Superman: Doomsday

Today’s quick review: Superman: Doomsday. Superman (Adam Baldwin) meets his match when Lex Luthor (James Marsters) unearths Doomsday, an invincible alien bent on absolute destruction. Superman stops the creature at the cost of his own life, leaving Lois Lane (Anne Heche) in mourning and Metropolis unprotected. But when Superman seemingly returns from the dead with a new, violent personality, it falls to Lois to investigate what’s going on.

DC Comics brings another of its comics to the screen with Superman: Doomsday, an animated superhero movie loosely based on The Death of Superman. The movie depicts Superman’s last stand and its aftermath, emphasizing the impact has on his girlfriend Lois Lane and his nemesis Lex Luthor. Superman: Doomsday features high-stakes action and a decent mystery, but neither its character work nor its sense of drama take full advantage of the setup.

Superman: Doomsday gets the basics of the story right. The fight with Doomsday is suitably cataclysmic, a distilled version of the city-threatening brawls Superman is known for. Luthor’s schemes are a useful hook going into the second half of the movie. Lois carries a lot of the narrative weight, both acting as the emotional heart of the story and driving the investigation into Superman’s reappearance.

However, Superman: Doomsday makes a few mistakes that keep it from hitting as hard as it could. The setup is rushed, with only time for a couple of character introductions before Doomsday reaches Metropolis. The balance of the story is peculiar, with the biggest fight up front. Finally, Superman himself does not have as much personality as some of his other incarnations, and his muted reactions undermine some of the drama.

How much you get out of Superman: Doomsday will depend on your taste in superhero movies. Fans of clean storytelling with the classic versions of the characters will enjoy it the most. But fans who prefer more stylized versions of the characters or more emotionally laden drama may find that the movie is missing the spark it needs.

For a more complete adaptation of the same comics storyline, try The Death of Superman and Reign of the Supermen. For an animated Superman movie that deals with similar themes, try Superman vs. the Elite.

[7.0 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0934706/). I give it a 6.5 for a decent story that’s missing some punch.

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