Injustice

Adapted from the 2013 video game and subsequent comic series, Injustice offers a look at a dark future where tragedy befalls Lois Lane (Laura Bailey) which changes the path of Superman (Justin Hartley) and the DCU. The game was far from the first to examine this idea.

Kingdom Come, in which the Joker (Kevin Pollak) is also responsible for Lois' death, gives us a future where Superman retreats and a new generation of less-honorable heroes take his place. Justice League's "A Better World" gives us an alternate Earth where the League has become Lords of a dystopian future. Both are more effective versions of similar themes than what we are given here.

Playing to the character's mainstream popularity, Harley Quinn (Gillian Jacobs) gets a role here providing pretty much all of the movie's laughs. I'll admit, her interactions with Green Arrow (Reid Scott) are fun. We also get appearances of several DC heroes, although only a handful like Superman, Wonder Woman (Janet Varney), Batman (Anson Mount), and select members of the Bat-Family remain in the spotlight for very long.

The animation is passable, but pretty standard; nothing really stands out or grabs your attention. I don't know why some people get such a hard-on for a murderous Superman, but that's the idea the movie hinges the story on and what happens to the Man of Steel after he crosses that line. The plot is more than a little messy, forcing Harley's involvement, pushing several heroes to the sidelines (while killing others), and speeding up Superman's grief-stricken power play to fit into the film's running time. There's also a bizarre subplot of Nigthwing (Derek Phillips) becoming the new Deadman and the inclusion of Ra's al Ghul (Faran Tahir) that feels like the writers simply began throwing everything but the kitchen sink into the movie for the hell of it. While there might be something here for fans of the game, it's not one of DC's better animated efforts.