The latest entry to the long list of fantastic DC Direct Animated Movies is "Superman Vs. The Elite" and is based on the story line "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way" which originally appeared in Action Comics #775 written by Joe Kelly.
"Superman Vs The Elite" finds the Man Of Steel butting heads with a group of super-powered antiheroes. The Elite become popular amongst the citizens of the world when they decide to take their job as heroes one step further than Superman ever would. Their "judge, jury and executioner" approach when dealing with the criminals of the world sets the ball rolling for Superman to stop what he believes is wrong and put an end to "The Elite."
"Superman Vs The Elite" was also written by Joe Kelly and I was very much intrigued by the "what if" scenario of what Superheroes could do if they truly wanted to take the law into their own hands. What didn't work for me was the animation style. While the material is quite dark, the movie is animated in a "Saturday morning cartoon" style. The stark contrast between the animation and material at times took me out of what I was watching.
George Newbern (Father of the Bride 1 & 2, Chicago Hope) returns as the voice of Superman -- a role he basically shares with actor Tim Daly in the DC Direct Universe. Both actors are always superb as Krypton's famous son and they have a very similar vocal quality. Other actors rounding out the cast include Robin Atkin Downes (Batman: Year One, Justice League: DOOM) as Elite leader Manchester Black and Pauley Perrette (NCIS) as Lois Lane. Although all the actors do a workman-like job on this feature, I found the vocal directing talents of Andrea Romano to be sorely missed
The Bluray features the documentary short "The Elite Unbound: No Rules, No Mercy," the featurete "Superman and the Moral Debate," plus much much more.
Sad to say, but the best thing about "Superman Vs The Elite" Bluray disc just might be the Sneak Peak of the next highly anticipated DC Direct Feature: "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1." Once again Batman has managed to over shadow Superman!
When it comes to Superman's place in the DC Direct Universe he tends to fare better when teamed with the Justice League or Batman. On his own (Superman: Doomsday & All-Star Superman) he seems to be bogged down with artistic Kryptonite.
For the best depictions of Superman on film, go back and check out "Superman: The Animated Series" as well as the live action series "Smallville." Both of these shows bring all aspects of the Superman mythology to fruition with stellar results! Here's hoping that 2013's "Man Of Steel" will finally bring Superman to the big screen in all his Kryptonian glory.
Drumroll please... 6 out of 10 big, red "S's"!!
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