Superman Doomsday DVD Review

By Jeff Grange

NOTE: THERE ARE SOME MINOR SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE SPOILERS GET UP, UP AND AWAY FROM HERE! (sorry, couldn’t resist)

     I have a confession to make. I am a lifelong Superman fan. It’s not easy being one these days. Last year there were two disappointing movies, Superman Returns and the direct to video Superman: Brainiac Attacks. Then things slowly started looking up. Richard Donner joined Action Comics and the first Superman Confidential story arc started very well.

     Alas, these bright ideas faded into disappointment as well. Schedules fell far behind and both titles left unfinished first story arcs as they continued with new ones. Fans like me became disgruntled. I personally dropped most of my monthly pulls in reaction to DC’s schedule meltdown. Unfortunately, I began to think there would not be anything left for a Man of Steel fan to get excited about.

     Then along comes Superman Doomsday. I popped in the DVD, hoping for at least a passable retelling of the original story. Instead I got a great story that stands on its own merits.

     For those of you just rejoining our civilization after crawling out of your respective rocks, the Death of Superman  storyline was a the defining moment of the Dan Jurgens era of Superman, and an instant classic. The Death of Superman, Funeral for a Friend and Return of Superman storylines were also megahits financially as the Death of Superman Trade Paperback is the bestselling TP of all time. However, you will not find much of that story here since it has been stated that this movie is only inspired by these comic book stories.

     So what will you find? Not the Justice League. Not Pa Kent (everyone loves killing him off these days!). Gone too is the drawn out funeral as well as Steel, Lex, Jr., Supergirl and many other elements of the original. But instead you will find action, action and more action. Seriously, this movie is scarcely over an hour and has more actual minutes of fighting action than the 5 Superman films combined. This action may at times be too intense for the tykes (the PG-13 rating is well earned) but it is a relief to finally see Superman cut loose for more than two minutes of the last JLU episode.

     The movie can also be emotionally gripping without descending into sappiness. Here Superman is clearly in love with Lois, something barely shown in other animated incarnations. Martha Kent also brings some emotional weight, albeit briefly. The voice cast helps here as well as they seem to bring each character to life instead of “phoning it in.” Anne Heche and Adam Baldwin especially do a good job as Lois and Superman. Helping round out the emotion factor is a truly gripping musical score that is surely the best Superman musical pieces since John Williams did the untouchable and great Superman Themes.

     So, the story is good, the voice cast is good and the music is good. You’re grabbing your car keys and rushing to Target to buy a copy. WAIT! There may be some hidden chunks of kryptonite that will send you to Blockbuster instead. First of all I told you the movie was short…and it is. The story is very compressed which for me was a good thing, but some of you may not like that. Doomsday himself gets very little screentime which may really tick off some Superman fans. Also if you wanted a 300 style frame by frame retelling of the original Death of Superman story, this DVD is definitely not for you. If a retelling is the only thing you are looking for, you will be very, very upset with the all-new story.

     For those of you that want more when the credits roll, the special features should keep you busy. There is a retrospective on the death of Superman, a sneak peek of Justice League: New Frontier (I really enjoyed this) as well as a game, trailers and more!

     All in all this release should make Superman fans in your home very happy. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to find a spot for this on my shelf …ah there’s one (throws Superman :Brainiac Attacks in trash and replaces it with Superman Doomsday).