Movies (83)
I’ve always enjoyed the Legion of Super-Heroes. Superheroes from the future—what’s not to love? They don’t get talked about often enough, in my opinion, so I tend to get excited whenever they show up somewhere. And I was very excited to review this new movie. Although it didn’t quite measure up to my expectations, it’s still plenty entertaining.
I have a confession to make: I have never seen Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on the big screen. The first time I watched it was on video tape during the summer of 2002. I had read the book for the first time six months earlier, thought it was just okay, and waited for the film to be released on home video. It was a bad way to watch the film and poor timing, as well. Star Wars: Episode II and the first Spider-Man were in theaters at the time. All of those films were effects heavy, and Harry Potter just didn’t measure up to the other two.
There have been a few DC Universe Animated films that feature Batman’s son, Damian Wayne, in a key role, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen Superman’s son be given the spotlight. It’s an interesting concept: What’s it like growing up the child of a world-famous superhero and the various ways of dealing with it. Exploring that concept is just one of the things that makes Battle of the Super Sons fun to watch.
In 2008, an unknown director named Damien Leone released a short film titled "The 9th Circle" which introduced Art the Clown, played by Mike Gianelli. Art came back for another short in 2011 called "Terrifier," then again in 2013 for the anthology, All Hallows Eve. Despite these appearances, it seemed Art was doomed to obscurity until 2016, when Leone brought a revamped, scarier Art to life, with actor David Howard Thornton behind the mask. This switch-up was all that Leone needed. In a 2018 limited release, the horror community quickly discovered the feature-length Terrifier after Dread Central took a chance on the film. Within no time at all, Terrifier became a cult classic and Art the Clown, a slasher legend. Today, fans are gearing up for the second in a forever iconic franchise. But if you’re looking for Art the Clown 2.0 in Terrifier 2, you won’t find him here. This is version 6.66.
I was a little wary at first when I saw the runtime of this movie: 168 minutes, or nearly three hours. I fully expected to end up splitting it up into two different viewings. But honestly, it doesn’t feel like a long movie. It rarely drags, and it kept me engaged throughout. And before I knew it, I’d spent three hours in front of the television. How did that happen?
The first thing you need to know about this movie is that it’s 2 hours and 16 minutes long. That’s a full hour longer than other movies of this type typically are. In fairness, it’s actually a three-episode mini-series, with three different, but related, Aquaman adventures, all jammed together into a single, feature-length film.
This is a good film and worth watching, but it suffers from one major problem: The title is extremely misleading. If you go in expecting an epic team-up between two awesome and popular DC animated series, leading to mayhem in the multiverse, you will be disappointed.
The title of this latest DC Animated offering is a little misleading. At first glance, I assumed it would be a feature-length film, revolving around Constantine. Instead, it’s a series of shorts, which they call the DC Showcase. Constantine: The House of Mystery is just one of them, followed by three others, all standalones.
One of the things I like about the DC Universe Animated Movies is that they tend to be geared towards more mature audiences. This gives them the opportunity to explore complex moral and philosophical questions in greater depth. It’s clear that’s what the filmmakers behind Injustice had in mind. Unfortunately, it misses the mark.
The lowdown: This is a direct sequel to Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge, loosely inspired by the events of the Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat 3 video games, with the addition of characters from later games that were retconned into the story with later video game installations.
