Superman: Brainiac Attacks

Of course this movie was made to capitalize on the release of Superman Returns. What's wrong with that? I say...nothing. Brainiac Attacks is a fun and fast moving adventure story. The epic battles are truly fun to watch. The animation is the same as you see on the animated series, and on Justice League. Tim Daly returns as the voice of Clark/Superman, as does Dana Delany as Lois. Lance Henricksen takes on the role of Brainiac, and while he may not have the smooth coolness the character used to have, his gravelly voice is menacing nonetheless, and he does a great job. If I have one complaint about the movie, it's with Lex Luthor. He's not the same character he used to be. He's far more aloof, and even a bit of a clod. He's not as menacing, and seems to go for the joke too often. He does get a couple of good lines, however. During a huge battle with Brainiac, Superman ends up face to face with Lex who gives him a "Rootin' for ya, my man!". That was quite funny. But it's not Clancy Brown who reprises his role as Lex. Powers Boothe takes over, and while he's a good actor, he's not really right for Lex. He does a serviceable job, but it would have been MUCH better with Brown. So if you are a fan of the animated series, there is much to enjoy here. Unless of course, you can't get around the whole Lex thing. It's a good rent.

Although I'm a college educated adult, I actually like the Superman, Batman and Justice League cartoon series (I'm sure I'm far from alone on this one). The plots have been excellent examples of sci-fi writing and can be quite clever,complex and entertaining. Not so this one. The vast majority of this movie consisted of Superman and Braniac pounding each other into the ground, throwing each other through buildings, etc. The encounters went on for so long I got bored and fastforwarded through the monotony. There is a weak plot that holds this together, but it's not strong enough to redeem it. The phrase "phoning it in" leaps to mind. If you're a Superman fan, you're going to be disappointed in this.

The previews for this movie made it seem to be good, but the one thing I saw that was lacking, was how they portrayed Luthor. They made him out to be some kind of wuss. They had him making lame jokes, and scared how his image would be if his satellite destroyed Superman. This only gets a 5 because Superman was again voiced by Tim Daly and The rest of the original cast had returned. With the exception of Luthor and the voice of Brainiac. Who was making cheap cracks and smirking which I found a bit odd. I was going to buy this on DVD but I'll stick with the cartoon network airing.

That is all

Animated by the same people who created the Superman animated television series we see our infinetly square jawed hero face off against a very poor looking Braniac.

In this very family friendly affair Superman must tangle with Braniac, a Lex Luthor scheme and deciding whether he can tell Lois his secret.

With an old school 1970's Superman soundtrack this almost feels nostalgic but is let down by it's excessive cutesy'ness and seven shades of generic.

The film has the vocal talents of the recently deceased Powers Booth and the film icon and legend Lance Henriksen who do a great job with the material they are presented with.

It's not awful, it's just not great either.

The Good:

Old school soundtrack

The Bad:

Really don't like the animation style

Braniac looks dumb

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

You know you have a problem with the protagonist when I'm cheering on the bad guy

Here's what makes me hate big companies...and I'll do a little dishing to make this a bit more interesting.

Yes, this movie was made entirely to capitalize on the live action Superman feature hitting the theatres on the 26th. Which isn't exactly a bad thing except it's obvious that this movie was truly an afterthought.

Dan Riba, the Godfather of the Justice League series is mysteriously absent from this production and man does it show. It seems as if Warner Brothers wanted to crank out a straight to DVD flick but Riba insisted that he needed more time to make the film coherent and best of all...good. Warner Brothers said, "No Can Do" and went ahead with production.

Ugh.

Enter writer, Duane Capizzi. Before this movie he was writing ALF: The Animated Series, Jackie Chan Adventures, and that other travesty, The Batman. It's clear that Capizzi has no interest or knowledge in following actual story lines and caricatures which is evidenced in his ridiculous portrayal of Lex Luthor. Why Lex Luthor is written like it was supposed to be cast by Gilbert Gottfried, I'll never know.

Then there are the producers, Margaret M. Dean, Kyle Jolly, and Sander Schwartz whose previous credits involved Tom & Jerry and Scooby F'n Doo.

Make no mistake, this is a horrible, horrible film that was made specifically for 5-10 year olds who probably don't care about story or plot. Don't hold any ill will towards The Justice League. Dan Riba had nothing to do with this garbage.

Avoid this film at all costs.