All-Star Superman

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

Dr. Leo Quintum and his P.R.O.J.E.C.T. Team are exploring the Sun when they are sabotaged by a booby-trapped, genetically enhanced Lex Luthor clone. Superman saves the day, but it turns out that his body has been overdosed with solar radiation that not only gives him new powers but now is slowly killing him. Luthor, having orchestrated the death of Superman while under the employment of General Sam Lane, is arrested thanks to Clark Kent’s article and sentenced to death.

Deciding to keep his impending death a secret from the public, Superman reveals his secret identity to Lois Lane because he wants to spend his remaining time with her. Though Lois was unable to accept it after years of him keeping the truth of his identity as Clark Kent from her, Superman takes her to the Fortress of Solitude. During this visit, Superman’s secretive behavior and indirect exposure to alien chemicals heightens Lois’ paranoia to the point of attacking Superman with a kryptonite laser. However, seeing the radiation has now made him immune to green kryptonite, Superman is able to calm her down and reveals that his secret was that he has been preparing her birthday present: superpowers for 24 hours.

Now as a Superwoman, she and Superman stop an attack by Krull in Metropolis just as Samson and Atlas arrive. Flirting with Lois, and showing a newspaper that reads “Superman Dead, by Clark Kent”, Samson is revealed to be the one who stole jewels from an Ultra-Sphinx that he gave to Lois. Answering the Ultra-Sphinx’s unanswerable question to save Lois, Superman then defeats Atlas and Samson in a double arm-wrestling match before spending the rest of the day with Lois as her powers fade. Later, Kent meets Luthor for an exclusive interview at Stryker’s Island. However, Superman’s energy causes the Parasite to free himself and causes havoc in the prison. Clark stops him while not revealing his secret identity, with Luthor disclosing his respect for Clark as both a journalist and a regular person. He then reveals a tunnel from his cell for Clark to escape with the help of Nasthalthia, his delinquent niece. Though Clark asked, Luthor states that he has no desire to escape as long as Superman dies before he does.

Two months later, after taking the city of Kandor to a new planet to thrive, Superman finds Metropolis has been repaired with Kryptonian architecture, and Earth has been protected by Bar-El and Lilo, Krypton’s first astronauts, survivors, and Superman’s relatives. But, to his dismay, the two have less altruistic goals and intend to turn Earth into a new Krypton. However, Bar-El and Lilo begin showing signs of illness: the two had passed through the remnants of Krypton and thus were saturated with kryptonite. To save them, Superman places the two within the Phantom Zone at their request until a cure can be found.

After settling his affairs in order, Superman proceeds to finish his last will and testament. By then, having reprogrammed one of Superman’s robots to get the formula he used to give Lois super powers, Luthor succeeds in making a super serum for himself and tricks the executioners in having him drink it. Escaping, he meets up with Nasthalthia below one of his lairs to continue his plans. Superman finishes off his final entry in the Fortress of Solitude when he learns of Luthor’s secret ally: Solaris, the tyrant star computer, which betrayed Luthor by tampering with Earth’s sun and turned it blue. With his robots, Superman engages Solaris in space. All seems lost until Superman’s pet Sun-Eater sacrifices itself to weaken the tyrant star which allows Superman to destroy Solaris. Clark returns to the Daily Planet, very ill, to submit his article until he falls dead. As the staff tries to save him, the super-powered Luthor arrives and attempts to kill Lois when Clark comes to and fights off Luthor with a gravity gun. Though the gun is destroyed and he is powerless against Luthor, Superman actually intended the weapon to warp time for Luthor so that his powers burn out early. As his powers fade, Luthor briefly sees the world as Superman sees it, and weeps as he gains a small measure of understanding of the universe and everyone in it before realizing his spare serum was taken by Superman who destroyed it.

With Superman’s body starting to turn into pure energy, he and Lois embrace one final time and he proclaims his love for her once and for all. He takes off, flying into the Sun as his solar-radio consciousness begins to overtake his body as he enters the Sun and thus saves the day for the last time. One year later, a memorial service is held for Superman. Only Lois does not attend, believing Superman is not dead and will return after he is done fixing the sun. Quintum visits Luthor in his death row cell. Now enlightened from his ordeal and accepting his impending death, Luthor presents Quintum with the only thing that could redeem him for his actions over the years, a formula to recreate Superman’s genetic structure through a healthy human embryo. Inside the Sun, Superman, now a solar being, is activating and making machinery within.

REVIEW:

I actually hadn’t planned on watching another superhero flick this week, since Netflix surprised me with Marvel Knights: Black Panther last week. Well, they did it again this week with All-Star Superman!

I’m actually not quite sure I like this entry into the DC Animated Universe. I can’t really put my finger on it, but this film just didn’t quite capture me the way previous entries such as Wonder Woman, Green Lantern: First Flight, Batman: Under the Red Hood, Superman: Doomsday and Justice League: The New Frontier managed to do. I don’t know if was because this film was darker and more serious or what, but it just didn’t make me want to rush out and buy it or read the original comic, that’s for sure.

The film has a simple premise that revolves around Superman being tricked by Luthor to rush into space and save a spaceship from crashing into the sun. In the process, he is exposed to so much solar radiation that while his powers have increased, he will also soon die. The rest of the film is spent with him tying up the proverbial loose ends, if you will, and then concludes with the tradition confrontation between hero and villain.

Doesn’t that sound like an exciting film? It really should have been, but much like the Man of Steel’s live action incarnations, this film suffered from a lack of action. I’m sorry, but I want to see Superman throw down with some baddies. I know he’s a peaceful guy, and I respect that, but there comes a point where you can’t just have him holed up in the Fortress of Solitude sewing clothes all day, which is something he actually does here.

Speaking of the costume, what was the deal with the half cape Superman was sporting here? It reminded me of Captain Marvel (Shazam!). Just my opinion, but I think Superman should always have a full cape. I’m just saying.

While I’m on the design thing. Not a fan of the way he was drawn. He seemed like Lex Luthor from the 90s animated series and Li Shang from Mulan. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but the heroic look that one would expect Superman to have just wasn’t there, at least for me.

Aside from the design, though, the animation was pretty good. I’m always glad to see hand drawn animation, especially done at such a high level (even if there were obvious computer generated images).

The few action scenes that were in this film weren’t half bad, and kept the film from falling into some kind of morose, dark, brooding territory reserved from the heavier Batman stuff.

Speaking of the Caped Crusader, I do belive this is the first Superman movie I’ve seen since Superman Returns that he doesn’t appear in.

I don’t want to make it seem like I totally hated this film, because I really didn’t. I just expected something…more.

The voice casting was quite interesting, to say the least. As much as I applaud them for going after actors that are known, as opposed to your traditional voice actors, I have to wonder if they are only doing this in an effort to bring in some who wouldn’t otherwise watch. I’m sorry, bt I don’t know how well that would work. I mean, Christina Hendricks is known for 2 things…neither of which is her voice. That isn’t to say she doesn’t do a decent job as Lois Lane.

I’ve never read this particular comic/graphic novel, so I don’t know all the details, just what was told to me by my Superman fanatic friends, but it just seemed as if they were trying to shove too many characters in here at one time. Granted, from what I hear, this series lasted for about 3 years, so that was a lot of ground to cover in 71 minutes. Having said that, it seemed as if they were trying too hard to fit all the characters in that they could.

I won’t complain about Parasite or Solaris, they actually made sense in their short window of screen time, though Polaris apparently has a bigger role in the comics. My beef is with the underdevelopment of the characters of Atlas and Samson and even more so with Lilo and Bar-El.

To me, it just seemed as if they could have been developed a bit more, instead of just randomly showing for a few minutes and then forgotten just as soon as you can snap your fingers. Viewers may have differing opinions on this, and that’s fine, but I’ve said my piece.

Don’t even get me started on how disjointed this whole thing seemed to be. It was like a series of episodes with little to nothing connecting them, but they still smooshed them together in hopes of making a S’more (pardon the bad analogy, but you get the idea).

In conclusion, All-Star Superman wasn’t what I was expecting, but it was a decent entry into the DC Animated Universe. I won’t be rushing to see it again, but that doesn’t you shouldn’t check it out, just don’t expect too much. Personally, I’m hoping their next outing, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights is makes up for this setback. Feel free to check out my friends’ review over at Fortress Takes for another take on this disappointment.

3 out of 5 stars