Rent Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons (2022)

Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons (aka DC Universe - Batman And Superman - Battle of the Super Sons) review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

Part of me has enjoyed watching the DC Comics arc that has explored the aspects of Batman and Superman becoming dads and the exploits of their kids. The comics were decent, even if I found myself craving something a bit more for the kids, Jonathan Kent and Damien Wayne, to do more than just small talk in between busting up the usual gallery of villains and world-saving plots. The bad news is that Battle of the Super Sons doesn’t run any place new with the comics, mostly sticking to a standard setup. The good news is that it still has bits and pieces of good chemistry for these two sons of DC’s top superheroes.

Jonathan Kent is established as the preteen son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, having settled down enough to be married but still working. In the morning, Lois stresses the importance of journalism while rushing Jonathan off to school. In the afternoon, Clark comes home to ensure his son gets his chores done and drops some knowledge he picks up as a superhero. Unsure of how their son will develop, the parents have decided to hold on, revealing to Jonathan that he’s half Kryptonian, meaning they can’t reveal his dad is Superman. It’s not only an intelligent choice but it makes for a fun moment when Jonathan realizes he’s the luckiest kid in the world, eager to try out his superpowers.

The film doesn’t spend as much time with Damien, the latest iteration of Robin and the son of Bruce Wayne. This is mainly because Damien’s background is far darker, where even his conception is troubling. Thankfully, Batman is slowly turning the kid around, despite Damien’s curiosity leading to him intentionally hurting Jonathan to see how strong he truly is. They’re both very much like their dads, making for a cute dynamic of the plucky and stern anti-hero. The dynamic is so strong that the whole film could be them discovering Jonathan’s powers and trying to balance superheroism with school and chores.

The film loses its impact when it settles into serving the young heroes a par-for-the-course superhero story. The Justice League and all its subsequent branches of Teen Titans and the like become infected by the alien entity Starro. Starro could be more interesting a villain in terms of how the creature is presented here. Unlike The Suicide Squad, where the villain represented a vicious personification of imperialism, this movie portrays Starro as…just another alien entity that wants to consume Earth. This means that Starro is more intimidating when infecting people and less so when he’s talking. You can probably guess the type of vanilla evil-alien monologues that Starro composes. You can also probably take a wild stab at the weakest part of Starro’s body, what with his giant eyeball directly in the center of his body.

The animation style is at least refreshing when compared to previous DC Comics animated movies—treading into the territory of CGI over the usual 2D works rather well with the cel-shaded aspect. We’ve come a long way from the wonky CGI cartoons of the early 2000s, and it’s impressive to see how much of this style works. The medium is used well with the perfect blend of lighting techniques, shaders, and a sense of scale. Consider this a good sign if DC Comics animations go down this route in the future.

Battle of the Super Sons works best when developing the central sons and falters when falling into the typical groves of standard superhero scenarios. In that regard, the film is much like the comics, which had some solid chemistry but typically became lost in stopping the next villain of the week. The good news is that comics have improved these characters over time, and it’ll be a lot of fun to see how WB decides to keep developing these characters in animated form.