A new film worth considering

Earlier this month, the animated movie The Death of Superman was released.  When I first heard about this, I thought it was strange that they decided to do this.  You see, way back in 2007, the animated film Superman: Doomsday was unveiled.  What this film attempted to do was truncate three popular Superman graphic novels (The Death of Superman; World Without a Superman; and The Return of Superman into one animated film).  I’ve even blogged about Superman: Doomsday a few times.  While I’m happy it exists, this new film The Death of Superman is a much, much better version.  I feel like this is the version that should have existed all along.

For various reasons, I almost didn’t give this new movie a chance, but I’m sure glad I did.  I’m not ashamed that I cried a few times upon viewing this.  If you want to see a film that captures the essence of those first two graphic novels, I recommend The Death of Superman to you (they decided to release an upcoming second film Reign of the Supermen that covers the graphic novel The Return of Superman; and frankly, I think that’s a very good decision). 

Let me issue a caution: The Death of Superman (and Superman: Doomsday for that matter) is violent.  I know I’ve said it’s an animated movie, but it’s not for young children.  For those that don’t know, The Death of Superman is essentially the story of how Superman saves Metropolis from a heartless monster named Doomsday.  Doomsday has no conscience, mercy, or morality; he murders anyone that happens to be in his path.  Superman and Doomsday, in an epic fight, end up killing each other.  So, as you might expect, this film has a lot of violence, brutality (via Doomsday), and bloodshed in it.

But with that stated, I really like this movie.  You can see that the filmmakers had a deep love for the graphic novels; but really you don’t even have to have any knowledge of what transpired in those graphic novels to enjoy this film.  In short, this is a tale of the world’s greatest superhero giving his life for the citizens that he loves.  Many years ago, I heard a critic summing up the 1993 film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm by stating, “This is Gotham City’s savior the way he was meant to be.”  I submit that The Death of Superman captures Metropolis’ savior the way he was meant to be.

Kevin