SUPERMAN/BATMAN:APOCALYPSE (2010) rocks with a little help from WONDER WOMAN

Kara and Kal-El talking about their recent fight

While rival company Marvel has been churning out live-action movies of their biggest guns, DC has been getting by on only Batman and Superman. Until this year, when Green Lantern hits the screen this summer. But on the animation front, DC dominates like no other. Going back to the TV series of Batman, Superman, and the wildly popular Justice League, DC can do no wrong. Recently they have begun adapting the comic book series Superman/Batman for animated full length movies. The first was Public Enemies, which had our heroes hunted down by villains and other heroes at the order of President Lex Luthor. That was a very good start to this series, and Apocalypse continues that winning way, even surpassing Public Enemies.

Omigosh..I definitely took a wrong turn

The story has Kara, Superman's cousin arriving on Earth. Her initial encounter is with Batman, because the ship she crashes in is loaded with fragments of kryponite, so Supes has to stay in the background while Bats does his thing. Being an alien, Kara doesn't speak any English, so she mistakes Batman as a bad guy and flees. While she is frightened, her powers kicks in and wreaks havoc on the city by mistake. Supes finally shows and speaks Krypton and tells her they're cousins. A brief history lesson later and things calm down. But Batman doesn't trust Kara fully and that's where the tension comes in.

I'd appreciate it you boys quit checking me out..I'm married

Later on while out in the city of Metropolis, Clark (Superman's alter ego) and Kara are ambushed by Amazons led by Wonder Woman,who says Kara needs to be trained in the Amazonian way. Superman disagrees, Batman does not. The scene shifts to Paradise Island and Kara's training is going great until baddie Darkseid sends his Doomsday troops to take Kara back to Apokolis to be his queen. They succeed in taking Kara away only after Superman gets to cut loose and wipe out the Doomsday troops.

Yessir..I'm the Big Bad

So to get to Apokolis, our three heroes need help and that comes in the form of Big Barda, who used to be one of Darksied's fiercest warriors. She has a device that will transport our heroes to Apokolis to engage in a rescue mission. Once there, it's on. Superman goes head to head with Darkseid then has to fight a possessed Kara. Batman, a little out of his league has to deal with giant hell hounds. And Wonder Woman and Barda team up to take on Barda's former cronies...The Furies. Their battle is actually my favorite scene in this entire film as you get to see Wonder Woman kick some major ass.

This is how we do it on Paradise Island

Superman eventually convinces Kara that she is being controlled and she breaks free while Batman scares Darkseid with a ruse that he will blow up half the planet if he doesn't release his hold on Kara. Our heroes go home and when things are peaceful in Smallville, Darkseid returns to take out some revenge on Superman. Actually it's Kara who steps in and battles Darkseid pretty good. And Supes comes in to finish him off.

Apocalypse is a terrific movie, loaded with epic battles and a great storyline. All the characters are presented in all their comic book glory and you feel for them as much as you would human characters in a flesh and blood movie. Like I said Wonder Woman stands out in this one, as she shows why she is the best super-heroine ever. Talking back to Superman, taking on the Furies, and running things on Paradise Island, she is awesome.
B+