Batman: Under The Red Hood (2010)

Someone calling himself The Red Hood attempts to take control of Gotham's criminal underworld, an act that doubles as a kind of challenge to Batman. The Dark Knight tries to prevent further casualties, but something about The Red Hood bothers him on a deeply personal level.

The character designs are mostly great, and there's some timely black humour, more often than not courtesy of Black Mask (Wade Williams).

It's rated PG 13, but the violence is more extreme than any of the previous films, with multiple murders, explosions, and even a bag of severed heads being thrown around. It's perhaps a case of making it more grim in the hopes that it'll appear more mature, but the result arguably lessens the dramatic power of the storytelling and at worst sullies the purity of the series.

3 flashbacks to a better time out of 5

Superman : Doomsday (2007)

Something fell to earth thousands of years before Ma Kent’s perfect son, but it remained trapped. When it is finally released it's not surprisingly mad as hell. Based on The Death of Superman storyline from the comics, this is Supes at his less than infallible best.
James Marsters is a great Lex Luthor. Fans may mourn the absence of Tim Daly, but I think Adam Baldwin did a fantastic job as the man in tights; in fact, the voice casting is top class. As is the animation; it's full of action, violence (people die) and genuine affecting emotion. Highly recommended.

5 reflections in a cracked mirror out of 5