Though 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. **
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. **