Warner Animation review

[Yoc]

I just caught DC's 'Superman vs The Elite' and was Very Impressed.
I haven't read the comic it is based on but I can see shades of 'The Boys' series including the heavy Brit accent of lead Elite 'Manchester Black.'  (admittedly in The Boys it was the caped heroes who were all the bad guys but the similarities were too many to miss)

The show covers an angle that seems very appraproau for today's scary world out there.

The Justice League cartoon touched on the topic of this as well.  If these super-villains keep escaping and puting the public at threat, should not Superman use his full abilities and end their threat - permanently?  ie - Punisher, Wolverine and any number of nasty heroes out there today I don't know.  I'm a golden age fan and these new heroes haven't gotten to me yet.

The new Elite take no prisoners and aren't afraid of making enemies with anyone 'for the greater good.'  Superman has to pull one out of the hat by the end.  I quite enjoyed it.  Better than many of their other films.  Batman vs Redhood was as good.

Anyone else have thoughts on DC's animated products?

[narfstar]

I did not like the movie for being too preachy by showing extremes. It takes an extreme example to discredit a reasonable possibility.

[Yoc]

Sure, I could see some saying that - BUT - the film is mostly about what makes Superman Superman right?
With his near infinite power he could easily rule all of Earth (if Batman's secret stash of Kryptonite didn't work).  That was what 'Kingdom Come' showed and it wasn't a pretty picture though Ross' artwork was lovely.
Superman has never been that interesting to me because of his god level powers.  This movie explores something more interesting than the usual fare.  You might not agree with the politics, which is kinda scary IMO, but each to their own.  The only interesting stories about Superman are the ones that explore the inner man and the villains are secondary for the most part.

As a piece of entertainment I think the film succeeded very well.

[John C]

I read what I assume was the comic version of the story, at some point, and thought it was handled...at least better than I expected.  It did a decent job with Superman as an inspirational figure rather than the Superman as simple-minded cop with infinite power he can't figure out how to use.

It's worth mentioning that the Elite's "parentage" were less "generic gritty antiheroes" as Wildstorm's "Authority," a not-altogether-terrible book for the first few issues, if you can deal with the pointless gore and the fact that every story pretty much climaxes with "let's crash the vehicle into the bad guy."  It's clever, at least, and uses a gigantic scope for everything.

By what I assume was a coincidence, I watched "All-Star Superman," last night.

I was...less impressed.  Maybe the comic was better (though it's Morrison, as far as I know, so even that's a crapshoot), but this was just a muddle of random ideas that pretty much bumble in and out of frame with barely any narrative to link them.

The problem with watching stuff on Netflix is that there's no physical artifact to angrily fling across the room in disgust...

[Yoc]

Thanks for the background info on The Elite John.  The opening credits mention a specific issue it's based on but I haven't read 'The Authority' to make the connection.  I've heard of the book but that's it.  They were an interesting group for powers selection and characterization.  I see 'The Boys' came after The Authority.  I wonder who much influence it had on The Boys?  I'll have to check them out sometime.  The film was more 'adult' in nature than their average animated flicks.  I'd recommend it as a PG title.
---
I caught All-Star Superman as well a while back.  The voice actors were the best thing about that one.  Now if you want to avoid a real bad one stay away from 'DC Showcase: Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam' (the back-up shorts were better than the feature) and especially avoid 'Batman: Gotham Knight' unless you love Japanese Anime and disjointed narratives.
I would recommend 'Batman: Under the Red Hood' and 'Batman: Year One' with Bryan Cranston was fun.  'Justice League: Doom' wasn't bad either though I think the Justice League Unlimited episodes covered the same ground better.  'Justice League: The New Frontier' had a nice GA feel to it.

-Yoc

[John C]

Fair warning, though, when Ellis moves on from the book, run, don't walk, directly away.  I forget who the next writer was, but it basically became a string of the usual deconstructionist garbage that wasn't more than mildly entertaining when I was ten.

Seriously, writers, we get it!  A lot of you don't think altruistic superheroes are realistic.  And yet, you take the job anyway...

[narfstar]

I pretty much agree with your other movie reviews Yoc.

[Yoc]

I just read the Action Comics #775 that 'Superman vs The Elite' was based on.  I tip my hat to the Animation gang and their writers.  They took an average story and turned it into something much better.