The Death of Superman

This animated DC Universe movie, based on the 1993 landmark comic book, is the 32nd film in the series of direct-to-video animated features (and a remake of an earlier animated original: Superman: Doomsday, a looser, less ambitious adaptation). The Death of Superman pits Superman (voiced by Jerry O'Connell) against the alien killing machine Doomsday after the latter has defeated the Justice League and Lex Luthor (Rainn Wilson). Familiar voices return to play Batman (Jason O'Mara), Wonder Woman (Rosario Dawson), Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), and The Flash (Christopher Gorham), who all have memorable scenes. As in the comics, Clark Kent reveals the truth to Lois Lane (Rebecca Romijn) just before going into the longest sustained fight sequence in the animated DCU, which directors Jake Castorena and Sam Liu make interesting with dramatic imagery and inventive twists. The film ends with the death of Superman, as promised, but the story is not over (as the epilogue teases), and will be concluded in 2019 with Reign of the Supermen. One of the best of the animated DCU features to date, sure to appeal to fans of the series and the original comic books, this is recommended. (S. Axmaker)