Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
Hot on the heels of the Mortal Kombat: Snow Blind film, Warner Bros. Animation wasted no time in releasing Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons, the latest addition to the DC animated library. The 79-minute film takes place during the relatively currently comic series from DC where Bruce Wayne has fathered Damian Wayne while Clark Kent and Lois Lane are happy parents to an adolescent Johnathan Kent. With one of the young lads rebellious and the other about to discover his powers, their abilities will be called upon to save the world.
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Film 
Director Matt Peters is no stranger to the DC Universe, having worked on a number of DC films in varying capacities such as Shazam, Batman: The Killing Joke and Lego Batman: Family Matters. His experience is evident throughout Battle of the Super Sons as viewers are treated to a coherent, entertaining story with plenty of action and story to fulfill the imaginations of all ages.
While the film begins with another look at Krypton exploding and Jor El and his wife send young Kal El on an escape pod off the planet, a scene played out far too many times, rest assured the movie quickly develops its own personality. We are saved from having to watch another Lex Luthor-heavy storyline or some villain tossing Kryptonite around like it’s candy. When interplanetary conqueror Starro incapacitates eath’s greatest heros, we get a menacing nod toward the feature film The Suicide Squad while the chemistry between young Kent and Wayne is fun to watch unfold.
The language does get a little salty at times and there is an amount of blood, as animated as it may be, but still things to consider before you put the little ones in front of the TV to watch this.
Lastly, at least for this category, it’s important to mention just how stellar the animation was and how much that contributes to the action of the film. Love ’em or not, these DC films just seem to keep getting better and better in this area and it is eye candy for sure.
Video 
Encoding: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: 2160p Ultra High Definition
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
It’s hard not to praise the quality of video here. The colors featured explore a wide range of the spectrum and fully promote the feel of each scene. The lush blues, reds, yellows and earth tones of a sunny Smallville are brilliantly put on display and light up the screen wonderfully. Meanwhile, the varying degrees of grays and blacks in the Batcave submit a mood of seriousness reflective of Bruce Wayne’s past, which are such a welcomed juxtaposition of one another. This film is a near perfect example of 4K video.
Audio
If you thought the video was the greatest technical achievement on this disc, think again. The audio is reference quality in every sense of the compliment, courtesy of the DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 delivery. As expected, dialogue is clear through the front channels while those rear speakers get a full workout spelling out every blast, pop, crack and ninja-flip-landing you can handle. Let’s not forget the sub-woofer making itself known in the room from time to time, which draws in an already focused attention span. While I thoroughly enjoyed this movie from top to bottom, the biggest reason I want to watch it again right now is the performance of the audio.
Extras
Not again, Warner Bros. Please tell me you’re kidding. Whereas Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind was relegated only to a mere commentary in this category, Battle of the Super Sons has absolutely nothing to offer. This could have been one of the best 4K Blu-rays on the year, but that opportunity eroded with the lack of effort to provide anything here. How I miss the days of interviews, behind-the-scenes and gag reels on discs. This is truly a shame.
Summary
Fans are given an action-packed story, great animation, solid video quality and an audio experience that can hang with the best of them. This is a no-brainer buy, though the complete lack of special features does hurt the final score. Hopefully WB gets out of this lackadaisical funk when it comes to extras and gives us something good on the next release. Otherwise, this is a 4K disc worthy of your home library.
