Superman/Doomsday review

Superman/Doomsday is the movie that Superman Returns should have been -- a movie that ignores all that went before and gives a completely fresh take, one complete with not one, but two, incredible Superman fight scenes -- yes he punches the bad guy! It’s violent, it’s funny, its dramatic, it’s romantic – exactly what every REAL superhero movie should have, something seen in live action recently only with X2, Batman Begins and the first two Spider-Man movies. This is the best feature-length Superman movie since Christopher Reeve first donned the cape in 1978.

Superman/Doomsday, the first of DC’s new animated direct-to-video projects based on actual comics’ storylines, hits stores this week, and man was I ready for it. I recently re-read the trilogy of trade paperbacks on which this was based, not that I needed a new re-read to familiarize myself with the biggest Superman story since his debut in 1938, but I wanted to get myself psyched for this animated adaptation. I was not disappointed in the re-read, and in fact like some parts of it even more. And I was certainly not disappointed in the new animated version.

There have been complaints about this movie, most before anyone had even seen it, so let’s get those out of the way. The complaints have been the following 1) it doesn’t follow the original comics’ storyline; 2) it doesn’t have the voice cast of the recent Superman/Justice League (Unlimited) animated series, and 3) what’s with the lines on Superman’s face. My responses are as follows: 1) so what? 2) it shouldn’t; and 3) who cares?

Seriously, there’s no way to get everything in from the original storyline and do you really want everything? I know what it really boils down to -- why didn’t it have the 4 pretender Supermen that appeared in Superman’s absence. While that would have been cool to see, it’s just too much for an animated feature, and I think their solution paid sufficient homage to that part of the original storyline, while not directly following it. There are plenty of other aspects of that story – Luthor’s appearance/status, the role of the JLA and Supergirl, that were a significant part of the comic story, but really had no place in this stand-alone movie.

The voice cast was different because this is a different version in a different world, one we haven’t seen before, one in which Superman is the only hero (hence no JLA); every character (except Superman and Doomsday) look completely different than how they were previously portrayed, and had different voices. It makes sense for this version. That leads to the complaint about the lines in Superman's face. Except for those pronounced cheekbones, Superman did look pretty much the way he did in the previous animated series, making the one addition to the look stand out more. If they had used a different model, that particular feature would not have stood out so much. A minor quibble for a Superman who’s supposed to have been around for awhile in this version. But Luthor, Lois, Perry, Jimmy and Ma Kent all looked and sounded different than their previous animated incarnations, as they should have.

Now the movie itself. No spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen it. It’s divided into three acts, just like the comics: Superman vs. Doomsday, world without a Superman; and Superman returns (is that a spoiler, I don’t think so, did you expect him to STAY dead?!) As I mentioned earlier, the first and third acts have tremendous fight scenes. Superman cutting loose like you’ve never seen before in any animated or live-action version. And boy, does the man like his heat vision. it’s rated PG-13, so there are a few things that might seem out of place in a Superman cartoon – bloody violence, implied sex, drinking and mild swearing, not to mention actual death. But, it’s handled well, nothing a kid wouldn’t see in any PG or PG-13 live-action movie.

There’s a different take on Luthor here, one that makes him more reptilian than we’ve seen previously, and the classic Lois/Superman/Clark triangle is handled extremely well here, in a way that doesn’t insult the intelligence of an investigative reporter confronted with a pair of glasses.

I started off this review by saying it ignores everything that happened previously, but that’s not completely true. There are a few visual touches that honor previous versions, like the robot from the 1940s Fleischer cartoons, the Brainiac head from the Superman animated series, as well as other little touches that evoke the movies, Smallville and the comics on which the story is based.

The movie’s not perfect, but if you want to see Superman cut loose, a truly evil Luthor and a mature look at the Superman/Lois relationship, you will like this. No fanboy nitpicking allowed.

The DVD includes a couple of cool special features worth mentioning – a 40+ minute documentary on the original storyline interviewing most of the original creators and a 10+ minute feature on the next DC animated DVD project, Justice League; The New Frontier, which includes more than what was previously seen online. There’s also a feature-length commentary, but I haven’t gotten to that yet. Both the comics documentary and The New Frontier featurette are very enjoyable and worth watching at least once, if you are at all interested in those things, which of course I am. As much as I enjoyed Superman/Doomsday, I am looking forward to The New Frontier even more.

I loved it. My complaints are so minor, they’re not even worth mentioning. I need to watch it again. Highly recommended!