Colin’s Column: “The Reign of the Supermen” was…short lived

By: Colin Bauer

Staff Writer

“Reign of the Supermen” (2019)

Cast: Jerry O’Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Rainn Wilson

Director: Sam Liu

Synopsis: In the second part of  “The Death of Superman” storyline arc, months have passed since Superman’s death and citizens still mourn his loss. Four heroes come forward, looking to claim their status as Superman’s successor. As they battle for the Man of Steel’s mantle, and the Justice League moves forward without Superman, a dark force begins to surface, giving rise to the question: Who will rise above all to take the place of Superman?

Review:

The DC universe has produced many memorable movies over the last couple of years but “The Reign of the Supermen” may not be remembered at all. This feature carries quality animation but suffers in story, pacing and tone.

Although the animation is fairly simplistic and holds an anime-inspired “Teen Titans” look, it never draws audiences away from the screen with colors that pop and realistic action. This film does a great job tricking audience’s into believing they are watching a high-budget film released to theatres based on the impressive animation alone. Even the cybernetic characters are astounding to behold, speaking to the animators’ talents at Warner Brothers.

After 2018’s “The Death of Superman,” the storyline to this film seemed promising as it felt like we were going to see the events of the arc as they should have been depicted in 2016 and 2017’s “Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League,” respectively. This storyline instead feels rushed and underdeveloped. There’s a point in the film where the Justice League is stuck in another dimension and audiences are left to question why this subplot is truly necessary. Once resolved, it still feels like padding to the film’s already 87 minute runtime. The main storyline is also very simplistic even for a direct-to-video film, it’s basic plot line feeling as though it is the first film in the franchise.

The pacing of this film is especially slow moving. From the very first frame to the last, the events progress at one, single slow speed. Even in more action-heavy sequences, audiences may find themselves checking their watches. These sequences aren’t truly exciting, creating problems as this film features a plethora of action-dominated sequences.

Tone is another issue. The majority of the film understands that it is going to be an action superhero feature but a surprising number of moments in the film feature comedic elements. This impacts the overall quality and enjoyment of the movie because it instantly draws audiences out of the film. The comedy in this movie is that of “Friends,” not “Guardians of the Galaxy” and it works just about as well as it sounds.

“Reign of the Supermen” is worth a watch for the animation, but looking at all beyond that and you’ll be disappointed. Perhaps with some subplots removed and certain scenes edited to improve the pace, a 75 minute runtime may have been what this film needed. So who rises above all to take the place of Superman? Definitely not this film.

“Reign of the Supermen…Wait there’s more than one?”

SCORE: 4.5/10