Superman: Doomsday
Superman: Doomsday
Sep 20I will not cop to actually going out with my hard-earned Benjamins (or even my hard-earned Hamiltons or Washingtons) and purchasing Superman: Doomsday. Instead, I will cop to an illegally-copied version from a friend, created using (gasp!) work computer equipment.
I will also cop to enjoying Superman: Doomsday a great deal. Which shocked me, actually, as the original story has always been one of those cases of a pop culture phenomenon that’s more popular than it has any decent business being.
The comics are…well, they’re dumb. They’re not BAD; they’re just big bang bust-up superhero action lathered with a significant dose of nineties’ comics angst.
The movie takes that big bang bust-up superhero action and surrounds it with a surprisingly compelling emotional core. The movie’s named after the Man of Steel, but it’s a story that dwells almost moreso on the two big double L’s in Superman’s life: Lois Lane and Lex Luthor. James Marsters wrings some oily malevolence from Luthor’s lines, and Anne Heche is…well, she’s amazing as Lois Lane. That sharp edge that you hear in her speaking voice suits Lois PERFECTLY. This is not the fey, demur Lois created in Superman Returns; this is the tough, smart, and sometimes a little bitchy reporter Lois. The strong female character one.
You go into the movie knowing Superman will die, but as soon as he does, the flick takes an unexpected turn. There’s no tale of the four mystery Supermen, and we don’t really see too much of Supes until he’s recuperating. Instead, we follow Lois and Lex as they attempt to figure out why the loss of this man has demolished their lives so much. It’s a neat twist that provides surprising emotional moments without skimping on the fights.
I never thought I’d be saying this, but Superman: Doomsday? Definite rental. Maybe a buy if it’s on sale. Have at it.
Well, I bought mine, so nyah!
Me am bad fanboy to pay!
What I liked most was the wide range of swings at anyone making Superman movies lately, both unsubtle (via cameo of world’s most famous fanboy) and subtle (an entire fight that says, “go watch third Matrix movie – that’s a Superman fight. And we can kinda do it here, but you guys wasted it”)
Strangely though I liked it, but didn’t love it – it was odd to see an animated Superman that didn’t involve the rest of the DC universe, but I guess the main goal was to continue to grow the new fans from the live-action film (note the absence of Pa Kent), not cater to the existing fans of the cartoon – this whole movie was about being attractive to a grown-up, non-fanboy audience. And, I’m not exactly against that – it’s just always wierd to watch and know what’s been dropped.
Plus, the DVD had a snazzy animated cover sleeve, which I painstakingly cut out and slipped into the case cover.
Remember when we saw Anne Heche in the Arclight parking garage? Good times.
Wasn’t Heche with her weirdo cameraman boyfriend/husband at the time? That was EXCELLENT.
What’s intriguing about your analysis, Chris, is that I find it impossible to imagine a grown-up non-fanboy actually choosing to go out and purchase this, or even rent it. I’m not saying you’re wrong to imagine that’s the goal–I’m saying I don’t understand DC and WB if that is indeed their goal.
These are going to be pure fanboy wish fulfillment productions in most cases. They’re being advertised in the kids section at Target, which is idiotic, but they’re not for kids; I can’t see the appeal for a casual superhero fan drawn in by the big blockbusters of mainstream Hollywood comics adaptations, as these are animated with direct-to-DVD production values at best.
So to me, their best bet is to aim these square where they belong–us geeks. Not sure if that’s a viable sales strategy, but hell, they can probably release them in theaters overseas, right?
I’m not sure they’ll be successful, but the movie is clearly not for kids (regardless of where Target is marketing it – that’s a failing on behalf of the WB sales team. Or maybe not – it wouldn’t be the first time the sales team completely chicken’s out on how to market a product.)
Plus, they completely removed the DCU, which you don’t do when you’re targeting the existing fanbase of fanboys.
Timm talked a lot about how the home video team at Warner’s drove this project a lot, really looking for something to capitalize on the movie and be newb friendly, so once I saw the movie I just interpreted it all as being for more than just the fanboys.
I hope it does well, as there are a handful of other projects who will or will not get greenlit based on the performance of Doomsday.