[ANIMACIÓN] Superman/Doomsday: Película directa al DVD

DVD REVIEW: SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY
by Steve Fritz

WARNING: SPOILERS WILL BE FLYING IN FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET

There’s going to be a lot of debate about the first of DC Comics/WB Animation’s Direct-To-DVD releases. That also doesn’t mean this is a truly bad thing.

As many fans already predicted, in cutting this down to barely under 80 minutes (my DVD player says 78) Bruce Timm, Duane Capizzi and company cut an incredible amount out of DC’s Death of Superman, Funeral for a Friend, World Without a Superman, and The Return of Superman and just about any other story connected to that arc. As known, the Justice League, the four alternate Supermen, heck, even old Jonathan Kent are gone and not to be seen at all. For those who get anal if things are not exactly (but as closely as possible to the original source material are concerned) you most definitely will want to rent this out before you buy it. You are going to be outraged. You are going to be wondering what in the world the powers that be are up to. You might even scream that from this point on you’ll make yours Marvel.

Personally, the only real gripe here is the final product is too short.

Deconstructing this DVD a bit, I will say for starters Andrea Romano and Bruce Timm did a great job in choosing James Masters as the voice of Lex Luthor. True, he doesn’t carry the gravitas or grandeur of Clancy Brown, but when Marsters says even a simple line like “Who’s Your Daddy,” he brings about a chill that recalls Spike at his most sinister. If I also have to give some time to any performances, I should also mention Swoozie Kurtz as Martha Kent and Cree Summers as Mercy. Adam Baldwin (Big Blue), Anne Heche (Lois) and Ray Wise (Perry) do reasonable jobs given what they’re handed. The only marquee name that feels like he’s mailing it in is Adam Wylie as Jimmie Olsen. From there, Timm surrounded the cast with solid v.o. artists including Tom Kenny (Robot) and John DiMaggio (Toyman). In all, the voice direction works.

For all those who want action, Timm proves once again he’s a master of fight choreography. If you were thrilled with the last episode of Justice League Unlimited, where Superman finally got to “cut loose” on Doomsday, you are not going to be disappointed in the slightest. Punches so hard that they cause sonic booms, buildings disintegrating into rubble and enough military hardware will be decimated to please even the most bloodthirsty of animation fans (and there is blood kids). If anything, this is one of the areas one will wish there was a lot more of it.

As for the plot? One could say that Timm did the proper thing in dividing the movie into three acts.

The first, obviously, is the coming of Doomsday. As can be expected to all who cherish their printed versions of this series, this is the most violent part of the movie. Fundamentally, a mining team, sponsored by Luthor, discovers the ultimate killing machine buried several miles under the planet and accidentally release it. From there, the big brute goes a truly vicious rampage with his ultimate goal being Metropolis. This will bring everyone’s favorite Kryptonian out of a quiet weekend in Antarctica with Lois out to save the day. You know what happens from there.

Personally, I wish this act could have been fleshed out by an additional five minutes. While Timm and fellow directors Lauren Montgomery and Brandon Vietti put a ton of effort into making this segment as action packed as possible, I’m left with the feeling a little more exposition, even five minutes worth, could have been thrown in there. The end result is Doomsday comes in and out like a bad dream, and you end up wishing that Supe’s eventual death could have been held on for an extra couple of beats or two. Overall, this is still the best segment of the entire project.

The second act, obviously, is going to be the actual funeral and loss felt over the death of Kal El. I can already hear the outrage over not a single superhero being there to help in the mourning, not even a certain crew from Gotham. Honestly, one can understand the cutting out of the Justice League from the Doomsday fight sequence, but one could easily see the JL showing up in non-speaking roles.

Now a second warning. If you are a literalist as far as your comic book movies are concerned. You better stop watching the film here. Suffice it to say, a Metropolis without a Superman is a one where criminals will have a field day. But why Timm and company chose the Toyman as their representative crook during this period is a mystery to me. How Capizzi and Timm then reinterpret this character is even stranger (it reminds me more of the villain from the “Grey Ghost” episode of B:TAS, but with none of the charm or cunning). Worse, how the Toyman is ultimately taken care of is going to send some shock waves.

It’s the third act of this play that will be the most troubling. To be honest, and I say it again, if you love the original material, don’t look. Personally, I wish there was more to it.

Timm and company bring up another interesting interpretation of what life with a Superman could be like here. Yes, Luthor has a heavy hand in this end of the deal. Personally, I found it a very interesting concept. How Luthor takes advantage of what’s thrown at him strikes me as very much in character with Metropolis’ #1 villain. It’s a bold, dangerous move that does rear its ugly head and bites back. It’s a plan that does threaten Superman’s adoptive home in a way that is intriguing.

It’s also, again, way too short. While the threat is palpable, it never is taken as far as it could have been. Quietly threatening the lives of old ladies just isn’t scary enough. The jump to taking out a troop of heavily armored soldiers is too fast. How Lois and Jimmy eventually figure out what Luthor is up to is too pat.

Yes, Timm and company again provide us with some incredible and well-conceived action sequences between our inevitably returning superhero and his nemesis. On the other hand I would have liked a bit more background before coming to the ultimate denouement.

On the plus side, you do get a ton of added on features that will either please or bore you, depending on your personal tastes. I’m personally glad to see the animation staff getting as much air time as the comic book guys. From there, again, I wish there could have been more.

Still, in all, while I’m not going to sit around and rave to the skies about this release (when it comes to D2D, I’ll put the latest Hellboy and Doctor Strange well over this), I’m not totally disappointed either. It is what it is. If you judge this as a first effort, it passes, barely.

If you want the original story, you might want to stick to your original GNs. I know you aren’t going to be happy anyway.