Believe it or not it's been almost twenty years since DC Comics started putting out direct to DVD animated movies on a yearly basis. As while yes they have put out "movie" length episodes of animated TV shows onto DVD they very rarely did full length films as a direct to DVD animated movie and yet the film that i'm about to be talking to you all today about really is the movie that kicked started it all and so then join me as I review the film that really kick started the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line up of films with the film in question being called simply just "Superman: Doomsday" enjoy.
The plot of this film is when an unstoppable killing machine is accidently released by Lexcorp it's up to Superman to try and defeat the beat once and for all. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad as it was a plot that could only be told in a movie length format and not in an episode of say Superman: The Animated Series for example as it would get butchered to death and while yes granted this movie does also condense the story the story of the book that this film is based off of by cutting down alot of the extra comic books that made up the whole story and while that would usually be bad thing here given the fact that this is DC's first proper direct to DVD animated movie it does make sense as not only are they starting of this line of movies by adapting the storyline that sees Superman get killed off but this is also there first direct to DVD animated film and so of course they have to cut it down in order to make it appeal to a much wider audience with the original story gaining a more faithful adaptation in a two part animated direct to DVD film release in 2018 with the plot of the book not really being effected in the transition to this film adaptation of the story as that's just how good the plot of this film really is with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this film is Adam Baldwin as Clark Kent / Kal-El / Superman , Anne Heche as Lois Lane and James Marsters as Lex Luthor. Also starring in this film is John DiMaggio as The Toyman , Tom Kenny as The Robot , Swoosie Kurtz as Martha Kent , Cree Summer as Mercy Graves , Ray Wise as Perry White , Adam Wylie as Jimmy Olsen , Kevin Smith as A Grumpy Man , Kimberly Brooks as Murphy , Townsend Coleman as A Drill Operator , Chris Cox as Damon Swank , Hettie Lynn Hurtes as A Newscaster and James Arnold Taylor as Officer Tucker.
No then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With all of these actors being perfectly cast for this film which does make sense as the great Andrea Romano did the voice direction for this film and as perusal was able to get a good performance out of all of this films actors so much so that after a while it was easy to stop hearing the actor and to start hearing the character something that alot of modern animated films direct to DVD or not sometimes fail to do with it really being helped by the fact that alot of this films actors actually recorded there lines together which means that we do get a strong sense of the chemistry between the characters and actors as well something that is alot harder to do when the actors aren't bein recorded together with all of this films actors turning in performances that is perfect for there respective characters with none of this films actors turning in performances that would make there character feel somewhat out of character as even the more robotic voice that Adam Baldwin gives the clone Superman does feel right for that character as that version of Superman doesn't know everything about Clark Kent but does know pretty much everything about Superman and as a result of that is the fact that he would of course sound robotic at times as he's just reciting what he knows about Superman and that's really it with the acting that's in this film really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance really will come out of them alot more naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.
Doing the animation for this film is the legends and the really greats that are currently over at Lotto Animation. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then un all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty but at the same time tho this films animation really isn't all that good either as why yes granted this films animation is leagues better then we got in say Ultimate Avengers for example for one reason or another this films animation just isn't as good as the animation in other direct to DVD animated films and part of that might be because of the fact that this is there first direct to DVD animated film and so they just went with the cheapest animation studio that they could find but at the same time tho alot of it might just because of the fact that Lotto Animation aren't really that well known for doing animated movies as there more known for doing animated TV shows with the occasional foray into feature length films and while they would turn in better in animation in Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated here in this film there animation just isn't as good as we know the animation would get in not only the later DC animated films both theatrical and not but also in Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm as well with this films animation looking a lit dated in some areas and OK looking at best in others where as even as early as the 2009 Wonder Woman the animation would get extremely better looking as well.
Incase some of you don't know this film is the first adaptation of the classic Superman comic book story line The Death Of Superman. With this film giving us a more condensed version of the story and heck even Doomsday himself only appears in a very small handful of scenes and he's the one that does what Lex Luthor and so many others have tried and failed to do and that's actually kill Superman with Doomsday being this supposedly unstoppable killing machine that even has the Man Of Steel himself pausing to catch his breath something which Doomsday doesn't let him and this is something that does set doomsday apart from all of the other one of Superman foes as while he doesn't have the brains of Lex Luthor what he does have the speed and the muscle needed to defeat Superman something that does help him make a memorable first impression on us the audience so much so that it's easy to believe that he could defeat this truly iconic superhero with this also being helped by the fact that his design for this film is just knarly and out there that you can't help but to feel somewhat intimated by him and while comic book purists might have preferred it if they just kept the sack like design that they had in comic book for a movie you want something that's alot more cinematic and that's exactly what we got with his design in this movie and while that's not a knock on the comic book design for the character by any means it's just that Doomsday is a character that punch's first and asks question second and this current design for his character does reflect that part of his character.
In one of the issues of making this film a single part film is the fact that all of the films more emotional moments aren't given the time that they really did need to set in and sit with us the audience. With this being a big issues when it comes to the scene when Lois goes to visit Martha right after Superman has died and been buried and she starts crying because of the fact that she know what Martha knows and that's the fact that Clark Kent is Superman and she was his girlfriend in this movie and that's not something that she can say because it would be giving away who Superman was as well and yet the film just brushes over it like it was nothing when that is something that should have been given alot more focus on as it's a key part of her character arc for this film and yet the film does nothing with it with the same thing also being true for alot of the films over emotional moments as well with this actually being something that was actually very vastly improved upon in the 2018 The Death Of Superman two part film as they took the time to not only develop the characters alot more further then what they could have done in this film but they also added more emotional value to the storyline as well something that this film for one reason or another just couldn't do and while this film should get alot of credit for being the first direct to DVD DC animated movie it should be noted that out of the two versions of this story it's oddly the 2018 film that did it better because of the fact that it let it's more emotional moments sit with us the audience thus making them all the more impactful and slightly more memorable in the process.
What this film does really well is make Lex Luthor out to be even more psychotic then what he has ever been before. As due to the fact that he wasn't the one to give the killing blow to Superman he clones him just so that he can control him and on a nightly basis beat him up in a Kryptonite room with Kryptonite laced robotic hands all because of the fact that the real Superman is now dead and that right there is some messed up thing to do and yet it's also something that does feel in character for Lex Luthor in his own sick and twisted way as he like the rest of the characters in this film are mourning the death of Superman in there own special ways but with Lex he takes it to whole other level just because he can do and that is something that does make him a real threat to Superman as Lex can go to those extremes due to the fact that he's really rich and powerful where as Superman isn't and Lex has no moral code to stand by something that we see play out in this film as he openly kills his own assistant Marcy Graves in cold blook all for no reason whatsoever and killing someone is something that Superman would never do but what let's Lex's plan of cloning the dead Superman down is the fact that all of the things that he programmes into the clones are things that are public knowledge about Superman as nobody knows that Clark Kent is Superman and therefor they wouldn't know small things like what his favorite TV show is or more important things like who his girlfriend is and that's little piece of missing information that clues in Lois to the fact that the person that she thought was the realm Superman is infact a clone version of him.
Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and seventeen minuets and forty one seconds. Which to be fair is more then enough running time for this film to tell this version of the story as this film really does have more then enough there interms of plot to really cover that amount of running time and while the film really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as none of the characters are given much development as all of them just have the same personalities as the main stream audience would know them to have but to be fair tho the film didn't really need to fully develop them as they are that well known characters would it have been nice if they were fully developed of course it would but alot of the people that coming into this film aren't coming to it to see some really well thought out characters there coming to see one of if not the world's most famous superhero get killed off and that's really it and again to be fair that is where this film shines it's brightest as the film does dedicate alot of time not only to the main fight between Superman and Doomsday but to also the after effects of such a massive battle as well with the film even showing us the audience how several well known characters where deeply effected by the death of this one person which was a really effective use of it's running time but at the same time tho this film would have been alot more better if the film did use it's running time alot more wisely by not only developing it's characters to the point where you actually feel sorry for Lois when Superman does die but to also allow more of a build up for his eventual return near the end of the film as well but I really will admit that this film really does have some really pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is ana action film that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very fil well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. As due to this film having a more mature rating then alot of the other DC animated projects with this film getting an American rating of PG-13 which is the equivalent of 12 rating over here in the UK the film does get away with being alot more violent then what they could have gotten away with on either Superman: The Animated Series or either Justice League cartoon with them even going as far as to showing Superman bleed something that really hasn't been done since this film with the best fight in the whole entire film going to Superman Vs Doomsday as it was just so cool seeing these two alien beings just go at it and yet at the same time it did have those emotional gut punches as not only does Lois come to realise but us the audience also come to realise that Superman is literally giving up his life to defeat this one monster something that we hadn't seen before now because f the fact that no other monster had challenged him so much and yet here it works not only on just cool to see but also on a storytelling level as well with both characters even getting in lots of painful looking hits as well and that's not to say that the Superman Vs Clone Superman fight is a bad fight because it's not it just that this one was alot more better and alot more impactful as well just due to how good of a fight that it was and that's something that they couldn't replicate in Batman Vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall while The Death Of Superman film really might be the better adaptation of the story as a whole then this film interms of telling a really more condensed version of the story then this film is still a really good adaptation so much so that it made ten million American dollars in home media sales when this film was first released all the back in 2007 as that's just how good that this version of this truly iconic story really is in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all pf the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official DC Movies fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very film that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very film with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.