Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
October 18th, 2022 by Gregg Senko
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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The scares never stop at this year’s 
David Gordon Green’s Halloween Ends is now playing in theaters and streaming on Peacock. And I’m sure EVERYONE on social media has their very strong opinions on it for better or for worse. Either way, I love seeing that big dork in the white mask return again and again on the big screen. Also returning in Halloween Ends is Blue Oyster Cult’s 1976 rock staple “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,” the first song ever featured in a Halloween movie. While Halloween has been more known for scores than they have soundtracks, there are some notable songs featured in the films and even attempts to nab a hit single and sell records while counting box office receipts. I wanted to look at each film in the series and select one song that significantly ties into the movie in some way, SHAPE or form that feels memorable. Some are less memorable than others, some are a bit of a stretch, and some you may not even remember. 
On the 30th anniversary of the original Mortal Kombat video game, Warner Bros. gives us the next film in the animated line of the MK Legends series, Snow Blind. This marks the third film in the Legends series following 2020’s Scorpion’s Revenge and last year’s Battle of The Realms. Directed by Rick Morales, a former storyboard artist on the Star Wars: Clone Wars movie, Morales guides us on this 82-minute tale through the Wastelands and back. How does this latest entry fair? Let’s check it out…
Nope, the third film from writer/director Jordan Peele, features the best use of IMAX cameras since Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. Yes, Tom Cruise’s 
The King is back. Elvis, the sixth feature from the heavy-on-the-spectacle director Baz Luhrmann (The Great Gatsby), is bursting at the seams with all the pageantry and showmanship expected from the Aussie filmmaker. Starring Tom Hanks as Mr. Presley’s shady manager, Colonel Tom Parker, and Austin Butler (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood) in a star-making performance as Mr. Presley himself, Warner Bros.’ big screen stunner might just be the out-of-body experience fans of Elvis have been clamoring for since his tragic death in 1977. For major fans, it’s time to get all shook up and head to your local theater. For those not into Elvis or just not that familiar with one of the pioneers of rock and or roll, suspicious minds may still be interested.
Jurassic World Dominion finally hits IMAX and normal-sized screens after production woes that included multiple shutdowns due to COVID. Like Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, this Colin Trevorrow-directed flick is marketed as an “epic conclusion” to the iconic series that changed VFX forever in 1993 with Spielberg’s top-notch direction. The hook for the third World pic is twofold: the dinos are finally (no, really, they are this time!) off the island, and a trio of original cast members have returned. True, Jeff Goldblum showed up for a couple odd judiciary scenes in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, but now he, along with Laura Dern and Sam Neill, are key players in Dominion. Jurassic World actors Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, and a host of others are back too. A trailer that featured a pair of DNA spliced velociraptors chasing motorcycle riding Pratt in Europe was intriguing. Universal hopes the nostalgia factor and audience’s seemingly endless love for dinosaurs will be more than enough to make this movie another smash hit at the box office. But is the film any good – or at the very least fun?
The first big interactive narrative adventure of 2022 has arrived, and the title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong, is indeed a mouthful. The height of choice-driven video games is, arguably, Quantic Dream’s 2018 masterwork Detroit: Become Human, which is also an ungainly thing to say aloud. Regardless, that was four long years ago. We’re waiting for the latest from that developer, which will be set in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars: Eclipse. I look forward to receiving a trophy for cleaning my lightsaber via a sequence of triangles, squares, and circles. Until then, we have french developer Big Bad Wolf’s resurrection of a vampire series based on a ’90s tabletop game (No, I hadn’t heard of it, either). I took a chance on this tale of rival vampire sects set in modern-day Boston. Filled with deadly serious, seriously silly writing where the undead use words like Embrace (turn a human into a vamp), Vessels (humans used for blood) and Final Death. Terms that take on bigger meaning in genre fiction. Does this narrative adventure have bite, or does it suck?
Focus Features’ Downton Abbey: A New Era is the second full-length feature of PBS’ beloved series of the same name. Creator Julian Fellowes’ 21st century take about a fictional early 20th-century family, the Crawleys (and the people who serve them) has legions of fans. Each episode featured period-appropriate attire and just the right amount of stiff-upper-lip Anglofied mannerisms. All of it is (mostly) set at the lush estate, Downton Abbey. Plenty of the cast has returned: Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Laura Carmichael, Imelda Staunton, and more. Three years after the last film and seven years since the last episode aired, do we still have time for Lady Mary’s attitude, butler Thom’s shenanigans, and Duchess Violet’s wit? Clearly, we’ll always have time for Dame Maggie Smith’s one-liners. Either way, Old Hollywood (well, “new” back then) has arrived at Downton’s doorsteps…
Talented actor 
Hulu’s twelve-part original series, Conversations with Friends, is based on millennial author Sally Rooney’s debut novel. The story centers around two aimless Dublin college students who begin an unconventional relationship with an older married couple. Although leading cast member Alison Oliver is relatively unknown, Sasha Lane, Jemima Kirke, and Joe Alwyn have been in several high-profile indie films in the past decade. Kirke is probably the best known of the bunch playing Jessa on HBO’s Girls. However, stars aren’t the big draw of Hulu’s latest limited series. Viewers interested in a more grounded take on the ups and downs of Irish twenty-somethings will find much to discuss. With that in mind, speaking of Lena Dunham’s seminal show, Conversations with Friends is a kind of generational shift compared to that New York-centric series. This isn’t Euphoria, but the keyword for Gen Z’s as “aimless” certainly applies.
This weekend the summer movie season begins with Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Although expectations are high, with some outlets predicting the 28th entry in the MCU to rake in the dough, becoming a cultural juggernaut like 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home is doubtful, even for the Sorcerer Supreme. The top-notch cast includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, and new to Marvel, Xochitl Gomez. However, the big news is that this film marks director Sam Rami’s return to superhero antics since his Spider-Man trilogy from the aughts. Did the Drag Me To Hell maestro concoct a new kind of experience for the MCU? Can he top his web-slinging masterpiece, Spider-Man 2?
Robert Eggers’ The Northman is the third major release from the artisanal director. He has been granted his biggest budget yet with a different studio, Focus Features, footing the bill. His previous features, The Witch and The Lighthouse, were A24 productions. The premise: a young prince’s father is killed by his uncle, and he vows revenge. This might seem like a Viking take on The Bard’s Hamlet, but Shakespeare’s play starring the most indecisive hero ever was inspired, in fact, by this Scandinavian legend. Thankfully, in terms of decision making, that leads to much violence, as Amleth (rhymes with Hamlet) isn’t on the fence when it comes to dismemberment. Alexander Skarsgård stars as the broody axe-wielding prince alongside a supporting cast including Anya Taylor-Joy, Willem Defoe, Ethan Hawke, Nicole Kidman, and everyone’s favorite Icelandic pop star: Björk. How does an authentically shot Norse tale fare in an era where Chris Hemsworth’s hammer-wielding superhero is the closest most audiences get to a Viking? It’s certainly not as funny as a Thor/Hulk team-up, but it’s way bloodier, so that’s something…
Looking past his Netflix venture, 6 Underground, Ambulance marks director Michael Bay’s first true return to the big screen since 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight. No longer partnered up with Optimus Prime, this action-thriller is a remake of a Danish film that clocked in around 90 minutes. True to form, Bay’s version is over two hours to make room for some much-needed Bayhem. Set in Los Angeles concerning two bank robbers and an unlikely paramedic, the film features high octane thrills, real-life stunts, and impressive camerawork with Bay’s latest gizmo: drones. Does the native Angeleno’s return to the City of Angels mean more of the same, or does the hands-on blockbuster auteur have new tricks up his explosive, kinetically-edited sleeves? Did I mention he has drones now?
