Mark it, dude - the first cartoon reviewed by The Cinema King.2007's Superman: Doomsday, which recounts the wildly popular early-90s comic book plotline (The Death of Superman) in which Superman died. The Bruce Timm/Paul Dini partnership, which brought us those great Batman and Superman cartoons from the 1990s, is not playing their best hand here, but it's a good college try.
The basic plotline is about all the movie shares with the source material. Doomsday, an unstoppable killing machine, is unleashed by an unorthodox drilling experiment led by Superman's nemesis Lex Luthor (as voiced by James Marsters, Buffy's Spike). Superman (the voice of Adam Baldwin) confronts the creature, and the two kill each other. While the rest of the world mourns, Lois Lane (Anne Heche), who had been dating Superman, begins to piece together his secret identity as Clark Kent... until Superman returns from the grave, with a new darker look on life.
One thing the movie does really well - in prefect adherence with the comic book - is its depiction of Doomsday as a brute force of nature, every bit Superman's equal. The "slugfest" scenes (such is the official terminology in the comic book writer's world) are perfect in casting Doomsday as the one creature strong enough to kill Superman and capture beautifully the wanton destruction it took the comic books several issues to establish.
The voice acting is getting a bit of critical applaud, especially Baldwin and Marsters. Yet I felt disoriented by the voice cast, probably due to the fact that I'm inured to the voice talents of Tim Daly, Dana Delaney, and omnipresent Clancy Brown as Superman, Lois, and Luthor (respectively). Not that the voice talents on display are subpar in any way; it's just unnerving to hear the "wrong" voices coming from familiar faces.
The most unnerving element of this movie is the implied sexual relationship between Lois Lane and Superman (who has not yet revealed his secret identity to the woman he loves).
What?
In the comics, it was always the other way around, with Clark Kent in love with Lois but holding back because of his super alter ego. Yet the reversal in this movie is almost intolerable, losing the movie its credibility in my eyes by making such a huge alteration to the comic book conventions. This goes beyond replacing The Joker's acid-scarred paleness with make-up (as Heath Ledger seems to be doing) and making The Sandman Uncle Ben's killer (as in Spider-Man 3's monumental mythology retcon). This is on a par with James Bond marrying... oh wait, that happened too. This would be on a par with Troy and Sharpay hooking up in High School Musical 3 - which, as much as I would prefer that, can never happen because of strongly entrenched story archetypes. Some things you just can't change.
Perhaps more interesting than the film itself is an accompanying documentary on the DVD entitled Requiem & Rebirth: Superman Lives! This is an enlightening look at the behind-the-scenes decisions that led DC Comics to kill off their oldest and most beloved icon, as well as examining the public and media frenzy that surrounded Superman #75. This documentary affords a rare glimpse into the backroom discussions, including video (a comic book fan's dream) detailing how storylines are mapped out years in advance.
So in a lot of ways, the documentary featurette comes more highly recommended than the feature film. For diehard fans of the Man of Steel (like myself) there are worse ways to enjoy the legacy of the Big S (Superman IV, anyone?). For casual fans of comicdom, this might be one to skip. But don't miss Requiem & Rebirth, which is more than worth the price of admission.
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