Superman: Doomsday Reviews

"If history has determined that gods can die, it is also proven that they may return from the dead. It would seem you cannot be destroyed after all, Superman. It would seem."

Superman/Doomsday finds Clark Kent/Superman (Adam Baldwin) already set in his daily routine, working at the Daily Planet while carrying on a romantic relationship with reporter Lois Lane (Anne Heche), who doesn't know his true identity. Lex Luthor (James Marsters) uncovers an alien spacecraft during an excavation, which unleashes an unstoppable doomsday machine that seeks to destroy every living thing in its path. Arriving in Metropolis, Superman is confronted with the formidable Doomsday, testing him like nothing before. Superman defeats Doomsday but dies as a consequence, forcing the city to confront the reality of a world without their saviour. Crime rates are on the rise, and Lois feels more vulnerable than ever, but the Man of Steel suddenly comes back from the dead. While it's cause for celebration, Superman begins acting very suspiciously.

The first in what became a long-running series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies, 2007's Superman/Doomsday is a 77-minute retelling of three major storylines from the Superman comics: The Death of Superman, World without a Superman, and Return of Superman. It's more or less a pared-down version of the comic books, stripping away certain characters and subplots to provide a simplistic representation of this story arc. But instead of focusing on one storyline for better effect, writers Duane Capizzi and Bruce Timm compress all basic plot points from Death to Return into the script without giving each story the breadth and runtime that they deserve. In fact, Doomsday becomes a secondary presence in his own movie, relegated to only the first third. The battle between Superman and Doomsday is impressive, but it's over far too soon, and Superman's death does not have as much emotional resonance as it should. The truncation of the source looks all the more disappointing in 2023 following the release of the positively epic two-part adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns, which did genuine justice to the rich source material. Thankfully, this was later rectified with a two-part animated movie about the Death and Return of Superman released in 2018 and 2019.

While Superman/Doomsday is disappointingly underdone, it does tell its story in an entertaining fashion and remains eminently watchable throughout. Warner Premiere does not exactly have the funds to splash out a few hundred million dollars on the project, hence the animation is rather basic here, lacking in fine detail. Still, the animators make the most of their scant resources, creating a handful of tremendously exciting battle sequences. The throwdown between Doomsday and the Man of Steel is a highlight due to its sheer brutality. Superman/Doomsday carries a PG-13 rating and features content that is a bit stronger than what you would normally find in a kid-friendly Superman adventure. The tone here is dark and there are some intense sequences involving blood, not to mention there's some harsh language and unexpected innuendo. It's not gratuitous, though, and it does suit the nature of the material since this is a dark story. Also impressive is the cast. Voicing Superman is Adam Baldwin, better known as Jayne from Firefly. He disappears into the role, giving Supes a distinctive voice that sounds wholly different from Jayne.

Even though Superman/Doomsday fails to do justice to its expansive source material, it does work well enough as a standalone comic book movie on its own terms. Given its limitation, this is about the best retelling one could reasonably expect in this one-shot format. With its skilful if not exactly mind-blowing animation, and with terrific voice work and a great score, it's a good watch, and it'll be of interest to casual Superman fans or anyone who just enjoys superhero movies.

6.0/10

Superman media never made a big impact on my life. This and Spider-Man. I guess I tend to go for more darker and mature stuff like Batman and Savage Dragon. This film had violence and brutal deaths but they were nothing compared to the 90's Batman cartoons.

Anyway, the storyline was good and the reason why I saw this is because I'm working on a similar story of my own and I wanted some ideas and influences. Although I got next to nothing, I did manage to "steal" some dialogues.

I always found Lois Lane to be an attractive, but dull, character but that's not the point, the point is WOAH! I loved Anne Heche's V.O. as the character. Seriously, I love woman voices like these and it fit almost perfectly. She should now play Lois Lane from now on. Frankly speaking, she was the only redeeming point. Lex Luthor, on the other hand, was like a big joke. Hardly intimidating and boring, I kinda felt sorry for him. Do you honestly think the real Superman is foolish enough to step in that little red room and dance with you? Ha! and I thought Luthor was supposed to be the greatest thinker of all time!

In conclusion, I kinda liked it, has shocking moments but doesn't have much redeeming points though. I just wanted to see the death of Superman and it gave... end of story!

7.2/10

Superman: Doomsday is the first of the direct-to-DVD animated features from Warner Brothers animation. Produced by Bruce Timm, the main creative force behind the beloved DCAU from the early-90s to mid-00s, and armed with a PG-13 rating, it had tremendous potential to really be something. As it turned out, it’s good, but never really great. A rushed and frantically paced adaptation of the death and return of Superman storylines, Doomsday combines the mainstream news headline making storylines into an excuse to hang two large scale action sequences and opening and closing monologues from Lex Luthor. Problems with the script aside, fantastic animation and great vocal work could have allowed one to overlook the deficiencies in the script. And while the animation is frequently great it is also marked by numerous problems. Superman’s design being chief among them, and his body which looks grossly disproportioned towards the end. The action sequences as wonderful to behold though, and put much of Superman Returns and other live action attempts to shame. And on the vocal side of things, James Marsters and Adam Baldwin deliver the goods as Luther and Superman, but the less said about the woefully miscast Swoosie Kurtz, Cree Summer and Anne Heche as Ma Kent, Mercy Graves and Lois Lane, the better. Altogether, it’s not awful, and it would be bettered by the rest of the direct-to-DVD films, but it’s obvious that they had to start somewhere.