Saturday Night Showcase> Superman Vs. The Elite

My apologies if rights issues keep tonight’s Showcase blocked in your country. I’ve heard that happens, but if you can’t watch it here or through YouTube directly, track this and next week’s down because they’re really good.

James Gunn’s Superman By James Gunn came out a bit earlier that I thought; right week, wrong day. The reviews I’m hearing are not filling me with positivity. It sounds like another case of “decent superhero movie, bad Superman adaptation” filled with James Gunn’s signature humor, some very bad decisions (using Tom King’s warped version of Supergirl, too many cast members to introduce Superman into the DC Gunniverse, and a few other things) but for the most part more fun than Zack Snyder’s version. Superman may be the only character they got right, ala My Adventures With Superman, but with more caveats. Lately you can tell how good a Superman story is by the treatment of his parents, and that was the most disappointing thing outside of Supergirl that I heard. Again, from reviews. I haven’t the funds to see this on my own.

Somehow, though, I don’t think he’ll top the two animated movies I’ll be posting for as long as YouTube lets me. Tonight we get to what’s becoming my favorite Superman movie. No offense to Richard Donner. You tried, but Superman works best in animation because his powers and his world doesn’t translate to live-action, though Gunn is really trying.  Superman Vs. The Elite is an adaptation of Action Comics #775 (cover date March, 2001, so watch for which Action Comics #775 you go with. Stupid renumbering). Joe Kelly’s “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, And The American Way” (those last three words Gunn seems afraid of while telling us his movie is the essence of America) introduces Manchester Black and the Elite, a group of vigilantes who save the world their way. The violent way.

It’s a deconstruction not of the superhero but the superhero deconstruction (Superman even calls that out in the movie) and the trend of darker, more violent heroes. Sadly it’s not a good one for kids, and you know how that normally bugs me. However, I don’t think you could tell that story in something kid-friendly, though the violence is not graphic and the bad language is mild. The movie is rated PG-13 so you make the call. It has one of the greatest Superman moments, where he shows you what a darker Superman would really be like without becoming Injustice: Gods Among Us. Hopefully me building up a second movie doesn’t blow up in my face, but enjoy this movie anyway.

My only real problem, and this is part of a set of DC animated movies to use it, is Superman’s character model. George Newburn continues to give a great Superman performance, even if he can’t separate “Clark” and “Superman” very well, but the model is just too bulky. I wish he looked more like he does in the thumbnail, a picture of the home video cover, and I wish I had this on home video. Still, it’s a really good movie, as is the one we’ll hopefully see next week. I’ll take this over Gunn’s movie, though the Superman fan in me still wants to see it so the reviewer in me can pick it apart properly.