The Death of Superman

Apart from the obvious predictability (it's literally in the title), The Death of Superman is a surprisingly amazing remake/adaptation with really good animation, genuine emotion and great pacing. The action in particular is incredible, well made and visceral. The voice acting is really good, especially from Jerry O' Connell, Rebecca Romijn and Rainn Wilson.

This movie does a really good job at building up the love for Superman, making the impact of his death hit just right. It's emotional. There were actual tears in my eyes. The battle between Superman and Doomsday is brutal. The relationship between Lois and Clark gets us invested in his life. The subtle way that Batman and Wonder Woman react to Superman's death display their unique connection with Superman and breaks our hearts even more. There is humor, romance, action and sadness all piled into this one grand movie. To get the full effect, be sure to watch the previous movies leading up to this one. The Death of Superman is movie 12 of 16 in the DC Animated Universe based off of the New 52 series.

First a surprisingly great "Gotham by Gaslight", then an overall ok Suicide Squad animation, then, we have this one.

Let me say upfront that (1) I've never seen the other Death of Superman movie, so I wont compare this one with that one, and (2) really I hadn't dug into this story itself before, therefore, this is kind of my first real experience with this arc.

But man, I just love this movie! I went and saw it without expectations, but wow! This time around even the bad animation's style that all these "DC Animated Universe" movies have didn't bother me.

I know it's a Superman film, but I loved the way they approach the Justice League here. Their relationship, it's so cool to see our heroes interacting, telling jokes, or just being friends really. The chemistry was there, and it was amazing.

And another amazing thing is that even though the movie has a couple of comical moments, there are also some dark scenes, they've talked about some pretty intense topics, they approach (as Zack Snyder also did on the recent DCU movies) this whole "messianic" image the population have on Superman which always cool.

The set up to Superman's death is also really well done. Through the whole movie he is almost unbeatable, he kicks everyone's ass without much effort, until... boom! Doomsday! And you feel the impact. Also, another great set up is how the population feels about Superman, he is a god, he is hope, we will always be there for them, until... boom, he isn't. And, once again, you feel it. There is one specific scene, where he saves a little boy, and the boy hugs him, it's such an emblematic moment, it's one frame that really just defines who Superman is. Wonderful.

I guees, my only issue is kind of a spoiler. I don't how much you are able to not know this story, but well, I wont say it. But genericaly speaking, it's the end, like the last 2 minutes or so. It would just be more powerful if they had the "corage" (or something like that) to finish the movie without this 2 last minutes and what happens there. I don't know, for me the movie would just be perfect, and its message potentialized. But it wasn't.

Summing up, The Death of Superman is a great piece of animation, and, in fact, the first one of the "DC Animated Universe" which really get me excited to see what is comming next. Don't get me wrong, there were some pretty good other ones, but for me this is the first GREAT one. Just love it.

In 2007 we got an animated film covering the full Doomsday/return of superman saga. For some reason, I guess DC wanted to do it again.

The good- the film looks very good; the animation is great, the drawings are detailed, and the characters have their authentic look from the comics. The fight scenes are also quite good, and make the battles epic without going into Man of Steel level carnage. The presentation of Doomsday is also top-notch, he's never felt more dangerous or unstoppable. The "graphic" violence adds a degree of danger, but I wouldn't oversell it- anyone over the age of 11 has probably seen worse on network television. Also, lots of nice little touches to the world, like people trying to take selfies with Superman, give this film a little more character.

The middle- the voice acting left me cold. Nothing is too bad (although Rain Wilson is kind of hammy as Lex Luthor, which I didn't like). Superman and the rest certainly have conviction, but the dialogue doesn't really stand out. The script is also a bit simplistic- generally kind of blah and predictable.

The bad- the pacing is inconsistent. The film takes *forever* to get to "the good stuff," and the time before that is not exactly captivating. They're trying to build suspense and world-build and everything, but we already know what Doomsday is and what he's going to do! The subplot about Clark and Lois also didn't do much for me- the overall point of it was fine, but the pacing just dragged it out too much. In this regard, the 2007 film wins out. That film was much more "cartoony," but it had quick pacing and covered twice as much material in less time.

So basically, we have a more "adult" version of the Doomsday story (but not the entire story). What the film adds in production values and fighting choreography, it lacks in pacing and originality. Although the 2007 film was less popular, I'd much rather watch the 2007 one again, as it was more entertaining, had better pacing, and tells the entire story in less time than this film.

Story has been done many times but this one exceeds all expectations. Story telling, choreography of fights, using rest of DC characters are pure perfection. I'm guessing next one is 'Reign of Supermen' because they did wonderful job setting it up for sequel. The creative team behind this movie should be given control over rest of the DC movies... but that is just a dream for now. I will watch this again and again, I finally got perfect Superman movie.