All-Star Superman is the latest animated feature from DC Comics, based off the comic book series of the same name by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. It is the seventh featuring Superman, that's including the Superman/Batman and Justice League movies. Eighth if you count the short film with Shazam. The comic, not part of the regular continuity, features Lex Luthor overdosing Superman with solar radiation so that the Man of Steel will die. Superman then goes on a quest to leave the world in a better place than when he left it.
Though I have not actually read the series this video is based off, I love Superman. I've read the comics, watched the series, bought the movies, and even listened to a few of the old radio programs.
The movie is a different version of the Superman character, much like the comics. The movie starts off with him realizing that he's dying and that Lex Luthor killed him. This is the first time since Superman: Doomsday that he's had to face the idea of his own mortality. Much of the movie focuses on the drama of the characters dealing with his impending demise. Though there are plenty of action sequences thrown in just to keep you entertained.
The voice cast does a good job. The voices of Superman, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor are all terrific. Though I'll always hear the voices of Tim Daley, Dana Delany, and Clancy Brown when I read the comics.
The animation is great. One of my complaints about these animated features has always been that the animation was too close to Bruce Timm's Justice League. So it's nice to see that they're moving on in that aspect.
Sadly, this video left very much to be desired. Not that it was outright bad. It just should have been better.
The main problem with the movie is that it's too episodic. Watching it I felt I could tell where one comic book ended and another began. I understand that it is based off a specific comic book series, but then again so were Superman: Doomsday, Justice League: The New Frontier, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, and Batman: Under the Red Hood and those all seemed to work fine as a straightforward movie.
A resulting problem is that many of these episodes don't help the main story at all. I've read that the comics feature a lot more episodes and the producers cut them down. Honestly, they should have cut it down more. Take for instance the episode with Parasite. On it's own the scene was quite entertaining, especially seeing Clark try to save people without revealing his identity. However, afterward I found myself asking why they bothered with this segment. It added virtually nothing to the story of Superman dying. The scenes with Atlas and Samson are similarly unneeded.
There was only one thing about the movie that I hated. In one early episode Superman is able to grant Lois his powers for one day. For once she can do all the things he can. So what do they do? They fly to Metropolis where she watches him save the day, without doing anything just like she's always shown doing. I kept waiting for her to shoot heat beams, use freeze breath, or beat up some bad guy. Sadly this moment is wasted as they set up something later in the movie.
Just as a general complaint about these animated movies, I'm getting a little tired of always seeing Superman and Batman. As I said, it's the eighth movie with Superman while Batman has eleven with a twelfth on the way. While I do like Superman, I would like to see some other characters too. I loved Wonder Woman and Green Lantern: First Flight, but neither are getting sequels (GL: Emerald Knights is sort of a sequel but not really). I know they've had trouble getting another live action Superman movie off the ground, but must they flood the animated market with him? It's kind of like Marvel Animations obsession with putting the Hulk in everything. While I enjoy Superman, Batman, and Hulk, the animated film medium is the perfect venue to explore lesser known characters that don't have several live action movies.
Overall, the film simply does not flow as a cohesive whole. Fans of the All-Star comics may enjoy that it was adapted, or complain about what wasn't adapted. Superman fans will probably enjoy the different take on the character that the movie explores. But from a film audience point of view, it is too disconnected from itself to be truly enjoyable.
