SDCC '07: SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY REVIEW

[MattBrady]

by Tom Bondurant

Superman: Doomsday consists essentially of two bunker-busting fight scenes separated by a pretty good Lois Lane story. It's not really a stripped-down retelling of the 1992-93 Superman titles' death/funeral/return arcs. Instead, it diverts significantly from that source material in order to make its story accessible. The result is simple but not dumbed-down. In fact, Duane Capizzi's script offers surprises with regard to Superman's relationships with both Lois and Luthor. As for the fighting, while the "PG-13" approach of this direct-to-video line allows for harder hits and more blood, the movie has to work against the audience's expectations about the outcomes of those fights, and presents spectacle and carnage to illustrate the high stakes. Overall, the movie is fairly effective through its first two acts, but its third (the "return") falters. However, it rights itself by focusing on Lois again at the end. A viewer who rents or buys Superman: Doomsday looking for the punching and combat absent from Superman Returns will probably be satisfied, a parent who gets the video for a younger child may find it a little too mature, and that hypothetical member of the general public who just likes Superman may be kind of confused.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

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One of the movie's most significant departures from the original comics is its rollback of the Superman/Lois/Clark triangle. They're not married, and Lois doesn't know the secret -- but she's still dating Superman. What's more, they're apparently close enough that she appears in the Fortress of Solitude wearing only a towel, and later a red bathrobe (to match the Man of Steel's). Still, she only calls him "Superman," although he reminds her about "Kal-El." While this smacks of classic Silver Age Superdickery (TM), it sets up a couple of plot points, including Lois' traditional investigation into Superman's alter ego. Lois also claims that Supes' familiar justifications for a secret identity really mask his fear of commitment.

Doomsday (never named as such, only called a "doomsday machine" in dialogue) comes between them, of course. His introductory scenes are staged quite well, suggesting a creature that exists purely to destroy. Doomsday is brutal and deadly, killing ordinary humans on screen, or as close thereto as a PG-13 sensibility will allow. He also kills a couple of animals, one in a sequence inspired by the comics. At times this threatens to go over the top (at one point Superman coughs up blood), but on the whole director Brandon Vietti succeeds at making Doomsday a credible threat. Because of its length, the movie also has to use Doomsday to establish Superman's power levels, and this it does efficiently as well. If you've ever talked back to the screen as a moving-picture Superman seems to forget he has, say, heat vision, you won't have that problem here.

Superman is played by Adam Baldwin, who does right by the role, on the level with Tim Daly and George Newbern. Baldwin doesn't have to do much heavy lifting beyond grunting during the fight scenes, and he only has a couple of scenes as Clark. It's not a bad performance, and it doesn't reinvent the Super-wheel, but it doesn't really need to. Lois is the star of much of the show.

After Superman's death, Lois realizes that Clark (ostensibly in Afghanistan as part of his foreign-correspondent duties) isn't coming back either, and this prompts her to share her grief with Martha Kent (Pa Kent apparently having died already). As Lois, Anne Heche gets stuck with a clumsy bit of exposition right off the bat, but she soon gets very comfortable in the role. Her scenes with Swoosie Kurtz (who plays Ma Kent), directed by Lauren Montgomery, are particularly good. Lois is very proactive throughout the movie, flying helicopters into combat zones and infiltrating LexCorp; and again, she keeps the plot moving through the second act.

As you'd expect, Lex Luthor, played by James Marsters, is the piece's main villain. Fans of the Timmverse will compare him, not unreasonably, to Clancy Brown, but he does a decent enough job here. His Luthor has more empathy for Superman, because his Luthor sees how Superman fails to live up to his potential. This will become important in the third act, but I will not spoil the movie any farther.

The cast is rounded out for the most part by Adam Wylie (Jimmy Olsen), Tom Kenny (Kelex), and John DiMaggio (Toyman). With Lois taking over the second act, Jimmy virtually becomes the audience-identification character, and even enjoys his own subplot. Kelex exists largely for comic relief, almost in an L-Ron capacity. Toyman opens up the third act by showing just how bad all forms of crime have gotten in post-Superman Metropolis. His fate helps frame the final fight. Each of these actors are experienced with voice work, and they are good as always here.

Again, I won't spoil the return except to say that the Four Substitute Supermen don't appear. However, the movie's own substitution is less satisfying the more I think about it. At first, Supes' return seems too easy. While its explanation is more plausible than the comics' (which was basically an Act Of God), it doesn't raise the stakes as much as it should. There may be subtle differences between the opening and closing fights, and afterwards the filmmakers acknowledged the need to differentiate the two, but the movie could have profited greatly by introducing a Mongul/alien-invasion motif which would more clearly make the ending A Job For Superman. As it stands, the ending is a meditation on the nature of being Superman, viewed through the lens of all-out super-combat.

The look of Superman: Doomsday clearly comes from Bruce Timm's designs, but the differences are great enough to remind the viewer that this is not a Timmverse story. Superman and Luthor get the biggest makeovers. Luthor perpetually wears white, which is a clear thematic choice reflecting his own viewpoint. However, while Superman's design is fairly reminiscent of the Timmverse, his cheekbones and chin are so pronounced, they're distracting. Other than that, the movie's look is very clean and crisp, and the fight scenes expertly use brief slow-motion and "shockwave" effects.

In the end, a viewer may find Superman: Doomsday only partially successful. The fight scenes are executed well, and the middle part where Lois takes the spotlight is also done well, but the third act doesn't do enough to improve on the first. The DVD is at least worth renting, though, and if you're collecting Superman animated fights, these stack up nicely against the Man of Steel's Justice League bouts with Darkseid.

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The last part of the panel involved behind-the-scenes information from the directors and screenwriter. They then showed a brief promotional piece for Spring 2008's Justice League: The New Frontier. Among other things, it confirmed the main cast: David Boreanaz as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, Kyle MacLachlan as Superman, Lucy Lawless as Wonder Woman, Neil Patrick Harris as the Flash, and Jeremy Sisto as Batman.

Newsarama's Comic-Con International '07 coverage is brought to you by Witchblade – The Anime Series. Available on DVD September 25th. Click here to view trailer.

[AngDawPac]

First post!! I really can't wait to see this one. Great review.

[cncoyle]

I know I'll still watch it, but it sounds like they tried to shoehorn the Death of Superman story but dropped most of the key elements like Lois's & Clark's relationship and especially the four Supermen. I'm intrigued to see what they replaced Steel, Eradicator, Superboy and Cyborg Henshaw with, but those four characters were way too interesting to ignore, imo. They wouldn't have to do the destruction of Coast City, per se, but right now I'd rather see a final battle of Superman, Steel, Eradicator and Superbooy against Cyborg, Mongul and their invading army rather than a "meditation on the nature of being Superman". But who knows, maybe it's going to be a decent flick...

[BlackDog]

It sounds like a classic already. I'm excited about this one, particularly because it's the beginning of what seems great animated movies by WB and they are the number 1 animation machine when it comes to television imo.

[Spirit of 81]

When does this come out on DVD?

[SpyGuy]

Originally Posted by Spirit of 81

When does this come out on DVD?

September 18th

[Binker]

I wonder about the Lois/Clark/Superman. Yes, it goes back to the Silver Age, actually let's just say "it goes back to pre-Crisis". But what about the end? Does it change. I remember Lois in the trailer saying "Clark", but with more of a gasp in her voice.

[SouthtownKid]

Honestly, for all the differences, it actually sounds better than the comic to me.

[BornToRun]

I'm really reluctant to get excited about this, and the review does nothing to assuage my fears that it will disappoint. The Reign was infinitely more interesting than the death, which was basically just a long, cool fight scene.

[Uchiha_Prodigy]

Lucy Lawless as Wonder Woman? doood.....

[btjs]

Nothing more charming than Superman f___ing Lois while keeping his identity secret! I hated that ____ in SR and I hate it here.

[supes0]

Originally Posted by btjs

Nothing more charming than Superman f___ing Lois while keeping his identity secret! I hated that ____ in SR and I hate it here.

Agreed. It's dishonest. Her knowing was an important element of the story, I can't believe they removed it.

[SageShini]

Originally Posted by BornToRun

I'm really reluctant to get excited about this, and the review does nothing to assuage my fears that it will disappoint. The Reign was infinitely more interesting than the death, which was basically just a long, cool fight scene.

Which they also killed by taking out the Justice League, thus sort of ruining the pre-hype of the fight. Doomsday can bust up normal humans and animals all day...it just makes him seem evil/cruel. But when he singlehandedly takes down the Justice League without breaking a sweat...well, NOW he's an A-class threat and it makes you wonder how Superman stands a chance.

As far as this review....it told me nothing I wasn't expecting, though it did sort of cement my decision that I wasn't buying the movie and I didn't need to. Thinking on it, maybe its best they called it Superman: Doomsday and not Death of Superman or whatever since that's really not what it is. In fact, the longer I think on it the more I realize it might be best if this were separated from the other two movies that seem to be direct adaptations of the original stories, since its not that. Its something else entirely, whether you believe that to be a good or bad thing is up to you but there's so much different that you really can't argue it.

The review doesn't SAY exactly, but does it even try to imitate the original art? I imagine that would be hard considering it adapts three different stories and though I only read one (Death of Superman), I imagine it changes each time and that'd be a lot of work even if it WAS going to make a lot of money.

Y'know what concerns me? If they intend to do more based on whether or not the sales are good. This one wasn't really a direct adaptation but the other two would be...but do you think they'll really outsell something about Superman?? Yeah, right. I mean, if the sales are close it won't really matter but I'm more worried that Superman: Doomsday will far outsell the other two simply on the basis of it being Superman and them getting the wrong idea. Well, maybe I'm worrying too much for something that hasn't happened yet.

[n8twing]

I just saw this at Comic-Comn last night and thought it was awesome! I think this Newsarama reviewer is being a little harsh...

The changes made from comics to film are inevitable. Compressing a 3-year serialized story into 78 minutes? They did an awesome job. The most important aspect is the emotional fall-out from Superman's death. And they accomplish that here. In the backdrop of the Doomsday/Luthor stuff, the movie is a Lois/Superman love story... and that plays out dramatically and satisfying.

The Lex of the movie is the most brutal animated Lex you're likely to see. James MArsters puts his mark on the character - and he's got some great scenes. All the voice actors are great, as you'd expect with Andrea Romano at the helm.

Adding more 'fake Supermans' of alien invasions would undercut what this movie is about.

If I had any gripe, it's be that I wish they would add more of the Superman 90s cast in cameos/reaction crowd members. Like Bibbo, Cat Grant, Lucy Lane, Ron Troupe, Maggie Sawyer and even Morgan Edge.... none of whom appear in the movie. There was a natural place for both Cat and Maggie and Morgan Edge.. in the context of the story that is there... so I wonder why they didn't use them...

BUT THIS IN SEPTEMBER! Any fan of the Timmverse will NOT be disappointed! I give this movie an A-

[Mundungus]

Adam Baldwin as Superman.

Well, this whole thing looks pretty cool, so its on my buy list.

[Liliaeth]

This seems interesting, except for the part where Lois doesn't know Clark is Superman (yet is dating Superman, making him look like a prick.) I really would have preferred it if they were married like in the comics.

[Aaron]

I'm probably still going to get this, but I have to say I *am* a bit disappointed. I thought the whole purpose of these straight-to-dvd projects was to, essentially, animate classic DC stories. Stripping out everything "epic" about this storyline makes me realize that these projects aren't going to be what I thought they were, and that's disappointing.

They'll probably still be good, but not what they could have been.

[brahmabull]

What Kevin Conroy isn't going to be Batman?

[supes0]

Originally Posted by Liliaeth

This seems interesting, except for the part where Lois doesn't know Clark is Superman (yet is dating Superman, making him look like a prick.) I really would have preferred it if they were married like in the comics.

Is this a WB decision because of the movie franchise? Until the movies catch up, other mediums (except for the comic books) are stuck in limbo?

This really really irritates me, the reason the death story came to be was to stall the wedding.

It'll be interesting to see why Lois calls for "Clark" when she is holding a dead Superman in the trailer.

[PatrioticKid]

They probably plan on showing this on tv so the marriage would come out of nowhere to anyone not familiar with the Death of Superman storyline. The Superboy lawsuit certainly killed the idea of the Reign of Superman story.

[Zechs]

Yeah, but they could have really just have made a movie based on the entire death not just mash together the whole ressurection as well. Besides come on.. doesn't a part of you want to see someone other than Luthor really be the head villain of a Superman piece?

I think more and more this is becoming more of a rental then a buy for me alas.

[glennsim2003]

Superboy actually wanted everybody to call him Superman at first, so they could have had him, and just never had anybody refer to him by any other name.

[ThisOneKidMongo]

Jeremy Sisto as Batman? Elton from "Clueless"? That's hilarious.

[Binker]

I need a favor.

http://video.ugo.com/vplayer.aspx?articleID=21293

That has a one-minute promo of the DTV. Please tip it because I can't see it.

[supes0]

Originally Posted by PatrioticKid

They probably plan on showing this on tv so the marriage would come out of nowhere to anyone not familiar with the Death of Superman storyline. The Superboy lawsuit certainly killed the idea of the Reign of Superman story.

They were married in the TV show Lois&Clark, so it wouldn't be much of a surprise. Besides, it isn't that they aren't married, it's that he'a apparently in an intimate relationship with her without disclosing his secret identity. That is dishonorable.