The BIG problem with DC animated movies -

[Know One]

Hello,

I don't know if you'll agree/disagree or even better if you'd like to add on...

"My" problem with DC animated movies is that they are mostly adaptations from a storyline or very successful one shot story. ...and... The comic(s) is always more "rich" and animation is not exactly Superman Fleischer. So, we always wind up with a lot of stuff missing - because the animation will stick to what's REALLY needed to move the story forward. As in the comics - we have little winks and so on. Classic case that comes to mind is All Star Superman - I wish DC never had made that one. There was so much stuff missing. I'd say the only positive thing about it was that it made me appreciate more the comic.

Know One.

 

[Wesley Dodds]

You have to try to appreciate the DC animated movies for what they are. Most of the criticism I've encountered over them basically amounts to "It's different from the book".
Well, yeah. So what?

 

[Know One]

I don't find them "different" - I find them "less". Different is ok because otherwise you'd have a cut and paste with panels that move. I don't mind different, I like different. But...maybe that's just me?

 

[Wesley Dodds]

It depends which movie you're talkng about. They're all made by different guys so you cant lump them all in together.
While I agree that stuff like Babel and Crisis On Multiple Earths were lacking, a movie like Year One is not "less" at all. In fact, a better job of bringing the book to life would be hard to do.
In cases like Under The Red Hood, the movie wound up being more satisfying than the source material.

 

[Know One]

I meant as a general rule but most of the ones I've seen had Superman in it. When it was an original (Brainiac Attacks) it was good. When it was a storyline (the Death of Superman), it was less.
What is your opinion if you had to generalize?

 

[Anubis]

The problem is that, basically, they have to try to cram a 90 - 2HR story into like, 75 minutes. The fault lies with Warner Bros, sadly.

Also, Braniac Attacks sucked.

 

[Know One]

Well, the advantage with Brainiac Attacks was there was not really a source to compare it to. However, I'm quite ticked off with Brainiac being a product of Krypton. Whereas, he used to be from Colu. I think Johns has rectified this.

 

[Anubis]

Well, it was tied into the Animated Series. It had Brainy being the cause of Krypton exploding. I mean, it worked for the show. One can separate a show from the source material.....unless it's like wildly off track of course. Personally, I think because it was tied to STAS is why it sucked. Not because STAS sucked. It was quite awesome actually. It sucked because it was such a drastic departure from the show, which it was supposed to be a part of........which was weird. Plus, Lex in that movie seemed like he was on Meth or something.

 

[Know One]

...think I'm going to have to re-watch this to make a better appreciation...

 

[metaphysician]

IMO, having Brainiac be from Krypton was one of the better changes done by Superman:TAS. It gave Brainiac a much stronger tie to the Superman mythos, and dealt with most of the plot holes re: Krypton's destruction. Plus, "alien AI" is a more coherent concept than what Brainiac has usually been.

 

[Know One]

What ticks me off and has been continuated is that every menace is from Krypton or comes from Superman. Except for Superman the Movie, SII has evil Kryptonians, SIII has evil Supes, SIV has a villain made from Superman and SR has Luthor creating a continent with Kryptonian crystal. Now, Brainiac is from Krypton???? It's like Superman is bringing trouble except of fixing it.

 

[Anubis]

Yeah, it's lazy writing.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I wish they would stop adapting, and let the film writers write their own stories. These writers have shown that they know what they're doing with the characters. Let them be creative.

 

[Spider‐Man]

Hello,

I don't know if you'll agree/disagree or even better if you'd like to add on...

"My" problem with DC animated movies is that they are mostly adaptations from a storyline or very successful one shot story. ...and... The comic(s) is always more "rich" and animation is not exactly Superman Fleischer. So, we always wind up with a lot of stuff missing - because the animation will stick to what's REALLY needed to move the story forward. As in the comics - we have little winks and so on. Classic case that comes to mind is All Star Superman - I wish DC never had made that one. There was so much stuff missing. I'd say the only positive thing about it was that it made me appreciate more the comic.

Know One.

Being someone who doesn't read DC I have found all the animated films to be very enjoyable and superior to Marvel's.

 

[Ipodman]

In cases like Under The Red Hood, the movie wound up being more satisfying than the source material.

I agree with Red Hood movie being better than the comic.

And with all these DC (or even Marvel) animated movies, if it makes non-comic readers take interest in these stories and characters, I say why not.

 

[Baramos]

I wish they would stop adapting, and let the film writers write their own stories. These writers have shown that they know what they're doing with the characters. Let them be creative.

If they were going to do that they might as well bring back some new animated series...of course they do have Young Justice, Green Lantern, and now Beware the Batman is in the pipeline...

But yeah the last truly original one was the first in this new series and that was Gotham Knight, and some of the stories were hit or miss in my opinion...

For a good Superman adaptation I thought Superman vs. the Elite was not only one of the best ones it was one of the best of all of them. I'd put it on par with Under the Red Hood or Year One.

The changes to Superman: Doomsday/Death of Superman storyline I thought were pretty good. In retrospect a lot of the replacement supermen were kind of just put in there for filler and to sell more comic books and series. I saw no problem with their 76 minute adaptation just using the clone one. Same thing with Under the Red Hood, no more nonsense about Superboy Prime banging on the walls of time-space or whatever, changing it to Ra's Al'Ghul and a Lazarus pit was actually just a better way to do the story.

EDIT: Oh, and they are pretty much giving The Dark Knight Returns the full movie treatment by doing it in two parts.

 

[Anubis]

Which is what they shoulda done with that Death of Superman.

But if TDKR is a success, a proper Kingdom Come adaptation would be the dogs bollocks.

 

[Baramos]

I think they only did it with TDKR because it's probably the most famous Batman graphic novel, for better or worse.

I think the only one that really rated as highly was Death of Superman (that one was actually a national sensation back in the day) and yeah, they already did that one...

 

[ChickenScratch]

My problem with the DC animated movies are their running time. Sure I buy every one because I'm a DC guy, but I wish they would make a longer movie. An hour and a half, two hours, I always feel like I get less than I should when buying a DVD movie.

Superman Doomsday still has the two greatest Superman fights ever on film.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Ive become really selective now with which DTVs I buy since I am tired of getting S/B/JL dtvs over and over again. And while it is always nice to see the stories adapted to an animated format, I would like to see some original stories again.

 

[The Joker]

I enjoy the DC animated movies for what they are; adaptions of a comic book story. Sometimes they even make it better than the comic story. Under the Red Hood is a good example of that.

 

[Baramos]

My problem with the DC animated movies are their running time. Sure I buy every one because I'm a DC guy, but I wish they would make a longer movie. An hour and a half, two hours, I always feel like I get less than I should when buying a DVD movie.

Superman Doomsday still has the two greatest Superman fights ever on film.

I still don't think I've bought one full-priced. I got most of them for five dollars or so months after they came out or on Amazon. Not sure why they charge 20 dollars for them--they're definitely more the ten dollar variety of things.

 

[ChickenScratch]

I like to get them new, you get features you sometimes don't get months later. The 2 disc ones with lots of features and a couple Batman, Superman or JLA episodes or a new cartoon. Months later you tend to find just the movie.

But yeah, you are paying movie prices for something way too short. Give us a 2 hour movie!

 

[Arach Knight]

I enjoy most DC Animated features and in fact "own" most of them (I have not bought Superman Doomsday, Suerman vs. The Elite, All-Star Superman, Justice League: New Frontier, The Dar Knight Returns or Batman Gotham Knight). I don't mind the fact that the films retell existing plots from existing materials. After all, every major comic film thus far, animated or otherwise, has been an adaption of some existing story. My only complaint is that some of the animated features do not have sufficient decompression. Not that I am expecting Bendis like decompression (a tad too slow at times), but some films obciously draw to a rather rapid conclusion. However, given the depth of the plots being covered, it is amazing how the writers are able to extract so much of the material and render a comprehenisble version of the story. It's an art form to say the least.

 

[bkong0]

It'd be nice if they were longer, some certainly deserve it, but I'm sure it's a budgets/profit issue. I imagine they'd be even more successful if they WERE even better adaptations but DC probably decided the 90~ minute range is the best they can do for risk/profits.