I saw the premiere of Superman Doomsday on July 26, 2007 at the San Diego Comic-Con. It rightfully earns a PG-13 rating for some very intense violence. Although impossible to condense the epic comic book saga into about 80 minutes, the movie captures the essence of the comic book series. The story moves along briskly in the first and third acts, with lots of death and destruction. The second act looks poignantly at a world without Superman. The scene between Lois Lane and Martha Kent brought a tear to my eye. The animation is of high quality. The characters are drawn somewhat differently than in previous incarnations. The way they drew the character cheekbones was a bit distracting at first, but I soon got used to it. Otherwise, the characters and the animation were quite nicely done. Overall, I enjoyed Superman Doomsday a lot and I look forward to more PG-13 interpretations from the DC universe.
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Scrooge-330 July 2007
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Victory_Over_Trolls20 October 2007I couldn't even decide on whether to give it a 7 or 8, and the 8 almost won out if it would have meant it would stay higher than SUPERMAN RETURNS: for that is the benchmark for how wrong Warners can get Superman and yet fool so many people into thinking it's "really Superman."
As for this film, it's a little better, but still has its problems, so it gets a 7.
The relationship between Lois and Superman is such that they appear to be sleeping together, but she doesn't know he's really Clark Kent. This IS decidedly un-Superman-like; however, the film is advertised as being one with more of a "badder" Superman and as generally being "darker." It doesn't pee on our shoes and tell us it's raining like SUPERMAN RETURNS.
The story is a loose adaptation of not one, but THREE Superman sagas, that were later graphic novels: "Doomsday" (a.k.a. THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN), "Funeral for a Friend," (a.k.a. WORLD WITHOUT A SUPERMAN), and "Reign of the Supermen" (a.k.a. THE RETURN OF SUPERMAN). Doomsday's origin is very different, as are aspects of Superman's life before the battle. No other super-heroes are mentioned. And perhaps most radical (and disappointing) is the exclusion of the four alternate Supermen of the comics.
Instead, Superman dies at the hands of Doomsday, who was unearthed by employees of Lex Luthor. He starts his rampage and Superman dies. Afterwards, a mysterious new Superman emerges. It's not long before we learn that he/it was created by Lex Luthor to take the place of Superman. The clone eventually becomes a tyrannical overlord of Metropolis and the real Superman--at reduced power--has to take him out.
Some will object to the language, the relationship of Lois and Supes, and some of the more violent scenes. The character of Toyman is the first victim of the faux Supes, but some might even find it justified in that he'd killed a little girl. Moreover, when we first see the Toyman (designed to look like something out of Tim Burton's sketchbook, which may be significant to note) he has a bus full of kids trapped. Nothing is ever stated, but one must wonder if he's trying to imply that he's a child molester in this version of reality. The character designs are okay, but Superman might look a little too old for some peoples' tastes, and like Kate Bosworth in SUPERMAN RETURNS, Lois might look a tad young. For longtime fans of the SUPERMAN/JUSTICE LEAGUE cartoons of recent years, the new voices might take some getting used to.
The biggest problem with the film is that everything seems to happen too fast. We barely feel the loss of Superman before the impostor shows up. And like many superhero vehicles, there are certain things that are, perhaps, somewhat comicbookish. For one thing, Superman is revived at, say, 67%. What does that mean to the typical viewer? That he's 67% as strong as he usually is? If so, what are the upper limits? Is the "Superman" he's battling necessarily at 100% himself? And like so many comics, the anti-hero (the faux Superman)'s big crime is that he murdered Toyman and the film regards it as wrong. However, Superman himself appears to be trying to kill his doppleganger, making it seem somewhat hypocritical to say the least.
Ultimately, the story about Lex's Superman clone is just not as interesting as "Reign of the Supermen," which kept comic book fans guessing in 1993. Sure, the cat's out of the bag now, and it would be in need of some changes, but it's simply a better story. This mixed with mediocre character designs and ideas that are created simply for shock value, make this outing just pretty good as an experiment. I just hope future direct-to-DVD DC (that's a mouthful) projects are better. -
as an animated movie,this one isn't too bad.i liked the story and the great action sequences and there are some great fight scenes.but if you're really into the history behind the battle between Superman and Doomsday and the aftermath(in other words,if you've read the comic version of the events)you might be disappointed,as i don't think it is that faithful to the source material.but beyond that,the movie does seem a little rushed.i think they may have tried to jam too much into the short 75 minute running time.still,the movie is entertaining.you shouldn't get bored watching it.DC has done better though and although i liked it,it wasn't as good as i had hoped or expected.all in all,though,i'd Give Superman:Doomsday a 7/10 based on it's entertainment value.
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kallafilms18 September 2007This movie was good or maybe great for what it is, but it felt short changed. The fight between doomsday was WOW! The funeral was GREAT! The resurrection was good, but I was expecting to see Superman return from the afterlife the way it was depicted in the comics. They also should have showed Doomsday demolish JLA. I understand this is a'Superman only' story, but it would have only taken 5 minutes for Doomsday to demolish JLA. That would have amplified Doomsday more and the rest of the 65 minutes could be focus on Superman! Jimmy could have said: "My God Lois, Doomsday defeats JLA in 5 minutes! How on Earth will Superman defeat him!" In the comics there was four characters who appear to replace Superman. In the movie there is only one...a clone. Note in the comics the clone is actually the cyborg, but I guess the filmmakers wanted to change that too. All in all, a very fun movie. This movie is loosely inspired by the Death and Resurrection graphic novels. If you can accept that, then you'll enjoy it. I admit...I did.
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Dream_seeker16 September 2007Superman/Doomsday is supposedly based off the phenomenal and epic comic arcs, "The death of superman", "Funeral for a friend", and "The Return of superman". I've gotten a chance to see the full preview of this movie and now i'm going to give you my review of it. This movie is a bit darker than your typical superman movie and/or series; they pull no punches with the violence so expect blood, death, and a bit more deeper tones that may not be for younger kids and I'm saying this cause this movie has a lot of adult tones that may not be for children who are a big fan of shows like, "Justice Leauge" or "Superman: the animated Series". The fight scenes are fast, furious, really brutal, and just as much vicious which all the means you will probably like; the story line "Somewhat" sticks to the comics which is good but its also its greatest flaw which I will explain soon.
Adam Baldwin as superman was pretty good but i rather had Tim Daly again as superman he made that character work on the series and some of the movies so it would of seemed fair to bring his voice back again to have some fans of the series familiar with the tones but all in all he did his job and it worked for this movie; but James marsders (Spike from Buffy and angel)as Lex Luther did NOT, he sounded bland, no emotional depth to the character and not much feeling of synergistic grandeur like the voice of the person playing lex in the justice league series honestly you'll watch this film and will be asking that same question, "where's that other dude's voice-over from Justice league?" other voice-overs like Anne heche as Lois, Swoozy kurtz as Clark's adopted mother did their job well but you wouldn't really notice all of that as the movie picks up steam but at the same time falls short quickly with the story.
For a movie that's at least an 1 hour and 45 minutes they should of pushed it for a normal movie length for 2 hrs cause there's a lot of story that was missing from this movie; For comic fans, most will notice it on the fly like where's the four impostor superman that took his place?, where's the justice league (Booster Gold, etc.) that at least stalled time against doomsday for the inevitable battle?, Wasn't super girl in this as well?, how come they didn't get into detail about Doomsday background to at least understand why he is the way he is (even though its mentioned briefly) along with other plot holes? For those that haven't read this comic or novel you probably wouldn't really care and the movie will fly by with fast paced violence and cool fight scenes.
I gave this movie a 6 out of 10 for the fact that even though this movie did it's job to discuss his death and made it a pretty climatic battle which I did enjoy; the artwork was a bit off not your typical superman: TAS artistry some might like it and some like myself would find it and the character design a bit flimsy and off. The story was worked both good and bad...even though it discussed some of the events leading to superman's "Demise" and apparent return it didn't really stick to the comics Ergo, it's missing A lot of story to the main premise and a lot of characters that made the comic fun, exciting, and deeply story driven and you will be asking where are they in this. Even though this movie is pretty good, dark, action-driven it missed the mark with a lot of plot holes which i felt they were compressing to make the movie faster but if they kept it in they would of had a good epic animation event that would of made this movie just as much good as if they kept it out!
Hopefully, they will make an extended cut or something along the way. which i doubt. -
JulianBadillo8 February 2008So many years, so many attempts at bringing this story arc to the movie format, so many talented people who at one point or another were involved in the project and after all their combined efforts we are left with a light animated version of one of the greatest superman stories ever told.
It is hard to judge this movie as a stand alone piece and ignore all the background explored in the comics, and all the drama and money spent over the course of more than a decade. As Bruce Timm put it in a promotional interview for this release "There is just so much story there, we can't do this in a movie", this adaptation had to be stripped down to its very basics to fit the 70-minute time frame given to the producers.
The movie itself works, it has a good pace and I think the viewers appreciate the effort put into not making it a kid movie but rather a more truthful adaptation of the graphic novel, the PG-13 rating proves it. The animation is excellent, the music makes the character shine with the heroism and the voice actors (except for Anne Heche) seem perfect for their parts.
What intrigues me the most is why after producing Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League, Timm and company didn't adapt this huge story arc to their animated series? It would have been perfect, they would have had time to include and adapt all the major stories from the comic books and truly explore this event. Instead they went for a straight to DVD feature that feels quite shallow. -
membership-720 September 2007I'm not a fan of Singer's Superman Returns, and sadly the last Superman animated feature "Brainiac Attacks" was so much full of action, that the characters became too pale. But here the action and character scenes are properly balanced. The animated Lex Luther is as always much better than any of the life-action versions. Clancy Brown voice gave Luthor a dangerous tone. I never thought it possible that James Marsters is up to the job to replace him. But he did it well. It's a different Luthor somehow. Much more psycho if you want. Bruce Timm and company did a good movie out of a rather boring Comic series from the 90's. After this I'm looking forward for more Bruce Timm movies. I would also welcome another Batman animated movie as long as it's Kevin Conroys version and not that crappy Batwave series.
Ah yes... this movie is far better than the new Marvel animated features. Only the first Avengers was fine and has to be excluded. -
educallejero11 March 2020The start is really good. Well, except for every second spent on secondary characters or Clark Kent. Luthor, Doosmday and Superman create a really great start (30 minutes, more or less). Visually, it's specially good what they do with Doomsday, to recreate the horror that a monster like it would generate. Some shots are basically horror movie type of shots and work so well. (By the way, the criticism of Man of Steel "destructive and un-protective Superman" got even more stupid for me after watching this animated movie, with an even more reckless Superman). After the clash of these Titans, the pace slows down way too much and with understandably low IQ dialogue (movie for kids), bad jokes and the focus on the "wrong characters", the movie gets super boring. It finally gets better entering the third act, with a didactic but good and entertaining exposition of what makes Superman the hero, super hero, he is, and how important his mindset is besides his physical prowess. The conclusion gets a bit repetitive, but it's fine. The voice actors are terrible and all that isn't Superman or villains related, awful. But the start amazing and the ending fine. It's fine.
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hitman_198019 September 2007It looks like Superman gets much better scripts for animated movies than he does for the big screen, lately. After I found myself highly disappointed by the latest big screen installment, I regained comfort and joy by watching this amazing, entertaining gem.
If you know the Death Of... Funeral For... The Return of storyline, you know what to expect. Right? Wrong! The guys at Warner Bros were smart enough to change several details, which highly adds an edge-of-the-seat element to this movie.
First, it looks great. The soundtrack is great, the locations look great. Having the action taking place mostly at night really makes this movie really atmospheric.
Some scenes are very brutal and hard to swallow, even for an animated movie. Once again, they were smart enough not to unnecessarily prolong these. They still leave a mark though. After only a few minutes, you find yourself really caring for some characters while starting to really hate others. So does this movie succeed, overall? Hell, yes. In fact, it's the best Superman movie since Superman II and a great comic book adaptation.
Some people are complaining about not having all the fake Supermen running around through Metropolis in this one, "just like in the comics". I for one loved the fact that they did NOT include them, I always thought that the "Reign Of The Supermen" story was just a commercial attempt to increase sales by prolonging Superman's disappearance and keep the readers interested in the book for as many months as possible. That particular story didn't add anything of essence to the DC Universe, which includes too many weird, filler superhero characters anyway.
Besides, applying the exact storyline would have resulted in a boring movie. You would have known what happens and would see Superman on the screen only for the first and last 10 minutes. Are you sure you would have preffered that?
Don't rent it, buy it ! It's really worth it. -
Subject to some controversy surrounding its comic-book accuracy, 'Superman/Doomsday (2007)' does focus less on its eponymous characters than you might expect and actually only features around ten-minutes of the 'Doomsday' character, instead focusing on the aftermath of his battle with our hero and loosely amalgamating several story-strands from the Son Of Krypton's source-material. Ultimately, I think the title was meant to be more metaphorical than literal, with the 'Doomsday' referring to the severity of the flick's events rather than the character that causes much of the destruction, unnamed in the actual picture. What doesn't help this possible intention, and I'm about to get pedantic here, is the confusing punctuation used. I've seen it written with a colon, a dash and, as appears here on IMDb, a forward-slash; on the actual title-card, no punctuation appears. I think the intention was for a more traditional colon, which allows for my 'metaphorical double use' theory to stand, but the lack of actual punctuation on film caused some confusion and is the reason we end up with the current title, as it is the best way to represent two words that are shown together yet meant to be taken separately. Yet, the forward-slash implies the piece is a two-hander between the two characters and doesn't really leave much room for a double meaning. It's clumsy from many standpoints and sets the movie up as something it ultimately isn't, and wasn't ever intended to be. This could all be to further subvert expectation, however, by pointing the audience in one direction and then taking them in another. This ends up creating a genuinely surprising piece that may, at times, be somewhat outlandish but does tell a mostly mature tale that doesn't focus entirely on smash-'em-up action, though it does have its fair share of it. The sillier stuff becomes intrinsic with the narrative, consistent with the world and treated with the respect needed to make it mostly believable. The film is consistently entertaining and unexpected, placing more of its emphasis on a supporting cast that barely gets the time-of-day in other Superman stories to a refreshing result. It's in its unconventional approach that it finds its footing as a story with stakes far higher than the usual 'save the city from a big monster', stakes that are built upon meaty character dynamics and genuine morals twisted by believable motivations. Ultimately, it's pretty compelling stuff. 7/10
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Zentaurion29 February 2008Now this is what Bryan Singer should have tried bringing to the big screen instead of Superman Returns.
This animated movie does more with the character than any live action movie has. Characters are well-drawn, well-animated and there is brilliant interplay between them to draw things out and tell a good story.
It explores the depth of the character of Superman, tasked with being an absolute pillar of morality to the public. And there is exploration into the character of Lois Lane, the journalist out to not just document all that he does, but also settle the conflict of her feelings for him. Interesting developments for other characters as well such as Jimmy and the editor, and the story packs it all into a highly entertaining hour and a half. The action is a highlight. The animation and the choreography of the fight scenes really stand out, putting the choreography of most live-action Hollywood movies to shame.
The script is excellent, it just feels a little rushed at times, but that's understandable given the short running times for animated movies. All the more reason why it would have been even better in live action, but the budget required to do it justice might be too much.
This is a very entertaining and thoughtful movie to watch even if you're not a fan of comics or cartoons. It's certainly not for children, the violence isn't graphic but it is certainly implied and a bit shocking. -
Jukseri1 October 2007Not disappointing, Superman vs Doomsday delivers some good action, but there are some plot holes and oddities in the script which made me feel the plot wasn't supposed to play like this and some of the subplots seemed rushed and some key questions(aftermath) were left unanswered.
Thus this movie did not give me everything I had expected and hoped. It's also important to note that this isn't really a kids movie.
If you liked Doomsday, I also highly recommend to watch the animated Justice League episodes "A Better World" and Justice League Unlimited "Doomsday Sanction" if you want to see more, and in my opinion better Doomsday action. -
Where to begin?
Now I'm not a big comic book guy but over the years there have been certain story arcs and collections that I've adored and this was one of them. What I mean by "This" is The Death Of Superman/A World Without Superman/Return Of Superman which I consider to be an epic masterpiece.
I knew going into this that the story would have to be streamlined for it to fit into 75 minutes but I didn't expect this, I feel I should have.
This is NOT related to that at all, make no mistake the epic Superman vs Doomsday battle including countless other heroes does not happen and in fact Doomsday is in the first quarter of the film and that's it!
This is another story altogether regarding Luthor and a Superman clone and not any of those from the original story.
If I had never read the comic book I may have found this relatively entertaining but knowing the source material this is an embarassment.
Why even call it Superman/Doomsday if the latter is barely going to be in the film?
Fingers crossed DC don't decide to make Batman/Bane based on the Nightfall story as I'd imagine they'd do the same.
This is just a mess.
The Good:
Nope
The Bad:
Doomsday looks....off
Few of the voice cast are badly cast (All I can hear is Spike from Marsters)
Awful adaptation
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
It should have been called Superman/Luthor
This simply shouldn't have been made -
questl-1859218 January 2021DC Animation is always very competent and engaging. They really have this great niche they've carved out for themselves in the animated world. This movie really encapsulates the issue I generally have with their animation though. There's just too much. They don't know how to dial it down and really focus in on one thing so by the time the movie is over it feels like they've gone through half a dozen different storylines rather than just telling a single, clean, cohesive story. It leaves their movies feeling fun but scattered and a bit empty. It's decent junk food but there's not enough substance to really bite down on.
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SiegeofVader18 October 2007As someone who has read the original "Death of Superman" and "Superman Lives" storyline, I must say I was sorely disappointed.
The entire epic is compacted into a 75-minute story and many key components are removed: the Justice League, Supergirl, the DC superhero Steel (who made his first appearance during this storyarc), the emergence of several different "Supermen" who claim to be the original Superman (including Superboy and the villain Cyborg Superman), etc.
Lois Lane is unaware that Clark Kent and Superman are the same person. Oh, she suspects it, but that's as far as it goes. She even goes so far as to ask Supes his true identity, to which he replies "Kal-El," tiptoeing around the question when Lois presses further. What made even less sense was a relationship Lois and Superman had for many months, even showing it to be a sexual one. Now I could buy her having a relationship with his CK persona and not knowing about his Superman identity, but I didn't quite see the point of giving her a relationship with Superman and make her unaware he was Clark Kent.
Lex Luthor accidentally frees Doomsday, who goes on a killing spree leading him to Metropolis. Superman intervenes and there is an epic fight. And though I have no major complaints about the fight, it was pretty short and didn't really do the original battle justice.
Superman dies. The entire city--even Lex Luthor--mourns. Crime is up in the city. Toyman makes an appearance. Lois and a bunch of kids almost die. Jimmy leaves the Daily Planet for a job at a sleezy tabloid. Yadda, yadda, yadda...
Superman returns. Saves Lois. Begins patrolling the city, being the hero he once was, but with a different attitude about himself, with a warped sense of justice. He even kills Toyman as he's being brought into custody (after hearing Toyman killed a 4-year-old girl).
It's revealed that this isn't the real Superman, but a clone by Lex Luthor, who had stolen the body of Superman and was keeping it as something of a trophy. (I suppose this was to represent the five or so different Supermen who showed up during the storyarc).
Superman's body disappears, only to be revealed to actually be alive and regaining much of his strength at the Fortress of Solitude. While the Superman Clone betrays Lex. He destroys an army of Supermen clone and is thought to have killed the man who made him, LL.
The military shows up, attempts to take the Man of Steel down. The original Superman returns, though he hasn't regained his full strength, to take down his evil clone. A fight later Lois and Jimmy intervene. Superman destroys his clone and Lex Luthor is revealed to be alive.
Lois learns Clark Kent is Superman and their relationship progresses. The End.
Now with the exception of a couple fight scenes and a cameo by Kevin Smith, who gave a rant about giant spiders (a reference to his Superman Lives script, which had a giant spider forced unto him by the film's producer), this film was a disappointment to me.
Oh, and while I'm giving my complaints, I also thought the voice cast was terrible. The way Adam Baldwin tried to sound meek and nerdy as Clark Kent (and failed miserably), Anne Heche as Lois Lane (she seemed very uncomfortable in the role), and James Marsters as Lex Luthor. -
wrolfsmeyer18 September 2007I just bought the DVD today, and as soon as I got home I watched it. I wasn't disappointed. Just remember that this story is very loosely based on the comic book storyline. This movie doesn't hold back on the action one bit. The fight scenes are very intense, and fairly graphic, so keep this mind before letting your 5 year old watch it. The actors providing the voices did a good job, even James Marsters did OK as Lex Luthor, but I would have preferred if they could have gotten Clancy Brown back, I did miss him. One plot point that I was a little surprised at was the focus on the relationship between Superman and Lois. In this movie, the two are romantically involved, but unlike the comics, Superman hasn't revealed his secret identity to Lois yet. But that's just a small part of the story. All in all I wasn't disappointed, but just like a lot other people have commented, this movie should have been at least 30 minutes longer.
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Animany9418 December 2019Superman/Doomsday is sadly suffering from a short runtime which makes it feel choppy at times, and especially when it tries to adapt both the death and return of our beloved hero from the 90's comic book run.
But with that said, the movie has some of the heart of the comic and is still giving us a whole lot of action. Both things work as its own thing, even if the characters end up becoming pretty black/white.
I prefer the 2018 remake which packed a bigger punch, but this wasn't bad. -
vabyss18 September 2007For having to squeeze so much info into such a short amount of time, this DVD is a success. Of course the comic purists are going to complain and obsess over every little detail that has been changed. But for those of us who have the ability to accept a little change to benefit the masses, it is extremely enjoyable.
The animation is very similar to most DCAU (DC Animated Universe) incarnations, but a little sharper. They changed the look of a few characters...Lex's head looks like Brainiac's and James Marsters doesn't even come close to the masterful voice work of Clancy Brown, although he's not bad. Lois looks more like Kristen Kreuk's Lana now than Lois and Anne Heche's voice work isn't nearly as enjoyable as Dana Delaney's, but again she's not bad. Adam Baldwin does sound similar to past versions of Superman...that is probably the smallest change in the voices, although the way they draw his cheekbones in this version make him look old and decrepit. That was certainly a bad move, but you get over it.
The real deal is the fight between Superman and Doomsday. It is hard hitting, ultra violent and very intense. They change the way Supes finishes him off from how it happened in the comics, but the new way was really cool in my opinion. This is a more graphic cartoon and the way Doomsday kills some people will shock long time DCAU fans. You have never seen brutality like you will in this film.
The story goes way off the beaten path after Superman's death, but I think Bruce Timm's re-imagining was very well done. I don't think any logical person would expect them to follow the original story. It would have been a 6 hour movie. All in all, it's worth buying if you are a Superman fan. Some things could have been better, but in the end another great interpretation by Bruce Timm. -
There are movies which amount to a betrayal of their source material - Superman 4 - and there are movies which honour their source material - Superman 1.
Superman/Doomsday sits squarely in the middle.
On balance I would rather have this movie in existence than not, but I have to add to that "not by very much." It is OK. It is adequate. It could have been so much better.
I'm not one of those who argues for Reign of the Supermen to have formed part of it - that would have meant a multi-part offering (not that such a thing would of necessity be bad). But, in this, Doomsday is just a shade too prosaic to have been responsible for offing the Man of Steel.
For all that, I was nevertheless entertained throughout.
Oh, and I vote against the lightning bolt cheekbones, too. -
clh-121 September 2007It's funny really, about two years ago, when Serenity came out and I was first turned on to Joss Whedon's Firefly universe I thought to myself, "gee, Adam Baldwin would make an excellent older, experienced Superman". I suspect that the movie gods were listening to me. It helps that Baldwin is a serious and experienced character actor who never gives anything less than his all to each character he plays. Among other great casting is an emotionally resonating Anne Heche as Lois Lane and a sinister James Marsters as Lex Luthor. For the first five minutes or so, as a fan of the 1990's animated series, it was a little odd hearing these new voices, but they quickly fell into place and one realizes that this is not going to be your parents Superman cartoons. The first thing to be noticeably different is an edginess that wasn't as common or explicit in previous animated versions, and it even outdoes the live action films in this regard. This is the first time that any Superman project has been rated PG-13, and it wasn't just violence amped up to make slack-jaws happy, this film forgets that it is a cartoon and deals with a fantastic story with a lion's share of adult drama. Just about everybody and their mom's know that Warner tried for several years to get a live action Death of Superman movie made, coming close once or twice, and making a seemingly endless string of missteps along the way before abandoning the project. There are innumerable sources for the back story on the project so I won't go into details, but let me say that for every possible mistake Tim Burton and Jon Peters could have made, this film does it right. For not following the actual comic book story very closely, it gets the look, feel, and characterizations perfect. The animation quality is outstanding, it actually looks better than its predecessors in most regards, though it takes a few minutes to get used to the new looks of many of the central characters. And the music is strong and fitting, though the film misses the traditional blaring triad of Superman projects. All in all, this film is far superior to either Superman Returns or the current run of Smallville, and deserves as high a profile as it can achieve.
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quelindofilms2 October 2007Though I respect Bruce Timm and his team for attempting to bring The Death of Superman story to the screen, the result is an uneven affair.
Superman/Doomsday moves at a breakneck pace, refashioning the epic Death of Superman saga with only the core characters of Superman, Doomsday, Luthor, & Lois, and excising the entire Reign of The Supermen storyline.
With crisp animation and a strong plot, this darker, more violent Superman story suffers mightily from some weak vocal performances from it's key cast.
Adam Baldwin seems a natural for the title role of Superman, but he somehow manages to anchor the entirety of his vocal delivery into a monotone whisper that speaks nothing of the optimistic Clark Kent, or the heroic Superman.
The only character Baldwin seems able to bring to life in any fashion is the surprise character he portrays in the second & third act, but again, his flat, withered vocals seriously dampen this Superman's persona.
Fairing even worse is Anne Heche as Lois Lane. Her scant, flimsy vocals do absolutely nothing for the character, and her emoting feels forced and weak, failing to deliver to us a strong, hard-nosed woman pushed to the brink by the death of her hero.
Trust me, when the two of them are asked to play sexual innuendo back and forth, it's painful to watch.
Thankfully, James Marsters knocks it out of the park with his turn as the sneakiest, slimiest, most calculating Lex Luthor yet. Instead of Clancy Brown's version of Luthor as evil tycoon, we get Marster's take on a brainiac Luthor (no pun intended, JLU fans) watching over his city with a plotting, watchful eye.
Supporting cast members Tom Kenny, Adam Wylie, and Ray Wise are all fabulous. The violence is intense and kinetic, exhausting the viewer as well as it's titular opponents in unbelievable, super heroic displays of cataclysmic violence.
The second act suffers a bit from not having enough time to fully develop a world without a Superman, but at the end of the day, the biggest problem lies in the lead actor's failures to bring these iconic characters to life.
I applaud the filmmakers once again for going out on a limb and taking a chance with this film, but the results speak for themselves. This is not Superman, or Lois.
This is a mediocre, stand-alone film with a few bright spots of wit, surprises, and exciting turns.
Oh, and what's with Superman's face? I understand the edginess, but the designers went a little too far.
Somebody call Tim Daly and Dana Delany...
***By the way, it was refreshing to see Superman actually hit something again after witnessing him, GASP!, pickup a rock at the end of Bryan Singer's film. ** -
angry_seraph27 November 2008OK, I admit the animation here isn't the best--but the dark story line and a wide variety of "small touches" (like Lois Lane watching the battle, unflinching, as a shard of glass cuts her cheek) more than make up for that. However, there are quite a few Superman fans who hate the turn in recent years towards darker, grittier story lines (as in the widely unappreciated graphic novel, "For Tomorrow"), which is probably why the reviews for this are as low as they are.
The scene-by-scene script and choreography for "Superman: Doomsday" are simply amazing, as anyone who actually stayed in the room to watch this would concede. ;) Some jerky animation aside, "Superman: Doomsday" more than holds its own--in part because it is obviously intended for a more mature audience. For example, people are actually KILLED in this one, instead of stumbling stupidly out of a fire with some soot on their faces. -
panagiotis199324 February 2023''There comes a time when even gods must die''. Now that's a Lex thing to say and nice way to start the movie. Lex has the cure for a disease and he wants to slow down the whole thing so that he can make more money, that's so evil. Wait so Lois has a relationship with Superman but she doesn't know that he is Clark Kent? That's a bit weird. Doomsday is absolutely unstoppable. Right from the start we get some really cool and brutal fight scenes. Superman's death always hits me right in the feels. Watching Ma Kent crying alone is so sad. So Lex used Superman's DNA to create a clone that he can control, interesting. It's weird how fast Clark's hair grew long. Its only been like a month? Since he died. The Superclone is taking justice too far, he has a very weird sense of what is right and wrong. I love Superman with long hair and black suit, looks so slick. The final showdown between Superman and his clone was cool. Overall it's a really fun movie but not a masterpiece, my rating is 7.6/10.
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judywalker224 September 2007I never read the comic books but I enjoyed the Animateds SEries and the JLA on TV so I bought this DVD and watched it. It was okay for what it was. This is definitely an adult cartoon. With lots of violence but I guess so is the JLA and JLA unlimited, even though some young kids watch it. But this movie was very weak. Number one I didn't like the animation of Superman. I didn't get the reason for all the lines in his face. Lex Luther though voiced okay was too thin and not imposing enough. I have read that some other superheroes try to take Superman's place after he dies. That would have been interesting. I agree with another comment that refers to an episode of the JLA where they did a funeral for superman. It was done a whole lot better there. So this was just average. 5/10
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bob the moo31 May 2008Mining for a new power source from the earth's core, LexCorp scientists uncover an alien craft that has been on earth since sometime BC. A message plays when they breach the hull of the craft but it is too late as a alien creature breaks from the ship and kills all those in its way. When it reaches the city, Superman is the only real hope of stopping it in its path, which is ironic as Lex Luther requires the creature to be stopped to prevent the trail of destruction being traced back to his company. The ramifications of these events stretch much further than just one monster though others of many names are still out there.
Not really a massive fan of Superman but figured that the cartoon might be a better bet than Bryan Singers recent version. Watching this I think I was right but this is not to say that it is brilliant. What it does bring though is a certain amount of comic book style, big action and easy story-telling. It does benefit from being able to draw destruction and action that would cost hundreds of millions in the real world. What really benefits the film though is the dark and more adult tone to it; although it is still for children to a degree, it does have a nasty streak that strengthens the story by injecting a serious edge and a genuine threat of violence.
Is it enough to win over those who would dismiss this as a cartoon? Well, no to be honest; it is still a cartoon and as such the depth isn't really there and the focus is on style and action more than anything else. The voicework is unremarkable but not bad. Baldwin (Adam) and Heche barely registered with me although in a way I suppose it was good that I was not thinking "hey, that's etc" the whole way through. Marsters' Lex Luthor and Wise's Perry White are equally so-so; suffice to say that the film is not carried by the performances.
With Doomsday it is the presence of death and violence in the story that makes it better than it could have been. The animation is not too stylised but is still effective in what it does it certainly is not basic. Good enough to win over non-cartoon viewers? No, but it is a satisfyingly dark film for those content to meet the film on its own terms.