DC Animated Superhero Retrospective Series - Superman: Braniac Attacks (2006)

Written In January 2014

 

So we’re back to Mystery of the Batwoman territory here, are we? We’re not gonna have another mature movie this time? Well, I guess I’ll have to wait for the next movie. Okay, time for the plot summary.

Plot Summary Taken From Wikipedia:

Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen are sent to one of Lex Luthor’s laboratories after Brainiac arrives on Earth on a meteor, successfully dodging the attempts made by Luthor’s satellite to destroy any potential damage to the Earth (in an attempt to boost his popularity against Superman as the true hero of the people). Superman shortly arrives and finds Brainiac downloading data from the computers with information relating the various forms of weaponry from LexCorp, including the laser-equipped meteor shield that had attempted to destroy Brainiac earlier. Using his ice-breath, Superman is able to seemingly destroy Brainiac, after Superman and Brainiac had engaged in battle.

Witnessing the incident, and how his satellite could be used as an effective weapon against Superman, Luthor gathers a piece of Brainiac’s remains and takes it to LexCorp where Brainiac is revived. There, Luthor proposes that Brainiac, with the technology of LexCorp as well as Kryptonite, defeat Superman, and then Luthor step in to chase Brainiac away from the Earth, in front of the world to make him appear as Earth’s true hero, where he will then be free to conquer other planets. Brainiac accepts the agreement, and proceeds to rebuilding and improving himself.

Meanwhile, Clark Kent contemplates the idea of revealing his secret identity to Lois. The opportunity presents itself when editor, Perry White, due to staff shortages, send both Kent and Lane to review a restaurant in Metropolis. However, it is during this time that Brainiac returns. Among his improvements is the ability to track down Superman based on his DNA. After another fight between Superman and Brainiac, Superman has been significantly injured, and infected, by Brainiac’s power rays and Lois is injured in the process where it is revealed that her blood has been infected with a metallic-based poison, that if not treated would prove fatal.

Feeling guilty, Superman obtains a sample of Lois’ blood from the hospital and returns to the ‘Fortress of Solitude’ where he analyzes Lois’ blood using his Kryptonian technology. It is then when Superman discovers that the only cure for Lois’ condition is to obtain a chemical substance from the 'Phantom Zone’. However, Brainiac is able to locate Superman in his Antarctic retreat, and attempts to downloaded the information of Krypton from Superman’s computer. Superman then initiates a self-destruct sequence. Brainiac, not being able to locate Superman, presumes that he has been killed in the explosion. Superman had in fact gone into the Phantom Zone in order to find the chemical that would not only cure Lois and heal himself, but provide him with increased strength against Brainiac.

Brainiac returns to Metropolis where Luthor awaits in order to fulfill their agreement. Brainiac however, intends to kill Luthor in order to conquer Earth, and had even removed the self-destruct component that Luthor had planted should Brainiac double cross him. Returning to Metropolis, Superman and Brainiac fight. Superman seemingly defeats Brainiac and then returns to the hospital in order to cure the ailing Lois. However, Brainiac is able to destroy the chemical that would cure Lois, before Superman finally destroys Brainiac.

With the cure now destroyed, Lois faces certain death due to her illness. Superman, regretting never telling Lois his true feelings then embraces her. It is then that his tears, containing the chemical that had healed him earlier, makes contact with Lois, curing her. Later back in the arctic, Superman recovers a piece of his destroyed Kryptonian technology where he aims to rebuild his fortress. He then vows to quit his job at the Daily Planet in an attempt to prevent future harm to his loved ones, should any of his enemies discover his secret identity.

The film ends with Luthor facing criminal prosecution after the discovery of LexCorp’s involvement with Brainiac attack, and Lois Lane racing to cover the appearance of Mr. Mxyzptlk in Metroplois. Seeing Lois’ eagerness to put herself in harms way in order to cover a story, Superman goes back on his earlier decision to quit the Daily Planet so that he can be with Lois, as well as Metropolis’ protector against the most powerful threats from the universe.

First things first, this… Is a kiddie movie! While most of these movies have been rated PG, this is the first time we’re I truly felt this movie was not meant for someone my age. But regardless, let’s get to something to the stuff I liked and disliked.

PROS:

• Nice animation
• Dana Delany is Lois Lane, and she’s fantastic as usual!
• Good action
• Tim Daly 
• There’s a moment here where Jimmy Olsen and Perry White are talking at the Planet while Lois is in the hospital, Perry’s trying to get Jimmy to report on the Luthor dinner for him, and for a moment he seems distraught about Lois and what might happen to her and sounds like he might start crying. And Jimmy quickly tries to console him, and accepts his offer saying, “I’ll report anything you want me to, just not Miss Lane’s obid! Because she’s gonna be fine, ya hear me?” For one ever so brief and yet brilliantly shining moment, we see some maturity in this film. And I genuinely appreciated that.
• It’s not handled seriously, but when Superman goes to the fortress and Brainiac is about to absorb all it’s knowledge, Superman sets it to blow. Brainiac inquires why in horror, noting that all of Krypton’s knowledge will be lost. Superman replies, “Better lost, than abused!” This shows something that we don’t get to see that much. Superman genuinely treasures his alien heritage, and doesn’t want to see the knowledge of his people fall into the wrong hands. He’d rather the only piece of his planet that he has left, other than the very suit he wears, be destroyed than be used by someone like Brainiac.
• While Superman is searching for a way to save Lois, he says that nothing else matters but saving her. I hated this. BUT, later in the film, when returning from the Phantom Zone with the means to save her, the first thing he addresses is the ongoing destruction of Metropolis caused by Brainiac. This shows that as much as he may talk about the fact that he values loved ones over other innocent lives, Superman will still protect the people of Metropolis (and subsequently the Earth) before ever going to attend to the people he cares about most.
• There’s a scene where Superman seemingly defeats Brainiac during the final fight in Metropolis, but then it turns out he’s still alive. Superman then defeats Brainiac again, and makes sure to smash his hard drive. Because if Pacific Rim taught us anything, always check for a pulse!
• The ending scene where Lois takes off her hospital gown revealing she was wearing her reporter attire underneath it, and then running off to the scene of a crime being committed by Mr.Myxplyx, is so freaking Lois!
• There’s a scene where Clark decides to tell Lois he’s Superman, he doesn’t do so explicitly, but ala Christopher Reeve in Superman 2. He just changes HIS FREAKING POSTURE! And immediately Lois freaks out because she’s thinking “Oh! My! GOD! Is my coworker secretly the man I’ve openly fantasized about since God knows when!??!” This however, brings me to the cons…

CONS:

• Tim Daly is good in this movie, but he’s really let down by the direction.
• Powers Boothe’s Lex could’ve been great, but he was written to be so cartoony, not unlike Gene Hackman in the Christopher Reeve Superman movies.
• Brainiac is very poorly used.
• Clark chooses not to tell Lois he’s Superman because he claims he’s fearful of her safety, but honestly, I don’t buy. I think that after his hallucination in the Phantom Zone, he’s afraid Lois will try to pry him away from being a hero. Clark, it’s freaking Lois Lane! She’s not that damn shallow!
• Here’s what I don’t get with this movie; they kept the style from Superman: The Animated Series but they changed some of the cast… Why? Those voices were and are the only ones that come from those designs! You can argue for George Newbern as Superman in Justice League, but his voice for Superman (and his voice period really) is pretty close to Tim Daly’s. It just doesn’t make any real sense to change the cast if your going to keep the designs, and I really doubt Corey Burton and Clancy Brown (Brainiac and Lex in the DCAU respectively) weren’t too busy to be called, since they voice act for a living!
• This one I really hated, Superman visits Lois in the hospital after finally defeating Brainiac, and it turns out Lois has died, Superman revives her through a plot device I have always HATED. Tear Magic! Why do I hate it? Skip to about 10:00 of this link here.
  
  

So as you can tell by this point, other than a few points here and there, I really did not enjoy watching this movie. It’s not awful, and if you’re a parent, an older sibling, an elementary school teacher, or an older cousin, I really recommend putting this on for getting those little ones to shut up for about an hour and a half. But other than that, if you’re over 7 years old or just a die hard Superman fan, I’d say skip it. I might revisit this and write up a comparison to Superman: Unbound after I review that one, but for now, I’m avoiding this like the plague. It’s too kiddie!

And yes, all of these movies, with the possible exception of Return of the Joker and Vs. Dracula, were made for kids. But even then, you could definitely kick back and enjoy them if you were older than say, 8 to 14 years old. It’s like with most Pixar movies, kids are the target audience, but there’s a reason you keep coming back even after you’ve grown out of that audience. Because there’s clever and heartfelt, and never treated you as kids, like morons. And even then, the older you got, the better the movies got because you started noticing little details that you didn’t notice when you were younger. I’m not comparing, say, Mask of the Phantasm, to something like Monster’s Inc., but it’s that kind of effect. They were mature films intended for a younger audience. This movie, it’s not mature. It’s for little kids. It’s something like the Backyardigans on Nick Junior, you’re not going to enjoy it, because it’s not meant for you.

But with that being said, I did like some parts of it, so I won’t give it a Rotten. I’ll be giving it an even 6 out of 10.

The DC Animated Superhero Movie Retrospective Series - Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

Written In December 2013

Plot Summary Taken From Wikipedia:

10 years before the events of the Batman: The Animated Series, Bruce Wayne meets a woman named Andrea Beaumont in a cemetery while visiting his parents’ grave. That night, Bruce foils an armored car robbery while disguised in a black ski-mask and leather jacket. He does succeed but is discouraged to find that the criminals did not fear him. Bruce starts a relationship with Andrea and decides to propose marriage to her rather than become a crime-fighting vigilante.

Unfortunately, Andrea finds out that her father, Carl, owes a large amount of money to crime lord Salvator Valestra. Carl and Andrea flee Gotham City to hide in Europe, with Andrea ending her engagement to Bruce. This rejection spurs him into training to become Batman. Seven years later, Carl is murdered by the assassin, Jack Napier, under orders from the Valestra gang.

Andrea returns to Gotham. During a conference of crime bosses held in a Gotham City skyscraper, a Valestra enforcer, Sol, is killed by a mysterious cloaked figure - the Phantasm. Due to the Phantasm’s resemblance to Batman, the Dark Knight is blamed for Sol’s death. Councillor Arthur Reeves tells the media that Batman is a public menace (despite Commissioner Gordon’s protests), then attends a party at Wayne Manor.

The Phantasm finds and murders another Valestra enforcer, Bronski. Batman soon finds evidence linking Andrea’s father with Valestra. The Phantasm later targets Valestra, who turns to the Joker for help. The Phantasm arrives at Valestra’s house, and finds the gangster already dead at the Joker’s hands; the house then explodes, with the Phantasm barely escaping. Batman pursues the killer, but is interrupted by the police, who believe that Batman is responsible for the murders. Andrea rescues Batman in her car, and they spend the night together. Andrea explains to Bruce why she and her father left Gotham. Batman comes to suspect that Andrea’s father may be the Phantasm, but later gets Reeves (who has been poisoned by the Joker) to confess that he told the Valestra mob where Beaumont was hiding in return for campaign contributions, and that the mob ordered Beaumont’s death.

The Phantasm tracks the Joker to his hideout — an abandoned world’s fair amusement park — and removes its ominous costume: the Phantasm is Andrea, intent on avenging her father’s death at the hands of the Joker, who is revealed to be Jack Napier, who batman dropped into a vat of acid months earlier. Batman arrives and saves Andrea from the Joker, and begs Andrea to give up her quest for revenge. She refuses, stating that the mob ruined her life by taking away her future with him; she then tells Batman that he himself is driven by revenge before disappearing. Batman battles with the Joker, a struggle that ends in stalemate. Moments later, Andrea returns and seizes the Joker, bidding Batman goodbye before vanishing with the maniacally laughing clown in a cloud of smoke as the entire amusement park erupts in a series of rigged explosions. Batman barely escapes by falling into a waterway and being swept away to safety by the current.

Alfred later consoles a heartbroken Bruce, telling him that no one could have helped Andrea. Bruce finds a locket containing a picture of himself and Andrea left behind in the Batcave. Meanwhile, Andrea is shown standing alone on the deck of a departing ocean liner. In the final scene, Batman stands alone on the top of a Gotham building; when the Bat-Signal appears in the sky, he swings off into the night to continue his war on crime.

There are three really great moments in this movie, that hit me right where I live:

1. The scene where Bruce goes to his parents’ grave and begs them to let him walk away from the promise he made, and he explains that he didn’t see himself ever becoming happy enough to not become Batman. Lightning roars as rain pours, you can see that he believes that his mother and father, whom he swore to avenge, are angry with him. And he’s pleading with them, “Can’t I just walk away now? Please I need it to be different now!” Did you hear that sound? It’s the sound of my heart exploding into a million pieces.
2. This scene right here:
   Andrea has left Bruce, it’s official now, he has to become the Batman. He dons the mask, and for the first time (chronologically) we see those intense white slits for eyes. Alfred reacts in shock and discomfort, proclaiming “My God!” And that moment, what he and I had the same realization. Bruce Wayne is dead.
3. And then there’s this scene
   Andrea has fled Gotham and is on a cruise, some guy stumbles out of the party and spots her. He attempts to start flirting with her, but quickly gets the idea, so he politely asks “Did you want to be alone?” Andrea replies with “I am.” Her entire identity was based in the Phantasm, now that she’s lost that and the love of her life, she’s empty inside. And ultimately, as she says, alone.

Now let’s get to the Pros and Cons:

PROS:

• This animation kicks ass, and I won’t hear from anyone who disagrees.
• Kevin Conroy is Batman and Mark  Hamill is The Joker, what more do you need?
• Stacy Keach and Abe Vigoda are in this movie, how does an animated Batman movie based on a kids show get fucking Stacy Keach and Abe Vigoda in it’s cast!?!??!
• Andrea Beaumont is a genuinely interesting character and Bruce Timm & Paul Dini were so impressed by Dana Delany as Andrea, that they cast her as Lois in Superman: TAS
• During the party at the begging of the film Arleen Sorkin (the voice of Harley Quinn) is briefly heard, this made me smile.
• The story has genuinely emotional moments that really made you feel bad for the characters.
• This. Fucking. Score! I’d argue it’s even better than Zimmer and Newton’s score for the Nolan films!

CONS:

• This is a nitpick, but when we first see the Phantasm, they’ve just killed Sol and Bronski, but when we first see Andrea she’s on the plane to Gotham. Those scenes don’t really match up.
• The crime boss in this movie’s name is Salvatore Valestra, wouldn’t just be so easy to just change his last name to Maroni?
• They hint at the Joker’s origin here, and to me, that’s never alright. I like Joker’s backstory to be a point blank mystery that no one can ever really solve.

My ultimate thoughts are… This is REALLY good, but not great. It’s missing something I think, it just feels too cold to me. I’m not sure why. But my overall ranking shall be, an 8.5 out of 10.