Superman is back in the new DC Showcase original animated short: "Superman/Shazam: The Return Of Black Adam." Unlike other DC direct to DVD releases this is not a full length feature film but a collection of animated shorts. The main event? The teaming of Superman and Captain Marvel!
George Newbern and Jerry O'Connell return as the "Man Of Steel" and "The World's Mightiest Mortal," the roles they originated in the "Justice League Unlimited" TV series.
Joining the voice talent team are James Garner as "Shazam" and Arnold Vosloo (The Mummy) as "Black Adam."
All of their performances are great as is the animation -- but the problem with this release is the story. On all of the past DC releases I felt the writing was top notch but on this one I was disappointed at the way the teaming of Superman and Captain Marvel happens so conveniently!
**** SPOILER ALERT ****
Coincidence #1: Clark Kent just happens to be writing a story on an orphaned kid named... Billy Batson.
Coincidence #2: The very morning they meet for breakfast… Black Adam appears.
Coincidence #3: As soon as Superman and Black Adam start to brawl, Billy is summoned by Shazam and becomes Captain Marvel for the first time.
**** END OF SPOILERS ****
Those 3 events happen so conveniently that I was totally taken out of the story. What follows is about a 15 minute brawl which is great. And watching Superman and Captain Marvel work together is fun too. I just wish that more time and creativity had been put into the script. Couldn't Clark have been writing a story about another boy? Maybe a friend of Billy Batson's? Couldn't Captain Marvel have already existed so that his origin didn't feel so last minute? Simple tweaks to the script would have made this DVD release soar!
The other 3 shorts on the DVD are: "Green Arrow," "Jonah Hex," and "Spectre" which have been previously released as bonus content on other DC releases but are presented here as extended versions. If you've never seen them then these are worth checking out because they capture these three characters so perfectly that you wish they would all get their own full length feature.
The Special Features are exceptional as well. They include 4 bonus cartoons including the "Justice League Unlimited" episode entitled "Clash" which features Superman and Captain Marvel (and is far superior to "The Return Of Black Adam"). You also get one of the best episodes of "Batman The Brave and the Bold" entitled "Chill Of The Night" which features the "Spectre" in a storyline about Batman finally confronting his parents' killer.
If you have never seen any of the other shorts or any of the bonus episodes then you should definitely check out this release as the price is modest. But, if you are here to see the two greatest flying caped heroes of all-time, look elsewhere.
Drumroll please… 6 out of 10 drumsticks!!
DVD as a whole:
Drumroll please… 9 out of 10 drumsticks!!
I've got the big bows, Pat.
ReplyDeleteI've got the big bows, Pat.
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