Superman/Batman Apocalypse

[botz1]

www.supermanhomepage.com/news.php?readmore=8205#comments

dang , looks sick, this will probally be better than any reboot..

Darkseid and doomsday aaaaand did we see Highfather???

Wb is so azzbackwards, the storylines they put in animation should be live action.. dumbazzzez

[crazy_asian_man]

It looks like it could be good. (I'm encouraged by Lauren Montgomery directing. I'm not encouraged after "Superman: Doomsday" under Bruce Timm, tho')

Still, overall the bar on the WB animated features is incredibly high- Though I do wonder.... is anyone else bugged by WB's need to change the look of the characters in every single WB animated feature? My guess is that they want each film to 'stand alone' and distinguish themselves from the animated shows....but....

[Metallo]

Montgomery worked on Green Lantern and Wonder Woman didn't she? Those movies were damn good so that encourages me that this'll be pretty good too.

Yeah they want most of the DTDVD animated films to stand alone. There is no real "official" continuity bewteen any of them. I suppose you could link a few of them like Wonder Woman, Green Lantern: First Flight, Justice League: CO2E, and Superman: Doomsday together if you REALLY wanted to and ignored the difference in visual styles.

I loved CO2E. Wasn't too crazy about Public Enemies.

[Jor-L5150]

if bruce timm were the creative supervisor for WB/DC film we wouldnt have had anything to worry about for the last 15 years and the next 15.

buuuuut thats been one of "ol' Jor's rants" for ages now.

[charl]

looks very good. the animation has an 'anime' feel to it.

they're definitely improving. we're seeing more & more of their animation going in this direction.

keep it up DC

[Deleted]

Holy SHIT. This looks awesome. Awwwwwesome.

[Legsy]

At least Warner's animated department hasn't let us down. Well, there was that one little dud called Brainiac Attacks that was, well, it sucked un-wiped hairy arse on a humid Sunday afternoon after mowing the lawn. But, they've gotten their act together since.

[Metallo]

It was obvious they threw Braniac attacks together pretty quick to capitalize on SR. A shame THAT POS was Dalys return as Superman in an animated project.

I'd love to see someone re edit it though to take the worst parts out and maybe make it fit with STAS and JLU.

[Matt in the Hat]

I have to wait now for this movie? Shit....

[crazy_asian_man]

Picked this up yesterday, based on really enjoying the Jeff Loeb/Michael Turner comics its based on. (Granted, "Doomsday" was SUPPOSEDLY also was based on the 'Death of Superman' comics, but Bruce Timm admitted to hating the original books- so the end result was an unfaithful adaptation that drove me nuts....but given that Bruce Timm also was in charge of the fantastic JLU series- I give him a pass)

Quick bit: Highly reccomended.....with reservations.

The good: The main strengths of the comics it was based on, was-
(1) The novelty of the 'real' Supergirl returning to DC comics after an extended period of time, and an opportunity to show her arrival in a fresh way. (She had been a blob with the name 'Supergirl' for awhile, just to keep the copyright alive for DC)

(2) The artwork of the late Michael Turner. Michael Turner had such a unique and dynamic style, that everytime he did a DC comic, I didn't even know who he was at the time, but I'd stand up & notice. He had a one-page promo piece of Superman and Supergirl for Wizard awhile back that just mesmerized. So, seeing his interpretation of Supergirl would be fascinating.

(3) Extremely neat ideas by Jeff Loeb... though in a way, the story at times (& will get to it later) feels like it was formed from a session of 'hmm....I only have Michael for a few issues, what would be a cool character for Michael to draw'?--- Which is ok if you actually take time to make the story hang together by the end, but....

The bad: There are a good number of 'gaps' in the story that leave one going- 'hey, that's an interesting cliffhanger'.... I wonder how they're going to make all this plausible by the end. Also, just as the beginning gets you interested in how the character is going to be developed, the story takes a left turn & the character is in peril right away and goes through major changes before you've even got to know them! This was fine as long as one DID make it plausible by the end, but in the comics here it was......'eh, SORT of plausible--- with lowbrow 'comic book logic'. So, theres' that.

Also- there's a MAJOR story development that makes little sense and is shrugged off with a line or two of dialogue that is pretty weak.

If the artwork wasn't so jaw-droppingly great, going by the story alone, it wouldn't be worth a read, let alone a purchase. Some neat ideas, but a paper-thin story that was supposed to be epic, given the time frame and the 'size' of this particular event in comics at the time.

SO...
Moving onto the animated feature:
Similiarly-
The ART is GORGEOUS!
A really good adaptation of Turner's style. I was already really impressed with Lauren Montgomery's direction on "Wonder Woman" (a suprise great animated film) & co-direction on "Crisis on Multiple Earths". She knows how to keep the energy going with flair.

The character designs for most of the character really shine, not suprisingly Supergirl and Wonder Woman. Superman and Batman look good, but the lips are a little weird at times.

The voice casting is mostly great- I don't know if Tim Daly and Kevin Conroy are considered the best 'return' voices for Superman and Batman, but to be honest, I like some continuity but was suprised to see any re=use of voices given the stance to change the characters' look and voice with every feature.

The one voice that disappointed- was a big suprise: Andre Braghuer- who I loved in the tv show "Homicide" but was terribly weak as Darkseid here (as was the facial design--- menacing he's not.....big guffaw for a character such as Darkseid). And having a male voice for Granny Goodness was just....disturbing.

And..... why does Big Barda look anorexic? Aside from that, though, the story is interesting enough----(and it was neat to see the costumes NOT change) but the weaknesses in the comic havent' really been fixed in the animated film.

Just based on the artwork alone and character designs (which mostly tries to be faithful to the comics) , to me, it was a great joy to watch. But for the animated features, "Crisis" and "Wonder Woman" so far as the best from DC thus far overall.

[Metallo]

Great review, CAM. I'll be watching this later today and posting my thoughts. I had high hopes for this one. Hows the Green Arrow animated short? Isn't it with S/B:A?

I agree that Wonder Woman and Crisis on 2 Earths are the cream of the DC animated movie crop so far. heck Wonder Woman could have been the basis for a good live action movie.

Ed Asners been Granny Goodness from Superman TAS all the way through JLU so this is just his return to the role. I always enjoyed his work in that part since Granny's one ugly old butch looking broad. the voice fits IMO.

The news that Asner is going to voice Perry White soon though...thats one of those dream casting things right there that makes you wonder why it never happened sooner. Lou Grant basically WAS Perry White.

[crazy_asian_man]

Great review, CAM I'll be watching this later today and posting my thoughts. I had high hopes for this one. Hows the Green Arrow animated short? Isn't it with S/B:A?

I agree that Wonder Woman and Crisis on 2 Earths are the cream of the DC animated movie crop so far. heck Wonder Woman could have been the basis for a good live action movie.

Ed Asners been Granny Goodness from Superman TAS all the way through JLU so this is just his return to the role. I always enjoyed his work in that part since Granny's one ugly old butch looking broad. the voice fits IMO.

The news that Asner is going to voice Perry White soon though...thats one of those dream casting things right there that makes you wonder why it never happened sooner. Lou Grant basically WAS Perry White.

Thanks Metallo, looking forward to reading your reaction to it, too.
BTW- for those who are interested- Best Buy is selling the 'collectible Supes figure' w/combo blu/dvd pack for $20- normally $29- not too shabby.

The Green Arrow short I was pretty disappointed with. Even though I knew the budget was less, I saw this AFTER I saw the main feature and it was clear that the budget was less--- but, beyond that- pretty flat in terms of character design and action. Pity. One of my favorite characters- AND there could have been a lot more originality in the action, given what Arrow can do. (there's a big section of a pretty conventional fisticuffs for a short--- dunno WHY they thought a 'classic Kirk' confrontation would be the best to include to showcase in an art form that can stretch the imagination. Oh well).

Granny is no beauty, but I WORSHIP almost every look and design Kirby came up with. (Hence, my disappointment at the skinny Barda- although they got the costume right). If only there were a faithful big-budget NEW GODS movie.... *sigh*

I also agree about Wonder Woman- I thought the writer was fantastic, but soon after I found out that the writer had access to the screenplay that Laeta Kalogridis originally wrote for a big budget WW live action film....so..... I don't know if the credit for that story should go to Gail Simone (animated feature writer) or Laeta (who's name has been attached to a lot of big fantasy projects here and there-).

Anyways-- whoever actually was responsible for the WW animated feature story--- I agree it did rock and it would be an awesome live action film- with the right casting, of course.

[Deleted]

I had tears in my eyes by the end of Wonder Woman. I couldn't believe how fucking good it was. It's disgusting we can't get a live action superhero flick as involving and exhilarating as WW was.

[MAVERICK]

^This ^

[Metallo]

Most of the cast could work in a live action movie. I'd be all for Nathan Fillion playing Steve Trevor.

Alrright, CAM. I'm about to watch this movie.

[Valentine Smith]

Wonder Woman was THAT good, huh? Even though I think Wonder Woman is lame? hmmmm...to the library I go.

I gotta say, I was disappointed in Green Lantern. My two faves so far are Crisis On Two Earths and New Frontier. Public Enemies is good. Doomsday sucked a fat one. Haven't bothered with Under The Red Hood yet.

[Metallo]

Alright I went through this dvd fast last night.

I enjoyed the history of Supergirl documentary even though its only 20 minutes long. Its interesting that Jeannot Szwarc has had a hand in the story of two different versions of Supergirl. Its nice that Helen Slater is more willing to talk about the character. I thought she had some good insight on the character as a whole and how her version could have been better

The All Star Superman sneak peak was really cool. It took some getting used to for the voices for Superman and Luthor but they sound alright. I'm not blown away the way I was with a few of past actors who have played them in previous DC animated movies though. I'd rather see Christian Hendricks play Power Girl instead of voice Lois if ya know what I mean. Ed Asner as Perry? PERFECT.

Reeve gets a cool shout out. Some of the rough animation and character models look pretty good.

I agree with Cam on The Green Arrow short. I was expecting more. It was alright but probably the weakest of the DC animated shorts so far.

Neal McDonough would make an ok Green Arrow and does well with the voice. Very cool to see Malcolm McDowell back in the DC fold voicign a bad guy. The story's pretty by the numbers and takes about 5 minutes to really get going. The animation isn't as smooth as the work done on Spectre or Jonah Hex and the character models don't look as detailed either.

On to the main course...

I already like Apocalypse a lot more than Public Enemies. The story seems more complex than just a string of cliches and slugfests. It also seems to have more real emotion to it. Summer Glau really does a good job as Supergirl. Daly and Conroy are as good as ever. Also nice too see (er...hear) Susan Eisenberg back as Wonder Woman I actually think she's gotten better at voice acting since the character seems to have a broader range of emotion now.

Andre Braugher's voice seems too high. It doesn't sound much deeper than his normal speaking voice. I think he should have gone a bit deeper with a rougher sounding more booming voice. I think his work got better towards the end though when Batman entered Darkseids's throne room and he got pissed off.

The Wonder Woman and Barda vs The Female Furies fight was awesome. Very well laid out. e last big Superman /Supergirl vs Darkseid fight was well done to and I liked the change in setting. That made it stand out even more. The aftermath was pretty damn funny too!

I swear no cartoons short of Japanese anime can do better action sequences than the DC animated movie and Justice League Unlimited. It was really cool to see Krypto and I liked the movies version of the Collectors animal menagerie from STAS showing up.

I really think this movie got the "journey of a young girl growing up" aspect that Slater felt was lacking in "Supergirl."

The animation is pretty smooth and the models really seem better suited for animation than the bulky squat designs of Public enemies. I was never a HUGE Turner fan but his work translates well because of the longer more streamlined proportions that give a better sense of fluid movement.

I think the length was pretty good but I wanted it to be a bit longer. A full 80 minutes not including the credits would have been great. I'd give this one at least an B+.

[crazy_asian_man]

I swear no cartoons short of Japanese anime can do better action sequences than the DC animated movie and Justice League Unlimited.

Agreed. When I was RAVING about how great "Crisis" was to a friend, afterwards the friend was disappointed, thinking that it was going to be on the scale of a Miyazaki film--- when I had to point out that the budget is night and day, so it's an unfair comparison (The Miyazaki films also targeted for theatrical release and take probably twice as long as well).

With what superhero animation has offered/ has to offer, I'm EXTREMELY pleased at the quality that DC has come out with for these feature length superhero projects overall.

But.... I do hope that they get (1) better and longer and (2) maybe even be more ambitious on connecting a couple of them- like an animated version of the Marvel Studios plan with multiple 'solo' films to tie into one group one later on. (only better executed)

In any case, being lucky enough to live close to Wondercon where Bruce Timm & company often have a panel, I'll make it a life's mission to push an animated version of Donners' SII the way he really would have done it, as was suggested previously on another thread. THAT would be cool.