In the goal to make more DVD movies suitable for kids — since no matter how long or often people say it’s not true, some insist on believing that superhero cartoons should always be ok for children — DC and Warner have released Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem. It’s a sequel to Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts, which I haven’t seen, and a tie-in to a toy line, which accounts for the different costumes than I expected and the variety of vehicles […]

Out next week is Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom, a new installment in the series portraying DC characters as Lego minifigs. I’ve already written about the voice casting and posted some clips, but now, I’ve gotten a chance to check out the actual film. The first surprise was that this was an actual movie, an hour and 17 minutes long. The greater length allows for more scenes of team-building, as the Justice […]

The direct-to-home-video animated movie Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom (whew!) will be available on Blu-ray and DVD on August 25, or digital HD now. This is the fourth in the series, after Lego Batman: The Movie: DC Super Heroes Unite, Lego DC Comics: Batman: Be-Leaguered (the TV special), and Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League. The home video purchases will include an exclusive Trickster Lego mini-figure while supplies […]

The New York Times jumped on the “bash the Fantastic Four movie” bandwagon earlier this week, opening the article 20th Century Fox’s big-budget Fantastic Four went down in flames at the weekend box office, adding to fears about superhero fatigue and calling into question Hollywood’s willingness to hire novice directors for major films. They point out that director Josh Trank’s previous film work consisted of the “found footage”-style Chronicle, about three high schoolers who get superpowers. Trank was supposed to […]

It’s unsurprising, with the bad press it’s gotten, that the Fantastic Four movie that opened this week is not doing well. I am shocked that its Rotten Tomatoes rating is THAT low, though, with only 9% of critics liking the movie, and less than a third of the audience rating it positively. Most of the discussion about the film before it opened was about casting Michael B. Jordan, who’s black, as Johnny Storm, while Kate Mara, who plays his sister, […]

Want to watch Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron over and over again? You’ll be able to this fall, as the movie becomes available for digital rental on September 8, with disc versions coming out October 2. As you know, the movie once again teams up the Marvel cinematic heroes — Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) — to fight a world-threatening villain. […]

Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts came out direct-to-home-video in May, and it apparently did well enough that there will be a sequel in the series. Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem will be available on DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack on August 18, or on digital August 4. It’s set on Halloween, when the Joker, Scarecrow, Clayface, Silver Banshee, and Solomon Grundy have teamed up to take over the city. The Joker (Troy Baker) has come up with “digital laughter,” “a computer virus […]

You’ve probably seen the trailer, which debuted at Comic-Con, for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (coming to theaters March 2016), but just in case, here it is: What immediately stood out to me were the things I didn’t like: Fearing Superman because he’s different and can do amazing things. Ma Kent (Diane Lane)’s speech about Superman not owing anyone anything. Ma, what happened to heartland values and optimism? (Before that, the bits about hope and heroism are nice.) The […]