Their
stories have been entertaining us for over 70 years, and we still are not tired
of them. Superman and Batman, the two
most recognizable characters ever created have been successful both on the big
and small screens. Whether it’s Christopher
Reeve in the ’78 “Superman: The Movie” or Kevin Conroy as the voice of
the animated Batman since 1992, these heroes only ever leave us wanting more. So far what DC has done in the animated world
has far superseded what Marvel has done on its animation front. The last two films released by DC, its 14th
and 15th films are a reminder that great stories that started in the
comic book form can be animated to life as well.
“Superman
vs. The Elite” is a great story written in both comic form as well as the animated
movie form by Joe Kelly. In the story originally
published in Superman: Action Comics issue #775 we see Superman go up against a
Super powered group of self-appointed heroes that attempt to do what Superman
would never do: kill to get the job done.
Manchester Black and his crew in the film version start off befriending
the Man of Steel, showing their skills, and wanting to join the good fight. But when they turn their attention and aggression
to world politics and problems with the system that allows villains who kill to
live, this is where they come into conflict with Superman. What’s great about the movie is we actually
see Superman’s dilemma play out, we see him wonder if he’s become outdated for
this world. The morality of someone as
powerful as Superman comes into question and has a very satisfying conclusion. Even if it does feel a little rushed at the
end, it’s still a really solid entry into the DC animated universe.
“Batman: The
Dark Knight Returns Part 1” is based on the 1986 epic game changer of a book
written by Frank Miller (Sin City). In
it we see a 55 year old Bruce Wayne come out of a ten year retirement to take
back the city of Gotham no matter the cost.
In the wake of his revival we get a new female Robin named Carrie Kelley
who together takes on the criminal underworld as well as some of the most
ruthless of Batman’s rouge gallery.
Namely Two-Face and the Joker, and possibly the afore mentioned man with
the giant “S”…but that’s jumping too far ahead.
The animated film is not as good as some fans have hoped. For me what feels like a huge miss is Batman’s
voice-over. In the comic it works so
well listening to Batman’s thoughts and feelings. It lends itself to the page and was quite effective
in the recent DC film “Batman: Year One”.
Other than that we still get to see some great stuff, and get to hear
some immortal lines by Peter Weller (Robocop) as the elder Batman. Some work and some don’t, but if this is the
only version we get to see animated from this great story, I’m okay with
that. Especially since this is only the
first part of the story, the confrontation with the Joker and Superman are
still to come. If you’ve never read this
story and you are a fan of the recent Chris Nolan Batman trilogy, it is worth
your time. My suggestion, watch the
animated version first then, check out the book. Part 2 will be coming out early next year.
Now while I
will not let my kids watch these DC Universe films at least until they get a little older, I’m glad they are making
them. There was so little out there for
comic book fans until superheroes blew up in a big way, now that they have, I
hope Marvel will take a page from DC and give the adult fan something to pass
on to the future fans of these classic heroes.
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