Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's… Super Dull!!! Okay That's a cheap shot but after watching the new DC Universe Animated Original Movie "All-Star Superman" that's exactly how I am feeling.
Coming on the heels of such fantastic 2010 releases as: "Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths," "Superman/Batman: Apocalypse" and the exceptional "Batman: Under the Red Hood." "All-Star Superman" just falls flat by comparison.
Visually, "All-Star Superman" looks fantastic, especially on Blu-Ray. And the vocal talent featuring James Denton (Desperate Housewives) as Superman, Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) as Lois Lane and Anthony LaPaglia (Without A Trace) as Lex Luthor is perfect for these iconic roles.
But, the script just doesn't match up.
Without giving too much away, the story is simple… Lex Luthor has finally found a way to kill Superman with a massive dose of yellow solar radiation. For lack of a better word, this causes Superman to contract something akin to cancer and he doesn't have long to live. In his short time left he must try and get his and Clark Kent's personal lives in order and try to do as much good for the world before he leaves forever.
The problem with the film lies firmly on the screenplay which is based on the 12-issue comic book series written by Grant Morrison. Now, I have not read the comic book source material but after viewing the movie - with characters that are introduced and then disappear and story lines that start and stop on a dime - I can only conclude that a story of this magnitude just couldn't be told within the constraints of a 76 minute film.
Maybe if the filmmakers were given 2 hours or even spread this particular story over 2 DVDs via a Part 1 and a Part 2 the original vision of "All-Star Superman" could have soared on DVD. In the end, however, it just feels disjointed at best.
Drumroll please… 4 out of 10 drumsticks!
Nice review, Pat.
ReplyDeleteIf you've got the time, Morrison's run is worth checking out (especially the new Absolute edition).