urgency that most villains have and it hurts the story overall I find.

The style of this film was top notch. The opening credits showing Batman and Superman was World Finest like and a nice touch. Very well animated. The voice cast was good. Jack Dylan Glazer as Jon was the obvious stand out. Without Jon having been believable there would be no film. It rests squarely on the shoulders of him to make Jon someone we can relate to. I did find myself chuckling at some of the banter and that is a good thing. Everyone else filled in nicely and did their part to help make this a fun film.

There were a couple of things this film did that I didn't like. I didn't like that the first major showcase of the Teen Titans in years basically had them as the villains. The Teen Titans are probably my personal favorite DC team and doing this was misleading from the trailer perspective. It just felt like a cop out. Here they are. Look at what they can do but unfortunately it is being used for evil. Hopefully this will lead to another version of the team and their own adventures. If not that then their usage in this movie is all the more frustrating.

Overall Batman and Superman: Battle of the Supersons is a very enjoyable film. It does all the things right that a movie should. Keeps the story flowing and keeps it simple. It has a cool breezy 79 minute runtime which is the standard for DC animated features. This is yet another good entry in the new established continuity but I do hope they begin to take more risks and utilize the deeper roster more. It is sitting there waiting and willing. The comics history is there as well. Enjoy this one for the meantime and let's hope DC keeps pumping out this high quality animated content.