Batman: Hush (2019)

Batman: Hush (2019)

Dir. Justin Copeland

I'm surely not the only person who wishes that WB and DC would stop doing direct adaptations of existing comic book story arcs and instead focus on creating more original animations. There's plenty of writers who'd be willing to submit something unique.

I read Hush years ago in its first TPB format. Jim Lee's artwork was excellent, but I've had no desire to experience the story again, such was my feelings for it. The animation didn't reverse that decision.

The premise is that an unknown antagonist, the titular Hush, whose face is bandaged to conceal his identity, hopes to destroy Batman from afar by targeting people close to him and by manipulating the other supervillains to work strategically against him.

Reign of the Supermen (2019)

Reign of the Supermen (2019)

Dir: Sam Liu

NOTE: SPOILERS AHEAD

A sequel to The Death of Superman (2018), set six months after its predecessor's end. 

Rather than show us what a world without Superman is like, it instead quickly fills up the necessary spaces with four new supermen, each with their own (initially secret) reason for wanting to protect Metropolis from itself.

A lack of faith in either script or viewer means we're told outright that in order to heal emotionally, Lois needs to solve the mystery of the four. The journey that should follow that realisation is a solid basis to build a sequel on, but the story has even more problems than The Death of Suprman and I lost interest.

If that hadn't been the case, however, I'm confident that the absurdity of the resurrected Super-Jesus and his three disciples hurtling toward a fisticuff finale would've been more than enough to ultimately kill it for me.

Constantine: City of Demons (2018)

Constantine: City of Demons (2018)

Dir. Doug Murphy

An animated solo adventure for Liverpool's most famous warlock that has him investigating the reasons why his oldest (living) friend's daughter has fallen into a coma. Originally presented in episodic form (5 parts) it was later merged into one feature-length production.

Matt Ryan is once again on voice duties, as he was in the previous year's Justice League Dark animated movie and the live action Constantine TV Series (2014-15). There are differences with regards continuity between the two formats, so I'm choosing to view them as separate things. But it's perhaps also worth noting that episode ten of the live action TV series (Quid Pro Quo) used the same source text as City of Demons does, namely the Hellblazer: All His Engines (2005) comic book by Mike Carey and Leonardo Manco.

The Death of Superman (2018)

The Death of Superman (2018)

Dirs: Sam Liu + Jake Castorena

TDoS starts badly, with 'millennial' dialogue that made me cringe. Unfortunately, that aspect of it doesn't get much better as it goes on, and the voice casting is mostly weak, meaning even the well-written lines are often delivered without gravitas and with little in the way of real conviction from the speaker.

The strained romantic relationship between Clark/Superman (Jerry O'Connell) and Lois Lane (Rebecca Romijn) is a major concern in the story. Quite often that kind of thing can feel rushed or under-developed in DC movies, but it's given a respectable amount of time to develop. That alone could've been something to celebrate, if not for the aforementioned weak dialogue and lifeless voice of Superman.

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (2018)

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (2018)

Dir. Sam Liu

This post exists to satisfy a personal goal. There's nothing of value within it. That's not some kind of playful in-joke. It's a true statement. I shit you not, et cetera.

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Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2017)

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2017)

Dir. Sam Liu

A second DCAMU outing for the super-powered youths, this time based on a story arc of the same name by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez that featured in The New Teen Titans comic book. I've not read the full arc, so can't say how faithful it is or isn't.

It also functions as a sequel to the previous year's Justice League vs Teen Titans (2016) animated feature, which I have seen. From that perspective, it's merely an okay movie.

The character that was teased in the closing credits of the previous movie is now a member of the group. Her name is Tara (Christina Ricci). As with any established collective, a new face has an effect on the team dynamic, but she plays a major role and is the focus of many of the story's themes.

Justice League Dark (2017)

Justice League Dark (2017)

Dir. Jay Oliva

I wonder how many names were in the hat when the creative team were struggling to come up with a catchy moniker for their new magic-themed 'League' collective. Given what they settled on, the others mustn't have been much good at all. But despite the name, the team itself is an interesting bunch of individuals.

Their genesis in animated form occurs when a spate of supernatural happenings perturbs the regular Justice League. Batman is chosen to enlist the help of folks who understand the workings of magic, in the hope that they'll be able to get to the bottom of the mystery.

It's an original story, not adapted wholesale from any of the existing comic book adventures, so deserves credit for that, if nothing else.