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Reviews - The Film
Superman/Doomsday
Original Release Date - September 18th, 2007 (DVD Only)
The most shocking showdown in Superman history! When Lexcorp accidentally unearths the intergalactic serial killer Doomsday,
Superman battles the creature head on in the fight of his
life...literally. The world collectively mourns their fallen hero;
humanity realizes it will never feel truly safe again. Superman's
enemies rejoice all but Lex Luthor, who grieves the loss in his own
demented manner, setting off a chilling chain of events that even he
couldn't have foreseen. Inspired by the bestselling graphic novel of all
time, DC Comics' The Death of Superman, this feature-length animated
adventure boasts exciting action sequences that rivals anything you've
ever seen starring the Man of Steel!
Review and Media by Zach Demeter |
Credits:
Editor Joe Gall
Casting and Voice Direction Andrea Romano
Music by Robert Kral
Line Producer Bobbie Page
Producer Bruce Timm
Executive Producer Sander Schwartz
Story by Duane Capizzi and Bruce Timm
Screenplay by Duane Capizzi
Directed by Bruce Timm, Lauren Montgomery and Brandon Vietti
Animation by Lotto Animation
Voices:
Adam Baldwin as Clark Kent/ Superman
Anne Heche as Lois Lane
James Marsters as Lex Luthor
John DiMaggio as Toyman
Tom Kenny as The Robot
Swoosie Kurtz as Martha Kent
Cree Summer as Mercy Graves
Ray Wise as Perry White
Adam Wylie as Jimmy Olsen
Chris Cox as Damon Swank
Hettie Lynne Hurtes as Newscaster
James Arnold Taylor as Officer Tucker
Townsend Coleman as Drill Operator
Kimberly Brooks as Murphy
Kevin Smith as Grumpy Man
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Review (Zach Demeter)
The first of the animated DC Universe films out of the gate, Superman/Doomsday
has the odd distinction of setting up the “mature” line of animated
projects and at the same time staying true to the source material it’s
based off of, which, while adult, is not exactly anything other than a
bloody fist smear in the DC Comics timeline.
During the 90s when Superman was airing on television in both
live-action (Lois and Clark) and animated (Superman: The
Animated Series) form on television, the Man of Steel was having a
bit of a crisis his comic book (or rather, comic books, as, like now, he
had more than one monthly story going on). Because the writers of Lois
and Clark wanted to be the first to marry Lois and Clark, the comic
book was forced to wait years while the television show played catch up
and the writers were stuck in a rut trying to figure out where to take
the story of Superman for another year now that their original idea had
been pushed to the side.
What followed no one, not even DC Comics, saw coming. When it was
announced that Superman would be dying at the hands of a brutal alien
known as “Doomsday”, the media went nuts. Press picked up stories of
Superman’s impending demise and by the time the comic book had hit comic
shop shelves, lines were forming in the early A.M. hours with fans and
non-fans alike waiting to get their hands on a comic book that would end
the life of the Man of Steel. Many in line read the comic as they
waited, not wanting to wait to see how it ended.
While this was all very dramatic for the Man of Steel and the characters
around him, what followed in the place of his book for a year was
convoluted. Throwing in a myriad of other Supermen to take his place
while the world awaited the true return of Superman, the comic book,
despite being more popular than ever, went from being the one that
killed the Last Son of Krypton to being one loaded down with stories to
extend the life of the story.
Of course that last paragraph was laden with my own personal views on
the comic book. Like many others who read the comic book way after all
of the hoopla died down (I had, in fact, not read the trade paperback of
the comic until after this direct-to-video feature was announced), I was
thoroughly unimpressed with the story. While the documentary on the
story of Superman’s death on the Superman/Doomsday DTV paints the
death of Superman as dramatic, the truth is that even with all the
planning that went into the story and the art, it eventually boiled down
a single page panels of Superman and Doomsday having a knock-down,
drag-out battle. Great and all, but hardly fitting for the Man of Steel
to die over. While it was nothing the comic world had seen before, I’ve
no doubt this started DC Comic’s obsession with creating big, convoluted
stories for nothing more than media attention. Not that you can blame
them—in a world of declining comic book sales, everything helps, but one
tires of the overly dramatic stories all the time.
Still, I can’t completely deny that there weren’t some redeemable
qualities in the book. Despite my dislike of the single-page panels,
they were beautiful to look at and the ensuing depression that washed
over the characters of the book, especially supporting characters like
Bibbo, was heartfelt and truly impacted the reader. In the end though,
the story was created as nothing more to extend the time period between
when Lois and Clark would get married. The story, you could say, was a
giant accident that got so over-hyped that the end result could never
live up to the media attention, no matter the outcome.
And so, already before watching this direct-to-video, I was already
unimpressed with what I’d read of the Doomsday storyline. On top of
that, I had already seen portions of the story adapted into other
episodes of Justice League and Justice League Unlimited,
which I would later realize after watching the film, really hampered my
enjoyment of it. Still, I’ll get to that later, but for now we’ll
discuss the film itself.
Inspired from but not a direct adaptation of the Doomsday storyline, Superman/Doomsday
starts out immediately with much more Luthor than we got in the comic
version. In fact, the key difference between the two is Luthor’s
involvement, which is significant in shaping all three acts of the film.
I don’t want to spoil too much of the film, so I won’t get too into plot
details here though it should be noted that from this
point on there will be spoilers from the film.
Once Doomsday is freed from his containment deep below the Earth’s
crust, his destruction begins and leads him immediately to Metropolis.
Engaged by Superman, the two throw down in one of the most violent and
beautifully choreographed fight sequences I’ve yet to see in DC
Animation. While it’s true a lot of the beats can be traced back to what
we saw in Justice League’s “A Better World” and Justice League
Unlimited’s “Doomsday Sanction”, there is some new moves to be seen
in this fight and the final method Superman uses to take Doomsday out
was new to me (and much more dramatic than what we got in the comic
version).
One thing viewers will also notice right off the bat is the beefed up
role Lois plays in this film over past animated appearances of her.
Right off the bat we see that she and Superman are romantically
involved, although she isn’t painted as a naïve reporter and immediately
gets on Superman’s case for not revealing his secret identity to him
(which she correctly guesses is Clark Kent—take that puny glasses
disguise!). That’s one cool thing about this adaptation is Lois is given
a much stronger role and isn’t simultaneously written as someone who is
a great investigative reporter and yet completely overlooks the
Superman/Clark connections.
The new voice cast in the film is also superb. I’m always wary of new
voices for characters when I’ve grown so used to their past actors. The
only newcomers I have qualms with is Cree Summer’s Mercy Graves and Anne
Heche’s Lois, which, while giving the character a certain strength,
doesn’t seem to mesh with the design which is overly thin and young
looking (especially odd when paired with the much older looking Superman
design). The issue with Summer’s Grave’s stems from the fact that woman
seems to only have two voices (her own and a mix of children voices),
making everyone of her voices sound the same.
Adam Baldwin and James Marsters, however, are the definite highlights of
the film. Baldwin’s voice is much deeper as Superman and I oddly didn’t
have an issue adjusting to the voice at all, despite questioning it by
the little I’d heard in clips from the film. Marsters Luthor is
perfectly sinister and I daresay it rivals Clancy Brown’s. As
blasphemous as that my sound, I surprised myself while typing that, but
after watching the film a couple times, Marsters really gives a rocking
performance that is easily one of the highlights of the film. As cool as
the original cast for these characters is, one of the exciting things
about these films is the new cast we get to hear new interpretations and
without Marsters in this film, I doubt it would have much of a lasting
appeal.
Also new to the world of DC animation is the composer Robert Kral of
Angel fame (I think Bruce Timm likes to steal as much from Joss
Whedon as he can, whether it be voice actors or composers). Kral manages
to incorporate a wealth of music that all sounds like it belong in the
world of Superman. Not only does his score start off with the signature
John Williams “bum-ba-duh” intro, but it eventually carries off into
scores reminiscent of Justice League Unlimited, all the while
sounding fresh and new. There were a few particular music cues that
stuck out, most of which are all repeated in the end credits music and
there are some very nice dramatic cues throughout as well, during
Superman’s funeral and Lois’s discussion with Martha Kent. Overall a
very strong score and one of which I would love to have a copy of.
Hopefully if Warner continues to follow the trail Marvel has blazed in
live-action and animated features, we’ll eventually see some of the DC
Animated Universe film scores up on iTunes. Quick, easy and cheap
distribution, Warner! Bring it on!
Despite being an all-around well crafted animated venture,
Superman/Doomsday fails to be the truly revolutionary “mature”
outing fans are no doubt hoping it will be. While there is certainly
more in the film than what the television show could get away with, what
with the few “ass” and “hells” here and there for language, the excess
splattering of violence and gore and the not-subtle-in-the-least scenes
with Lois and Superman together alone in the Fortress of Solitude and
her apartment, it ultimately feels like the only reason it was rated
PG-13 was for the things that people only associate with “mature”
animation, which is the aforementioned extra language and violence.
Of course that’s a strong reason for an animated film to be rated higher
than it has to be, but this film really doesn’t take advantage of the
extra room given to it. With it adapting a storyline we’ve seen split
across two plotlines in past DC animation TV shows, it’s hard to be too
excited about seeing Superman fight Doomsday again or seeing how the
world reacts when Superman dies. I fully understand the desire to do a
DTV of the epic Superman death that caused newspapers across the world
to cover it when the original comic book hit, but at this point in time
we’ve seen it in comics and we’ve seen it in animation before, so we’re
essentially just getting a third adaptation of the same characters and
story, which is really a shame to devote such a large budget to
something that’s really just a retread in the end.
Another issue I have with the film is that even before we saw Doomsday
in Justice League I knew Bruce Timm was no fan of the “Death of
Superman” storyline in the comics. Doomsday’s appearance in Justice
League was cool and a once one-dimensional comic book character was
given a new life in later episodes of Justice League Unlimited
when his origin was revealed. Still, watching Timm go back to Doomsday
so soon and essentially re-trimming his character down again to a one
dimensional killing machine makes me wonder how much pressure DC Comics
was putting on the creative team to make the Doomsday story be the first
of the mature animated ventures. Despite Timm stating that he and
Capizzi initially brushed off the idea of doing Superman/Doomsday
in favor of doing some other comic book adaptation and eventually caving
when they realized there was potential in doing this film, in the end,
while it was a fine effort, is going to really surprise anyone. It’s
by-the-books and the only shock value comes from not seeing the amount
of violence before in an animated Superman outing.
This brings me to another point about the film: the violence. I
mentioned it above a bit in how it feels tacked on, but the “mature”
elements of the film are really nothing that couldn’t have been left
out. Sure it’s cool to see Superman get punched in the face three times
and then three more in the gut (I love mindless violence) and at no time
does the film feel obnoxiously violent, I just don’t think Warner’s
incessant instance on upping the violence and making it “darker” lent
itself well to the project. If the comic they’re adapting into animation
doesn’t immediately lend itself to a stronger MPAA rating from the get
go (New Frontier and Judas Contract, for example, already
have a stronger subject matter from the get go, purely because of how
they were written and the issues they deal with, while the “Death of
Superman” storyline was just pure violence), then it shouldn’t be forced
to become a PG-13 film just so it can be marketed as an adult film. Even
though there are no frivolous one-liners from the characters to appeal
to children, there is nothing in here aside from the sexed up
relationship between Superman and Lois that parents could truly find
objectionable to show to their young ones. And even then with the likes
of young Hollywood starlets constantly flooding headlines about their
sexual exploits, I don’t think Superman sleeping with a lady friend
would really faze children that much in this day and age.
I don’t want my review to come off as negative—I really enjoyed the film
and the more I write about it the more I find I liked about it. The
animation was spot on and there were only a few instances I noticed
oddly proportioned models and not once did anything seem sloppy to me,
not even the CGI. The voice acting, as mentioned before, is top notch
and there was a lot to like about the film…I just wasn’t so entertained
by it because I knew what was coming. Yeah Capizzi and Timm did a great
job at adapting a new telling of this story with Luthor’s involvement,
but in the end it is just a retelling and nothing that is going to
resonate with fans much when other adaptations of comic books that are
less exposed are revealed (after viewing the ten minute preview reel on
the Superman/Doomsday DVD for The New Frontier, my
anticipation for that film jumped tenfold) for the first time in
animated form.
Also something I want to tackle is the complaints the film immediately
attracted when Duane Capizzi’s name was attached to it. Capizzi’s
previous Superman outing, Brainiac Attacks is, without a doubt
one of the worst animated DC titles I’ve seen in my life. I even
eloquently called the movie a “pile of horse crap” in my original review
of the film and I still stand by it; however, Capizz is in no means a
bad writer. I know the man can write extremely well and it was later
revealed the extenuating circumstances behind the Brainiac
Attacks mess (explained in our own interview with Duane Capizzi
here), so those who
are in the least bit worried about his name being attached to this or
future DC projects need not worry—Capizzi in no way needs to defend his
writing credentials, neither before or after Brainiac Attacks,
but for those that feel he has to will be shut up after
Superman/Doomsday — it’s nothing short of a superb outing in the
writing area and I’m sure his next outing, also a DC animated film, will
be great fun to watch as well.
In a sense, Superman/Doomsday is simply a couple years too late.
If you ignore the existence of the previous telling of Doomsday and the
death of Superman in Timm’s animated series then this film is
immediately much stronger. It does a superb job in showcasing Doomsday’s
destructive force and just how much the world would mourn the loss of
Superman and throughout the film Capizzi and Timm have written excellent
scenes for all of the characters, ranging from the child-loving Toyman
(talk about creepy—although hearing John DiMaggio’s voice emit from this
version only made me laugh as it was so close to that of Bender from
Futurama) to the new area Jimmy Olsen’s character traveled to
after Superman’s death, we get a smattering of new character
explorations throughout that keep the film fresh and new viewers will no
doubt be enthralled by the quality of the writing, animation and voice
acting in this film. In the end, even with the burden of past stories on
its shoulders, Superman/Doomsday comes Recommended.
Review (James Harvey)
If you believe Superman has gotten tired and stale, think again!
Superman Doomsday is not only an excellent movie, but also shows
just how edgy and even twisted Superman can be when in capable hands.
With Bruce Timm and Duane Capizzi overseeing the project, it’s no wonder
that the film has an emotional core to go along with the very bloody
action. And yes, there’s blood. Let’s cut to the chase and get to the
synopsis, shall we?
When Lexcorp accidentally unearths the intergalactic serial killer
Doomsday, Superman battles the creature head on in the fight of his
life…literally. The world collectively mourns their fallen hero;
humanity realizes it will never feel truly safe again. Superman’s
enemies rejoice – all but Lex Luthor, who grieves the loss in his own
demented manner, setting off a chilling chain of events that even he
couldn’t have foreseen. Produced by Bruce Timm (Justice League
Unlimited, Batman: The Animated Series) and written by Duane
Capizzi (The Batman, The Batman vs. Dracula), Superman
Doomsday is inspired by the best-selling graphic novel of all time,
DC Comics' The Death of Superman. This feature-length animated
movie boasts exciting action sequences that rival anything you’ve ever
seen starring the Man of Steel.
That last line of the synopsis has it pretty dead-on, I must admit.
There is a massive amount of action in this movie. From the opening
battle with Doomsday, to some jaw-dropping action in the middle, all
leading up to an amazing and . . . simply excellent finale, this movie
is dripping in action, from beginning to end. Those looking for long,
complex action sequences and relentless battles will not be let down.
Like I said earlier however, this movie also has a heart to go with it.
That alone saves this movie from being just a mindless action movie.
There’s heart in here, which I’ll get into in a moment. What I do want
to say now is there will be spoilers up ahead. Skip to the last
paragraph if you do not want the movie ruined for you.
Still there? Okay! Now, there’s plenty of action. An abundance of
action, really. It’s over the top and very exciting. You can almost feel
every punch that Doomsday or Superman deal out. They not only look
painful, but they sound painful. That, to me, and as Timm points out in
the commentary, sells the battle between Superman and Doomsday. It’s a
massive battle, which ends with Doomsday defeated and Superman
(seemingly) dead. Yes, that’s right . . . Doomsday dies pretty quickly
in this movie. But the movie isn’t really about Doomsday. He’s just sets
the movie in motion. After a haunting pre-credit teaser with Luthor,
we’re introduced to each character and their assorted situations. Lois
is, of course, front and center, and it serves the movie well. She’s
dating Superman and knows that he is Clark Kent. But, she’s getting
angry with the Man of Steel because he won’t tell her his secret
identity. He won’t trust her, and it’s causing a rift in their
relationship.
Without saying, this movie belongs to Lois Lane. When Superman is killed
in battle, for the time being, the movie shifts to her for a
heart-breaking second act. She is desperate for someone to reach out and
ends up going to see Martha Kent, leading to an amazing scene between to
the two women on her Martha’s doorstep. It’s a simply wonderful scene,
and is exceedingly well done.
But how is the movie, overall? Do the new voice actors work? Do the new
designs work? Is the story good? Well, worry-not! Capizzi has turned in
a great story. It has action, heart, and some serious grit. Plus, it has
a lot of great shock moments. Sure, some of the shocks are gratuitous
(which Timm and Capizzi own up to in the commentary), but it’s a great
movie. And yes, it’s over the top. The action is considerably amped up
than anything Timm and Capizzi have ever done before. I think that was
fairly obvious when we see Superman spit up a pool of blood for the
first time.
Sometimes I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes. There were some moments
which had me absolutely stunned. I won’t ruin them all, but . . . my jaw
hit the floor a fair amount of times. There is one scene, involving the
now pedophile-esque Toyman, which fans will be talking about. It’s very
similar to a scene from the The Death of Superman storyline, but
the ending is . . . well . . . a little bit different here. Once you see
the scene, you’ll know what I‘m talking about. On top of the real
jaw-dropper scenes, there are a couple real twisted ones, too. There’s
one which, again, I won’t ruin, involves Superman requiring the use of
salon mirror. There’s also a very intense scene between Superman and
Luthor that the fans will undoubtedly be talking about . . . I have no
doubt about that. It’s a very strong scene that is just seeping in
subtext and layers.
Of course, there’s the final battle where Superman faces off against . .
. well… I don’t want to spoil the ending, but I will say that it’s a
great fight. It’s a natural progression as the story unfolds. From
Superman’s death, to Lois’s mourning, to the realization that . . . well
. . . I know I said there’d be spoilers involved, but I just can’t ruin
everything. It’ll be easy to figure out, I will admit, as the story
unfolds. Once Superman . . . well . . . returns, it gets pretty
interesting. I read some critiques where the ending was too predictable
or too simple. But, for me, it works. When Superman faces off against
his foe in final battle, it’s a helluva battle. While I can’t say
outright who it is, I will drop a slight hint: Bizarro. If you put your
clues together, and watch the trailer a couple times, you should be able
to figure out who Superman dukes it out with in the final act. Now, it’s
not Bizarro . . . that’s just the hint.
Or is it Bizarro . . . ?
Okay, I'm done messing with you! So how does the voice talent measure
up? Well, once again, Andrea Romano has hit it out of the park. Every
recast role sounds great. For the sake of the review, I’ll focus mainly
on Superman, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor. Those are the three main roles,
and, I have to admit, I was curious to see how the new actors would play
in their respective roles. Overall, they sell their roles.
Anne Heche starts off a bit rocky as Lois Lane but, as the movie gets
going, she really hits it home. She has a great scene in the second act
where she meets Martha Kent, a scene that I mentioned earlier, and Anne
Heche makes Lois Lane sound so human. She’s broken past her ‘tough girl’
exterior and is fully exposed. James Marsters assumes the role of Lex
Luthor and, yes, he’s a scumbag here. He’s evil, manipulative, and so
slimy. Marsters brings an indescribable ooziness to Luthor, one that I
don’t think even Clancy Brown could’ve brought. He’s just so . . . slimy
and cold. Finally, Adam Baldwin brings Superman to life, so to speak,
and he’s excellent in the role. While he seems a bit too gruff for Clark
Kent, he fits Superman pretty well. I thought I’d have a difficult time
getting accustomed to these new voice performers, but it was so easy,
given the overall great job they did with the movie. I do want to add
that John DiMaggio is an absolutely creepy Toyman. You’ll see why when
you see the movie.
I’m not sure what I can really add about the designs, either. Bruce Timm
seems to have taken a bit of inspiration from Jim Lee with his Superman,
given the massive chin and cheeks. It works okay, but can sometimes be
so distracting. Superman looks, of course, ridiculously buff in his
Clark Kent persona. Lois Lane looks fine, and seems to be a mix of Jim
Lee’s version and Kate Bosworth from Superman Returns. Lex
Luthor, however, has an interesting 1940’s design to him, almost
Fleischer-esque. It’s actually a pretty refreshing take on the
character, and it surprisingly fits with the surprisingly timely plot of
the movie.
Personally, I had an absolute blast with this movie. I took it all in,
enjoying every bit of it. The directing, handled by Brand Vietti, Lauren
Montgomery, and Bruce Timm, is absolutely top-notch. Whether it was the
over-the-top fight scenes, the heartfelt moments, or the really twisted
scenarios, I enjoyed the entire movie. I imagine some people will have a
problem with it. Some won’t like seeing Superman so violent and,
sometimes, very over the top. Some won’t like the very dark and twisted
take on Luthor, especially those used to the heartless businessman from
recent years. However, if you acknowledge that this movie will be
different than whatever has come before, you should be able to enjoy it.
The movie is just enjoyable from beginning to end, full of surprises and
shocks. There is at least one death I did not see coming, and there’s
more than a couple scenes that made my jaw drop. Whether it was the
intensity of a fight, the revelation, or just a beautifully executed
moment, this is a movie that DC and animation fans will definitely
enjoy.
And, be warned, this movie is definitely not for kids. The death toll in
this movie is staggering, and some of the deaths are shockingly graphic.
Superman Doomsday is defiantly meant for the PG-13 & Up crowd. |
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