Straight to DVD Superhero Animated Features

[Optimist With Doubts]

Well my hope is animated films will garner enough attention to bring interest in live action adaptations.

[IsaacMahomie]

But why? There have been so many terrible live action adaptations throughout the years. Why take the risk when animated features are doing so well?

[LincM]

But why? There have been so many terrible live action adaptations throughout the years. Why take the risk when animated features are doing so well?

To be fair to the live action ones, while the animated ones are usually more aligned with their comic, they're usually pretty poor, with a handful of exceptions (freighter and first flight are the only ones I've seen in the last 5 years worth mentioning, though I've seen at least 10 or more in that time), and the live action ones are no worse (even Fantastic Four), only because you don't have an actor on the animated, they don't seem as bad,.

[IsaacMahomie]

maybe you're right. Because the expectations are lower, people are easier to please.
But then again, there's been a handful that downright surprised me at how good they are. These Animated Features are a great way to make the fans happy and keep them coming back for more. I'd never even heard of reading Planet Hulk, but after seeing the movie, I decided to get the book for my brothers birthday.
It's like Brian said, the movie nicotine patch. nice analogy.

[BluTGI]

You have to admit that James Woods as Owlman is frigging perfect though.

Agreed. Woods was a great choice. Harmon's supes was... accepted through gritted teeth. An accent is nice... but Harmon's voice is just too old and wise. It would work for an older superman.

Baldwin was a poor choice. It was less noticeable near the end.



I think it was a poor choice to go from fan favorites toward more high end stars.

This was far from my favorite animated DC film.

[The REAL Brian]

But why? There have been so many terrible live action adaptations throughout the years. Why take the risk when animated features are doing so well?

To be fair to the live action ones, while the animated ones are usually more aligned with their comic, they're usually pretty poor, with a handful of exceptions (freighter and first flight are the only ones I've seen in the last 5 years worth mentioning, though I've seen at least 10 or more in that time), and the live action ones are no worse (even Fantastic Four), only because you don't have an actor on the animated, they don't seem as bad,.

Do you mean that we don't have have an actor to whine about "not fitting the role?" In that with animated features, you can draw them to look and act pretty much on the nose(With the voice being the exception)?

[The REAL Brian]

I actually enjoyed Crisis on 2 Earths quite a bit. Spoilers follow:

*
*
*
*
*
*

While I agree that the fan favorite voices are always the best choice, we have to bear in mind that those actors aren't getting any younger. Age does affect the pitch of actor's voices, and I've heard that many actors have trouble picking back up characters they did earlier in their careers. While Kevin Conroy still sounds pitch perfect, in a lot of ways it's only fair to give other actors a bite at the apple. Especially when the Batman they use isn't always quite the same Batman we saw in TAS.

That having been said, I have to admit this wasn't the best Batman they've had. Otherwise, most of the other voices seemed spot on. James Woods KILLED as Owlman. I didn't really notice the accent in Superman. It is different I'll grant you.

Story wise, I actually liked it quite a bit. A few things seemed off to me though. They made such a big deal out of the Jester, yet he's barely in the film. You can't treat a character like he's disposable and then make a big deal out of it later on. Also they killed off J'on J'onz's counterpart on the "evil earth" early on yet he's featured minutes later in the opening credits as though he's important. Um.... HE'S ALREADY DEAD. The ending is a little underwhelming in that the remaining Crime Syndicate members just surrender at the end. The problems they caused really aren't solved though, especially if Alterna-Luthor really is the last hero left.

Another thing that really bugged me is that Batman allows Owlman to die and also sacrifices Johnny Quick to open the portal he needed. Nobody really calls him on that, either. Yes, they're evil, but it's BATMAN. Batman would sooner kill himself than kill the Joker, so it's a little odd that he'll off some villains he just met because it suited him.

I'll also admit some of the "evil earth" cameos get confusing. Some of them could have used a little explanation. Like I get that the men working under Superwoman were Black Adam's version of the "Marvel Family" but I'm a huge nerd. A couple of the characters I couldn't even make a guess as to who they were supposed to be.

What I appreciated was that the story is smart enough to address what would happen if the most powerful superhumans were the criminal ones. It also pointed out that the JLA was potentially doing as much harm as good by coming to this Earth and throwing around their weight.

All in all I liked the fights and the humor was pretty sharp. The story wasn't perfect but it did work well enough. I'd give this one a B+.

[TylerXKJ]

Another thing that really bugged me is that Batman allows Owlman to die and also sacrifices Johnny Quick to open the portal he needed. Nobody really calls him on that, either. Yes, they're evil, but it's BATMAN. Batman would sooner kill himself than kill the Joker, so it's a little odd that he'll off some villains he just met because it suited him.

Actually Owlman had enough time to stop the bomb. He looks directly at the timer (ABORT? YES/NO) and allows it to go off with the poignant last words "It doesn't matter."

Batman doesn't kill, but he's more than willing to setup a villain to die.

It's a relatively modern interpretation of the character, and quite hypocritical, but there ya go. It's something to talk about.

[BluTGI]

I think the ability to kill is directly tied to the level of damage the villain would cause.

A Jaywalker, beaten till unconscious.
A Bank Rober, Placed in a coma for 3 months.

A Speedster who did evil but is now willing to help, forced to run to death by old age.
A man wearing an Owl costume who tries to kill all existence, Left to be killed by his own device.
A God who tries to take over the world, Shot to death, WITH A GUN. WTF!?

[The REAL Brian]

Owlman was actually dead either way, he was left on the ice covered Earth without a transport gun. He had no food, usable water, or a means to return. Hitting abort would have only rewarded him a slow painful death.

[IsaacMahomie]

I'm almost done with my list, pictures, reviews, etc. I just need an amazing title for this bad boy.
I'm toying with "the complete and exhaustive review of straight to dvd animated features!" - but I think it could be better

[IsaacMahomie]

FINALLY! I got part one up, the others will follow on a daily basis.
http://shutupandwatchthemovie.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/the-complete-and-exhaustive-review-of-superhero-straight-to-dvd-animated-features-part-one-the-ugly/

EDIT: Here's the final segment. And the one you probably want to read because it has the best films in it. http://shutupandwatchthemovie.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/the-complete-and-exhaustive-review-of-superhero-straight-to-dvd-animated-features-part-four-the-best/

[IsaacMahomie]

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies sequel is official, "Apocalypse".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Universe_Animated_Original_Movies#Superman.2FBatman:_Apocalypse

No info on what the story will be about. The educated guess is that this is the Superman/Batman 2:Supergirl storyarc with a beefier ending. A DVD called "Apocalypse" with Darkseid on the cover will probably sell more copies than one called "Supergirl".

[BluTGI]

All Star Superman....

Could Quitely do every 100 frames? Just to keep the art similar?
IMDB has Timm listed as Producer.