Holy crap!First up, how awesome is it watching Netflix step up its game. They're getting some great flicks up on Watch it Now. Just over the last several days I've caught Grindhouse, Fido, and Superman: Doomsday. Just great!
I was very pleasantly surprised to see S:D at the top of the W.i.N. Top 50. It's a great comicbook flick that's right up there with work like Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Kind of dark, a little more grown up, a little more sophisticated Superman.
The movie deals with the origin of Doomsday, the death, and return of Superman. That's a lot of ground to cover in 75 minutes, but the film handles it pretty gracefully.
It needs to be said, this is not a movie for kids. This is not Super Friends. The movie is PG-13, and I think that's fair. The art direction is dark, almost grim, and some of the action can be pretty brutal. The theme is totally Superman though, as we watch people struggle and arrive at doing the right thing even though they could be hurt or killed. Anyone can be a hero. You just have to try.
Andrea Romano casts and directs an incredible group of actors. I'm a really big fan of her work, and this is another great example of what she brings to a project.
I was pleasantly surprised with Adam Baldwin as Clark/Supes. He tends to play such cocky characters on camera (Jayne!!!) that it took me a while to reconcile that with the humble and honest Clark he delivers.
I thought Anne Heche turned out a great performance as Lois. Smart, savvy, and strong. My favorite Lois's are the non-victim ones.
I wasn't sure what to think of James Marsters as Lex. Truth be told, I think I've just been really well conditioned by Clancy Brown's Lex from Justice League Unlimited (if you haven't yet, you need to check out Clancy's performance in "The Great Brain Robbery" from Season 2 of JL:U, classic!) that hearing any other voice was going to make me critical. Marsters' Lex is very good, but for me, lacked the authority of Brown, and seemed a bit more conniving than bold.
Ray Wise as Perry White is PERFECT! Gruff and surly without drifting into a J. Jonah Jameson impersonation. Channeling a little Ed Asner, which is exactly the way I've always heard Perry in my head. I love Ray's work, and am very proud to say I got to work with him at Abram's. A great actor that really puts his all into his work (Good Night, and Good Luck), and is very gracious, humble, and fun to work with.
And there are so many other great actors rounding out the cast, John DiMaggio, Swoosie Kurtz, Tom Kenny (woot), Cree Summer, Adam Wylie, a Kevin Smith cameo, and more.
I think the movie's only drawback is its brevity. They have to cover more than a years worth of comics in just over an hour. That means some things need to be left out, like Doomsday's rampage (he originally took out the Justice League), and the "SuperMEN" saga that followed Supes' Death. In the comics four different men stood up to try and fill the void left by Superman before his return. In the movie there is only one.
That being said it's a really fun flick, and if you're a fan of Supes, or of comics, it's totally worth checking out.
And if you have Netflix you can stream it for free!
It's so cool seeing this film topping the Netflix charts...
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