Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Superman: Doomsday (2007) Directed by Lauren Montgomery and Bruce W. Timm.

Where Were You The Day Superman Died?

Based on the greatest selling graphic novel of all time, Superman: Doomsday tells the story of the death and multiple rebirths of the Man of Steel.

The Plot
Superman is the much beloved hero of Metropolis. He protects the city from all threats, major and minor. He is a legend, larger than life. The problem is he is also a man, and Lois Lane is a woman, and Superman would like to have a relationship with her, man to woman, with out the Super getting in the way.

So Clark Kent is taking a job as a foreign correspondent in Afghanistan. He needs to distance his alter ego from her, so that Clark can’t get in the way of the Lois/Superman relationship.

But Lois is not making things easy for him. In the Fortress of Solitude she corners him on the matter of his name. She can’t always call him Superman. What is his other name? Why, Kal-El. Well, what is his other other name?

He explains that her knowing his secret identity would place her at risk. She counters that since the whole world assumes they are dating, she is at risk already. She thinks his reticence is just good old fashioned very human fear of commitment.

Meanwhile, at a secret Luthorcorp project labeled Applecore, diggers uncover what appears to be an alien spacecraft, very old. In trying to excavate it, they breach containment, and what was inside is released.

Lex Luthor correctly surmises that if an alien race felt they had to build a containment unit and bury it on a backwater planet like Earth, it was because they could not kill whatever it was.

What emerged from the ship is Doomsday, an alien weapon of unlimited destructive potential. Doomsday was designed to enter an ecosystem, and systematically kill every living thing, and now it is loose on earth.

Its path takes it to the nearest population center; Metropolis. There are more things to kill there. There is also a being able to resist him, Superman. It is an epic battle. They are very evenly matched in strength, but Doomsday clearly has the edge in malevolence; he wants to kill.

But the Last Son of Krypton has an edge as well, intelligence and the ability to fly; he flies Doomsday into the Stratosphere, and flies him straight back to earth at full speed; a hammer driving Doomsday at a planetary anvil.

It does the trick, but at a price. Superman staggers from the dust cloud, and collapses at Lois’ feet, dead.

The entire world mourns each person in their own way. Perry hits the bottle again. Jimmy sells out and works for the National Voyeur as a paparazzi. But Lois has no one to turn to. Then she remembers a face in the crowd at Superman’s funeral; Martha Kent. Until now she was only a picture on Clark’s desk. But Lois is a reporter, and she puts the pieces together.

She travels to Smallville Kansas, and introduces herself. Martha claims to be worried about Clark over in Afghanistan. Lois says, “Mrs. Kent, we both know your son died in Metropolis last week.” Angry, Martha demands to know what she wants there. What Lois wants, what she needs, is someone who, like her, loved the man, not the Super. She needs to share her grief. And they do. The healing process starts.

Then, a fist emerges from Superman’s grave.

Toyman, a gadgeteer with a penchant for life sized toys, has a hostage situation. He is holding a school bus full of kids hostage. Lois arrives on scene, and while Toyman is distracted by the police, manages to get almost all the kids off before Toyman throws the bus, her, and a little girl off the roof.

But as they are plummeting to their deaths, they are saved by a familiar red and blue clad figure. But if Superman is back from the grave, then why is he so distant from Lois?

Her suspicions grow when she discovers that Superman has not called his Mother. But no one takes her seriously.

Then the Toyman escapes and his recapture results in the death of a four year old girl. Superman intercepts the prisoner transfer, and flying the Toyman high over Metropolis, he drops him.

The world is stunned. Something is horribly wrong and people are scared.

Lex Luthor is worried too. Superman’s body has vanished, and his clone is acting erratically.

The Analysis
This is a very simplified version of the Doomsday saga. It is hard to stuff a years worth of comics into 75 minutes of film. But it captures the spirit of the piece, if not the full impact. When you sit down to watch this film, you know when it is over, Superman will be alive. But when DC published the book in 1992, they did not give any guarantees, and when Superman came back, he came back in four forms; the Man of Steel, John Henry Irons in a metal suit, The Clone, or Superboy, the Cyborg, or the cyberized corpse of Superman, and The Last Son of Krypton, an energy based Superman with no human memories. It was a year before you knew, really knew, that Superman was alive and well. The movie can not capture this uncertainty.

That said they managed to capture much of the feel of that feeling of uncertainty, the sense that something is profoundly wrong. Superman is accused of being the world’s mightiest Boy Scout. You get a taste of what Superman would be like without his unfailing moral compass. It is not pretty.

This is a darker more adult themed Superman. Death happens, not only to Superman, but to civilians. Perry White falls off the wagon. Jimmy Olsen is lured by the promise of a fat paycheck to sell out his integrity. And Superman and Lois are not going to a spring dance; they are having weekend getaways at the North Pole. This is not kids stuff.

The art is my major complaint. It uses the sparse line animation that DC has leaned more and more towards since the first Batman series. Superman in particular is a caricature, with tiny eyes and a gigantic chin. His face has these lines on it that are supposed to make him look chiseled, but it just looks like a two minute throwaway caricature of Actor Brian Thompson. I really wish they would revert to a more Ales Ross style art; this look is harsh and cheap.

What they saved on art work, they spent on voice talents:
Adam Baldwin (My Body Guard, Firefly) lends his voice to Superman/Clark Kent. Sexy.
Anne Heche (Donnie Brasco, Psycho) gives Lois Lane a harsh new edge.
James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Brainiac on Smallville) gives Lex Luthor a suave menace.
Swoozie Kurtz voices Martha Kent.
Ray Wise growls for Perry White.
Adam Wylie voices Jimmy Olsen.

The overall effect is a four star production that could have easily been a five; if they had used a less stylized art format, and perhaps expanded the aftermath of Superman’s death, this could have been a better film.

Still, it’s worth watching. Considered with the recently released Justice League: New Frontier, it is clear that DC is aiming its sights at a more mature audience, with darker storylines with more adult content. The political message of Justice League and the human elements of Doomsday promise even greater things from DC in coming years.

Check out Justice League New Frontier.

Check out these Comics made into Movies:

The Incredibles
The 300
Constantine
Batman Begins

The Smallville Saga

Smallville: Season One
Smallville: Season Two
Smallville: Season Three
Smallville: Season Four
Smallville: Season Five
Smallville: Season Six
Smallville: Season Seven
Smallville: Season Eight


Animation

Superman: Doomsday

Novels

The Last Days of Krypton

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older