World Superman: Doomsday DVD Review

[Superman1314]

Originally posted on Bluetights.net/ThePlanet

http://www.bluetights.net/theplanet/showthread.php?t=24635

By Neal Bailey

Superman: Doomsday surprised the hell out of me. To be quite honest, I haven't really enjoyed much Superman animation at all since the original series, and even then it was good, but nothing to set a clock for. I enjoyed it, but I didn't sit at the TV every time it was on. I watched at my leisure. Expecting this kind of fare, I stepped into Superman: Doomsday excited, but ready to tear it a new one, given the fact that we couldn't get a screener, they were about to rip apart the favorite comic story of my childhood into little chunks not resembling the original, and that it had... James Marsters as Lex?

I walked out of the theater blown away by the fact that I had truly enjoyed the film with little exception, and will probably be purchasing it. It'll be the first animated movie I've bought since The Iron Giant, and while I'm not putting it in that class, I'll certainly say it's a good watch for any Superman fan.

Is it the Doomsday story? Nah, not that much. Is it a retelling of the Doomsday comic story? In structure, yes. In actuality, not that much.
What's really great about it is that if you put aside the Death of storyline and focus on this as an animated feature, it's actually quite compelling and surprisingly adult. Doomsday kills people left and right, Superman, when evil (long story) decimates a number of people left and right, culminating with an extraordinarily surprising and shocking death, a good use of the film having it's own continuity. I won't spoil it for you, but when the rogue Superman starts busting chops, it's rad. There's also a very, very cool Kevin Smith cameo that I won't spoil either, but which will rock your world if you're deep into the mythos/behind the scenes stuff.

Lois is a little flat, Martha seems thrown in without purpose, and Jonathan is conspicuously and quite egregiously missing. The funeral is played very pat and quickly, and you never really develop a sense of sorrow at Superman's passing, because it's obvious he'll be back, unlike when it occurred in the comics.

But that's about it. Doomsday TRASHES everyone, as does evil Superman, and the fight scenes, if a bit repetitive, show that Superman doesn't screw around. Lois and Superman as a romance plays better than I thought it would given odd circumstance. Lex is spot-on in all respects and written masterfully from top to bottom, particularly given one extraordinarily harsh moment where he coldly executes someone you wouldn't expect.

The best part of this movie, despite bad character models, is the stark animation of them in motion, kicking the hell out of each other, causing explosions, tearing up the city. There's one scene where Superman saves Lois and it results in him being thrown into a building which collapses, proving the age-old rule that one Lois is worth about a thousand poor people. Give or take a few kittens.

The plot is pretty tightly structured and well-executed as well. If you're a die-hard who will not rest until you see the Eradicator, you're going to hate it. If you like Smallville because of its new take on continuity (as opposed to its character treatment, perhaps, an important distinction), then this movie will blow you away. If you're a kid coming into this with a clean mind, it'll probably help define Superman for you.

I remember in the 80s, movies for kids still had a few cylinders to fire on. In Monster Squad, Dracula grabbing an amulet and going, "Give me the amulet, you #%$^!" Indiana Jones getting shot and shooting a bunch of folks. Misery for Luke. Friday the 13th. Nightmare. Goonies. They're much harder, stronger films than the fare of today, which usually feature a misunderstanding of a kid that leads to wacky circumstances easily solved when the random object of desire is found, with no one ever in any real danger.

This movie shows Doomsday stomping heads, Superman dying, and quite literally, a murdering, evil Superman that chilled ME. Some kid is going to watch this because his parent doesn't know better, and that kid isn't going to be corrupted, he's going to realize that there's a reasonable, adult, rational way to explore violence in a way that simultaneously condemns its bad aspects and shows what can be cool about it. He'll see how Superman can fight even beyond death to score a victory for justice. This poor kid will probably watch this again and again and end up somewhat like us. Mwu ha ha ha! For that alone, this deserves good sales. A fine film I expected to hate, and a real coup.




I don't know about you all but I'm stoked.

 

[cundog]

wow, sounds awesome!

 

[Superman1314]

wow, sounds awesome!

I haven't been this excited for a direct to video movie...ever.

 

[cundog]

me neither, but i've been excited about this one since i first heard about it. now i'm doubly excited!

 

[Bishop2]

Glad you enjoyed it. Might as well put my review into this thread too...

So I went to the early screening of Superman: Doomsday on Thursday night at the San Diego Comic-Con.

Overall, though... I guess I was disappointed. I'm a huge fan of Bruce Timm's previous work in DC animated productions, and when it was announced that he would be overseeing WB's new direct-to-DVD animated films based on their comic properties, I thought he would be showing Marvel how it's ****ing done. Instead, he kinda made Marvel look a little better in my esteem. Which is not to say that the movie is totally BAD. There's still plenty to like. There's just an equal or greater amount to dislike, and in the end it proves a letdown for me. Here's a brief, spoilery summary of the film plus my personal list of pros and cons.

Summary:

Spoiler

Superman and Lois are in a sexual relationship, but Lois doesn't know Superman's identity and still ignores Clark. This information is dropped quickly, and we also quickly learn that Lex is performing a huge dig in order to obtain geothermal power from the Earth's core. In the process he uncovers dormant spaceship and his team accidentally awakens Doomsday, the ultimate super-soldier created by a mysterious alien race. For some reason, Superman's personal robot up in the Fortress of Solitude has records on this thing (apparently Jor-El knew that the alien race with the tentacled faces built this monster) and warns Supes of its impending landfall in Metropolis. Kal-El is forced to cut a weekend of sexual antics short to go back and save the city... but of course he dies. The loss inspires a few different ways of coping: Lois, having figured out that Superman and Clark are one in the same, tries to bond with a strangely hostile Ma Kent. Jimmy goes off to become a photographer for a celebrity tabloid. When Superman reappears in Metropolis, everyone is stunned, but he also seems a little... different. After he pulls the Toyman out of police custody and brutally murders him, it becomes obvious that this is not Superman. It turns out to be a clone created by Lex Luthor, which he using to conduct his own bidding. Jimmy reconnects with Lois and they team up to try to expose Luthor's plot. Meanwhile, the real Superman isn't quite dead, just sort of comatose with a very feint pulse. His robot pal in the Fortress helps to revive him, and when the newly awake hero gets wind of what his impostor is doing back home, he goes back to fight the clone in a final showdown.

Aside from the fact that Superman fights Doomsday and then dies, then later wears a black costume, there isn't really much resemblence to the comic story. So hopefully you aren't TOO attached to that thing, which, admittedly, had both its good elements and really goofy elements. Plus it was a little too complicated for a film... but there's no good reason why they couldn't have kept SOME of the things closer to the comics.

Spoiler

Like, in the comics, Superman was killed after Clark and Lois were married, and that created a HUGE emotional blow for Lois. It would've been WAY more powerful to just have them already together and fully aware of each other's families and secrets than to create this new half-assed situation... okay, getting ahead of myself.

Let's do the pros and cons.

PROs:

1) Some really great fight sequences. The fights with Doomsday and

Spoiler

the Evil Superman at the end

are huge, epic and impressive to watch. Lots of big destruction, great adrenaline moments and hardcore brutality.

Spoiler

2) The middle section of the film, when Superman is off-screen for 10-15 minutes, is probably my favorite part. Lois cries, Jimmy gets an interesting (but somewhat truncated, sadly) character arc, Perry drinks, Martha crumbles on her floor. It's reasonably emotional and more interesting than the 10-to-20-minute fight sequences that frame the movie. So I dig it.

3) Character designs are hit and miss, but that means there's surely some good points. The new design of Lois is pleasingly sexier than the old one, and the new look for Jimmy is cooler, less dorky. I liked their appearances. The new Perry is kind of a wash in how similar he is to the old - which I consider to be a good thing - and the new Lex is just mediocre, but that still means he has good and bad points both.

4) Really appreciated some of the voice actors. James Marsters' Lex is the primary highlight - he doesn't sound like Marsters or like Clancy Brown, but he does a GREAT job giving a new interpretation of the character that really makes a lot of sense. Not sure who the new Jimmy is, but he's very strong as well. Anne Heche is solid as Lois, too.

Spoiler

5) Some notable clever/funny dialogue. For starters, it's obvious that this version of Lex has kind of a homosexual crush on Superman at the root of his hatred. You may either love it, hate it or be in denial of it, but I thought it was pretty funny and certainly an interesting direction. Also, there's a great inside joke about Kevin Smith's work on the "Superman Lives" script. It's esoteric, but it's pretty hilarious and even voiced by Smith himself.

CONs:

1) This is one of the most definitive stories of the post-Crisis era in the comics. For some reason, the team behind this cartoon has turned it into a love letter to pre-Crisis Superman. For starters, there's no hint that Clark Kent is the real person behind the suit in this - it's all about Superman though and through. Kent only appears for a 1-minute scene at the start of the film, then is never seen again. Plus Pa Kent is mysteriously dead, Lois is in love with Superman and thinks Clark is a boring little tool, she doesn't know Superman's real identity. Like I said, this is VERY much in keeping with the 1970s vision of Supes, and very much opposed to what the character was about when the Death of Superman story actually came out.

Spoiler

2) One major detail that really irked me is that Lois and Superman are having secret weekend trips to the Fortress of Solitude for some privacy and sex. (Yes, for sex. You can't really get around this. It's obvious. It's a PG-13 movie, guys.) And yes, she's sleeping with him even though she has no idea he's Clark Kent. There's no version of Superman on record in which this would ever have been an in-character thing for him to do. I cringed, and kept on cringing.

3) I mentioned that the fights were great. Well, with one MAJOR exception -

Spoiler

when Superman decides to give Doomsday the final blow, here's how he does it... he flies him into space, then rushes back to earth and crashes him into the middle of Metropolis. The impact is so powerful that half of the city is seen destroyed and crumbled by the shockwave. This seems... really... really... stupid. Of course, no one in Metropolis mentions, after Supes dies, that he just killed millions of people. Besides, if you were gonna do this Supes, you could've always driven Doomsday into an unpopulated area instead of destroying half the city you're trying to protect. I think they should've rethought how this fight was going to end, because DAMN that's dumb. God DAMN.

4) Timm and company mentioned during their panel that they pointedly created a world in which no other superheroes exist besides Superman. Even though the entire point of these movies was, according to them, to capture the interest of the comic fans, they've created a very closed-up world where Superman is the only hero on the planet. His funeral is populated mostly by Metropolis locals, with no sign of anyone else. No moments of sadness for even an uncostumed Bruce Wayne or a Supergirl.

Spoiler

5) Toyman has a couple of major sequences in this thing - but it's the worst and most annoying version of Toyman I've ever seen. He's essentially a teenage goth kid who has a squeaky voice kinda like Bobcat Goldthwait, and he's every bit as annoying as that sounds. Mercy also appears briefly, although she looks different than her animated or comic incarnations. Both characters are then promptly killed off on-screen, so I'm not sure why they bothered to include these major players from the comics if they were just going to off them permanently after a few brief moments.

6) Okay, the character designs are hit and miss, as I said. Superman himself looked shockingly ugly once I saw him in motion - the lines used to denote his extremely sunken cheeks seem more like wrinkles when he's talking.

Spoiler

And let's try not to talk about Toyman, who is ridiculous.

Lex is just mediocre.

7) Adam Baldwin doesn't really make much of an impression as Superman.

Spoiler

When he plays Superman and Evil Superman, they sound identical, which I consider a mistake.

And he never sounds nearly as authoratative or even as warm as a George Newbern or a Tim Daly. I understand that they wanted to do something different here, but I think that means going for someone equally good, not just for a recognizable name for the sake of celebrity. Swoosie Kurtz, on the other hand, plays a rather pissy version of Martha Kent, and again, leaves no impression other than a negative one.

All in all, I wish the movie had more heart, and that means paying more attention to who Superman is beneath all the heroics

Spoiler

and giving him a real, serious bond with Lois that isn't just ****ing and hiding secrets.

It means maybe connecting a little more to the original story instead of blowing so much time on 20-minute fights. Or maybe the movie needed to be longer than 70 minutes, which barely even counts as a movie. It's hard to say why it feels like such a rote exercise, but it's probably a sum of all the parts. It just felt like a missed opportunity on lots of levels. I actually enjoyed Superman: Brainiac Attacks a bit more, and that's something I NEVER thought I'd say...

...but I gotta confess, despite all of my misgivings with this one, the first trailer for The New Frontier STILL got me excited.

 

[ComicFan83]

I posted this a while ago, mainly because I thought it important to tell that I hated it, mainly because I loved Death of Superman the comic. Some minor spoilers, but they are mostly to the absence of what was in the movie compared to what was in the Comic.

I attended Comic Con San Diego this last Thursday, and although I know I am going to receive shouting and ill will for saying this, but... I hated it. Don't get me wrong, I was a long time lover of the Batman (90's version), Superman, Batman Beyond, and Justice League (unlimited and normal) Animated series and loved how Bruce attempted to sort out the madness of the DC universe into a coherent show. This movie was just a bad move. As you may have heard, he shortened the whole series death, world without and return of superman into one movie. This was the first grunt of displeasure. I loved the Death of Superman Comic, by itself that is. And shortening that to not even include other superheroes made the doomsday fight seem drab and unfeeling. The fight by itself oddly was the best piece of animation in the film, so don't miss that. But without the other superheroes you don't feel the urgency of doomsday. Sure Doomsday pummels the army a bit, but that's a dime a dozen move for any super villain on a rampage. That plus the recasting of Lex Luthor from Clancy Brown, whose depiction of an uncaring business tycoon was the best lex luthor on the screen ever, made me walk into this film with regret. Why would he do this? Why Timm, why? The film felt dull and rushed, although I was glad we didn't get all the other superman wannabes, I felt a few would have made this film a lot better. In short, a few good fight scenes, some memorable music, and a very short lived battle between doomsday and superman. This movie was a wash, and would have been better by leaps and bounds if they had made it into 2 movies, doomsday needed more screen time. I know many of you would want to see it anyways, being loyal fans, and I encourage it. IT is no, I repeat, NO Brainiac Attacks, which made me gag and vomit with Lex Luthor's fiendish.... Hawaiian Luau... gaaaah.... Sadly that would be the last time we would hear Tim Daly and Dana Delany's performances we grew up with. Also, I thought Lex Luthor in this, was NOT good, he was menacing but not like he was in the Superman TAS, more a blunt foe, not the subtle master of deception and evil he was in the TAS. All in all out of 10? A 6, I considered the Death of Superman one of the best comics around, and to have a movie called Doomsday be a 6 is an insult to the source material. I want more characters, more DC in the animated universe, but if it's like this then I say: NAY!

 

[Kevin Roegele]

I haven't been this excited for a direct to video movie...ever.

Unless you count that Paris Hilton sex tape.

 

[Superman1314]

Unless you count that Paris Hilton sex tape.

I guess you have a point.

I find it very odd, and fascinating that there are those that absolutely loved this movie, and those that absolutely hated it. One man's praise is exactly another man's faults.

As the reviewer from the review I posted said, if you were a fan of the original source material and wanted an exact translation you will hate this movie. If you like smallville and reimagining things, you will love this movie.

 

[\S/JcDc\S/]

Creaming myself... done

 

[Matrix_Fan]

My review was on the previous Doomsday board, might as well put it here.

Saw this at Comic-Con. The first half of the film detailing the events that lead to the eventual death of Superman, was perfect. The fight between Doomsday and Superman, the intensity, the darkness, the emotion, the music, the funeral, the little bits between Lois and Clark's Mom, was absolutely amazing. Surely, the last half would skyrocket this film into classic status, right? Well.....

Spoiler

Okay, I know that condensing the Death and Return of Superman into a 75 minute feature is hard, but could we get a better version of Superman coming back, other than "His heart slowed down"? Come on! Also, Jimmy and Lex displayed out of place homoerotic tendencies. Lex makes a clone of Superman, then smacks him around and says "Who's your daddy?" all the while shirtless. And Jimmy gets a pink shirt and an earing on his left ear. Eeek. Lois hilariously has like a billion costume changes, and all of them involve a short skirt. Also, the film ends with a climatic battle with the resurrected Superman and his clone that pretty much copies The Matrix Revolutions, it's not even funny. The film was called Superman: Doomsday, yet the character is only around for the first half of the film. It should have been called The Death and Return Of Superman instead.

So, in conclusion, great first half, but that's it.

5/10

 

[ComicFan83]

I guess you have a point.

I find it very odd, and fascinating that there are those that absolutely loved this movie, and those that absolutely hated it. One man's praise is exactly another man's faults.

As the reviewer from the review I posted said, if you were a fan of the original source material and wanted an exact translation you will hate this movie. If you like smallville and reimagining things, you will love this movie.

I dislike that kind of simplification, though I can see the point. I liked some of what they did with smallville (don't even ask about after the beginning of the 4th season when the show lost all hope of being good...), and was hoping for a better re imagining of doomsday. The source material wasn't perfect (superboy... god...) but it was good enough to include more of it. I wasn't against changing things, I just hated what they changed it into, which was a dumbed down version of death of superman, a good character development of the world without (woulda been better with other DC notables), and a kinda good return... but again missing other DC characters... Changing it to make it more lex orientated, was an interesting change, though it didn't exactly have the usual sinister lex charm of the older TAS. Again, simplifying that we don't like it cause it deviates from the source material, is an oversimplification.

 

[Bishop2]

Yeah, the source material is far from perfect. It's actually kinda flawed in numerous areas. You can't very well put some of that stuff on-screen, like Clark fighting his way back from the afterlife. But instead of making it better... they made it worse by cutting the heart and drama out of it.

Spoiler

Lex displayed out of place homoerotic tendencies. Lex makes a clone of Superman, then smacks him around and says "Who's your daddy?" all the while shirtless.

Is it really out of place though? It's a new interpretation of the characters, and I thought that particular element was an interesting direction. It does have some basis in Smallville, where Lex has frequently come off as really gay for Clark. And don't forget that he was literally STRADDLING Supes when he says that line. And of course...

Spoiler

In his opening monologue, he talks about how "beautiful" he is. t:

It's maybe an unusual reason behind his hatred of Supes - an unrequited crush, basically - but I dunno, I was able to accept it.

 

[ComicFan83]

lol, man, you really can't get over that spin on it can you Bishop :P

 

[Bishop2]

lol, man, you really can't get over that spin on it can you Bishop :P

I thought it was pretty fun. The audience went nuts for the aforementioned straddling scene, too t: Afterwards, I asked my companion - "Hey, you think there was any way that the gay subtext was unintentional?" and she was like "Jesus, did you SEE that scene? There is NO WAY they could not have done that on purpose." lol.

 

[ComicFan83]

Yeah I remember the reaction, were you in the first or second wave of people? I was in the first. Yeah, his line when straddling him.... wtf.....

 

[Kevin Roegele]

I thought it was pretty fun. The audience went nuts for the aforementioned straddling scene, too t: Afterwards, I asked my companion - "Hey, you think there was any way that the gay subtext was unintentional?" and she was like "Jesus, did you SEE that scene? There is NO WAY they could not have done that on purpose." lol.

Never underestimate the power of fanboy denial. I guarentee you'll be explaining/arguing that to unbelievers for years to come.

 

[Dr. Fate]

What is up with Superman boinking Lois and not having the decency to tell her he's Clark Kent? First SR, now this, even in the Justice League series that followed the Superman solo series he doesn't have the decency to tell Lois he's Clark Kent, do the filmmakers/animators see so much hatred for the idea of Superman & Lois Lane being married in the fan base that they just won't put it on screen? "Lois & Clark" not withstanding of course.

 

[ComicFan83]

Yeah, I think making that leap without marriage or at least superman being honest is kinda... sleazy? I dunno if that's the right word to describe it. The thing is, Superman is still very new in terms of coming into the world, so they're kinda jumbling all these storylines and missing big events that were supposed to drive the characters, and you know... develop them?! Instead of developing, they're relying more on our knowledge then actually having the story laid out for us. Another REASON, to make this 2 movies!!!! Instead of throwing it all into one movie, and making this movie a half hearted attempt to reinvigorate the DC Animated universe.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

What is up with Superman boinking Lois and not having the decency to tell her he's Clark Kent?

Because then Clark can go out with, say, Lana, and not only would neither of them know, technically he's not cheating. t:

 

[Bishop2]

Yeah I remember the reaction, were you in the first or second wave of people? I was in the first. Yeah, his line when straddling him.... wtf.....

I was in the first... yeah, funny stuff.

 

[Dr. Fate]

Because then Clark can go out with, say, Lana, and not only would neither of them know, technically he's not cheating. t:

You can't be serious.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

You can't be serious.

I am serious, and don't call me Shirley.

 

[Dr. Fate]

I am serious, and don't call me Shirley.

The Airplane reference would work better if I had actually used the word "surely".

 

[Kevin Roegele]

The Airplane reference would work better if I had actually used the word "surely".

Then it would have been too obvious, and I would have avoided it.

 

[Bishop2]

Then it would have been too obvious, and I would have avoided it.

Agreed. It works better without any logical setup.