THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN Spoiler-Free Review; "A Fun, Action-Packed Addition To The DC Animated Universe"
With Death of Superman now available on DVD and Blu-ray, we're reviewing the latest DC Animated movie to let you know whether it's worth checking out the first half of this epic two-part adventure...
While Marvel Studios may be way ahead of DC Entertainment when it comes to big screen, live-action offerings, they still have a long way to go until matching Warner Bros.' Animation's DC Comics slate. The latest release is the first part of an epic two-part take on The Death of Superman, a story which any comic book fan worth their salt will be all too familiar with. However, while the core story of the Man of Steel falling in battle against Doomsday remains the same, there are enough interesting new wrinkles here to make this worth seeking out, especially as it continues the tradition of expanding this shared DC Universe, bringing in a number of familiar faces and touching on their respective stories in some very interesting and exciting ways.
Running parallel with the main story is a subplot about Clark Kent struggling to decide whether or not to tell Lois Lane that he's Superman as their relationship continues going from strength to strength, while we also get some very intriguing (and menacing) scenes with Lex Luthor. Thanks to a brilliant performance from The Office's Rainn Wilson, this movie establishes him as a big bad in the DC Universe who is not only delightfully evil but also someone who will seemingly continue to play a large role in proceedings moving forward, potentially as a foe for the entire Justice League.
It's no great surprise that The Death of Superman is so good, especially with Sam Liu back at the helm of another DC animated adventure and comic book writer Peter J. Tomasi on scripting duties. While much of the movie is an extended action sequence, enough is done to ensure that there's more to it than just the fight scenes and even if you've never watched one of these before, you'll be invested in every major character by the time the credits roll - make sure to sit through all of those, by the way - and almost certainly rooting for Superman as he fights Doomsday in what is ultimately a losing effort (that's hardly a spoiler given the title). I'm a fan of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice but if Zack Snyder really wanted to adapt this iconic comic book story in that movie, he should have done it this way because The Death of Superman feels like the adventure that release should have been.
With a strong voice cast and the sort of stylish animation style we've come to expect from these movies, this is definitely a winner and I can't wait for the next instalment because even if we think we know where the story will go next, I'm confident that DC Animation will deliver plenty of surprises, something which is evident from the very cool special feature included on the disc looking forward to what we should expect from Reign of the Supermen.
A fun, action-packed addition to the DC Animated Universe, this is a must-see for fans of the Man of Steel and it's fair to say that the sequel can't get here soon enough if it's as good as this one.