So many years, so many attempts at bringing this story arc to the movie format, so many talented people who at one point or another were involved in the project and after all their combined efforts we are left with a light animated version of one of the greatest superman stories ever told.
It is hard to judge this movie as a stand alone piece and ignore all the background explored in the comics, and all the drama and money spent over the course of more than a decade. As Bruce Timm put it in a promotional interview for this release "There is just so much story there, we can't do this in a movie", this adaptation had to be stripped down to its very basics to fit the 70-minute time frame given to the producers.
The movie itself works, it has a good pace and I think the viewers appreciate the effort put into not making it a kid movie but rather a more truthful adaptation of the graphic novel, the PG-13 rating proves it. The animation is excellent, the music makes the character shine with the heroism and the voice actors (except for Anne Heche) seem perfect for their parts.
What intrigues me the most is why after producing Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League, Timm and company didn't adapt this huge story arc to their animated series? It would have been perfect, they would have had time to include and adapt all the major stories from the comic books and truly explore this event. Instead they went for a straight to DVD feature that feels quite shallow.
It is hard to judge this movie as a stand alone piece and ignore all the background explored in the comics, and all the drama and money spent over the course of more than a decade. As Bruce Timm put it in a promotional interview for this release "There is just so much story there, we can't do this in a movie", this adaptation had to be stripped down to its very basics to fit the 70-minute time frame given to the producers.
The movie itself works, it has a good pace and I think the viewers appreciate the effort put into not making it a kid movie but rather a more truthful adaptation of the graphic novel, the PG-13 rating proves it. The animation is excellent, the music makes the character shine with the heroism and the voice actors (except for Anne Heche) seem perfect for their parts.
What intrigues me the most is why after producing Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League, Timm and company didn't adapt this huge story arc to their animated series? It would have been perfect, they would have had time to include and adapt all the major stories from the comic books and truly explore this event. Instead they went for a straight to DVD feature that feels quite shallow.