Superman: Man of Tomorrow

Origin stories are always tricky. Too much exposition, too much reliance on old themes and old storylines, they become dull. Too little, they're empty. This effort is somewhere in between. While it isn't terrible, it isn't that great, either. What we have here is another reboot of how Superman came to be and a riff on how Parasite came to be but not unbe. The story is familiar and with a "love conquers all" message at the end--not needed, IMO, because of how treacly it was--it brought down the movie to a level of barely passable. Pluses. The voices are good, particularly Zachary Quinto as Lex Luthor. I'm used to Clancy Brown, but Quinto's riff on it wasn't bad, and the evilness of Luthor in the final showdown was solid. Darren Criss as Superman/Clark Kent was fine, and Alexandra Daddario as Lois Lane was good. I'm sort of spoiled by Brad Garrett's interpretation of Lobo, but Ryan Hurst does well enough, showing the meanness...but not all the humor. Ike Amadi as Martian Manhunter does well enough in his role, investing his character with gravity and pathos. Music. Good, but not great. Direction also good but not great. The story could have moved a bit faster. It was a by-the-numbers direction job, but not terrible by any means. Minuses. The animation could have been a lot better. It reminded me of The Brave and the Bold style, with somewhat less of a black outline around the characters. Parasite reminded me more of Godzilla: Resurgence (which was pretty awesome, IMO) but his character really didn't move me one way or the other. He's supposed to garner the audience's sympathy for his condition; he left lukewarm. Couldn't hate him, but definitely didn't like him. Every superhero needs a villain, and Lobo was more compelling in his own way. But the biggest drawback was the overall familiarity of the story and the unwillingness to move in a different direction. I'm a huge DC fan, so I always look forward to what they come up with, but this is a far cry from being their best or even being near their best. It's worth a watch, but not a buy.

Superman:ManOfTomorrow A great piece of work after the departure of a amazing DCAMU Journey DC proved Why they rule animated Universe after a long time we see a different take on superman origins i really enjoyed it And also lobo and Martian Manhunter were amazing it was great to see them as one of main focuses of the movie

This was a great installment to the Superman catalog. It felt new, and yet, somehow vintage. The animation style is very saturated with heavy handed brushstrokes (but probably all computer animation). Zachary Quinto as Lex Luther was a clever choice. Quinto will forever be that quintessential (pun) villain type. Lots of little nods to the rest of the DC Justice League universe. It would make a nice starting point to expand that universe in this style and continuity. Perhaps even a weekly serial on HBO MAX / DC Universe.

Did DC change their ambitions/budget? The animation style may be different but it's actually quite a turn off. It doesn't fit action to me at least. The story and writing overall were horrible. It's like in some scenes it was translated from another language, awkward or out of character. Did I mention the story was pretty underwhelming? So many good Superman stories to choose from and they cobble poor ones together.