"In his recent Newsarama interview, the writer of the original comic and of the animated adaption, Joe Kelly, described part of his inspiration being the perception that Superman, as a character and a heroic archetype, was that “he’s lame and he’s outdated,” and that is just the impression that the movie gives viewers right at the offset. Immediately framed as corny and old-fashioned by an in-universe childish animated depiction of the hero and his morals, a short string of loving put-downs by an in-the-know, affectionate Lois and even by the clever pop-art style credit sequence that cuts together clips of pre-90s era Superman cartoons, this Man of Steel nevertheless exists in a more ‘realistic’ world as the movie starts to earn it’s PG-13 rating with an attack by the Atomic Skull who is trying to get the hero’s attention by gruesomely disintegrating people at random. One block wrecking brawl later, a debate on the seemingly useless process of incarcerating such villains is interrupted by the outbreak of war between some stand-in Middle Eastern nations. While battling one side’s giant bug monster bio-weapon, Superman is aided by a new group of heroes that will come be known as The Elite: potent telepath and telekinetic Manchester Black, the energy manipulator Coldcast, Menagerie, who controls a legion of symbiotic alien creatures inside her, and The Hat, a powerful conjuror. Initially the five of them work together well, but The Elite’s aggressive attitude and willingness, almost eagerness, to cross moral lines when crime-fighter that Superman is not comfortable with start to concern the Man of Steel and fire-up Lois’ reporter instincts. This new conflict leads events cumulating in a scene that might have been, if not for the nature of the participants, the most graphic ever depicted in superhero animation, a crisis of confidence for and of Superman and the public leading to a high-stakes 4-on-1 battle royal."