Welcome, one and all, to "Tales of the Longbox", here on Reaction & Review. Yes, guys, as promised, I am officially starting up my new themed marathon for this series. Where, for the next two months, I'm gonna be covering movies that are related to comic books. And I've decided to kick off this new themed marathon with a movie that came out last year. It is an animated film from 2020. Of course, I am talking about "Superman: Red Son".
Now, I didn't know that this movie even existed until I found it at Walmart last year for about $13. I could be off by the price by a bit, but regardless of the price, I picked it up. Mainly because, it's a part of DC's direct-to-video animated movies that DC has been putting out for a number of years now. And, for the most part, I have really enjoyed those lineup of movies. Granted, there are some exceptions, but I'm not going to dwell on that here.
As for this movie, I actually do know a little bit about it. I know that the story that this movie is based on is a three issue mini series that DC released in 2003, and it's part of the Elseworlds Universe. Now, for those who don't know what that means, Elseworlds is, basically, a non-canon timeline of the DC universe where writers could write stories under the Elseworlds publications, and not worry about messing things up in the main canon of DC's Comics Universe.
As for the case of "Superman: Red Son", the premise goes like this. What if instead of Superman landing in the middle bumsville Kansas, he lands in Russia during the Soviet Union? And he is leading the Communist Party to advance their ideologies?
That, guys, sounds like a fucking amazing premise. And I'm very interested to see what exactly they can do by taking that comic book and turn it into an hour and 25 minute movie. And the only way I'm gonna find that out, is if I shut up, and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Superman: Red Son".
14 minutes later
Wait, so Superman's X-ray vision can't see through lead? I...didn't even know that. I could've sworn that Superman could see through just about anything with his X-Ray vision. Perhaps, maybe, it was something that I may have overlooked at some point. But I guess you learn something new everyday, don't ya?
8 minutes later
Holy shit...well, guys...even though it was a quick death, it was probably the most painful death I have ever seen Superman give out. And considering who it was that he killed, I can't say that he didn't fucking deserve it. That was...fucking awesome. And good on Superman for doing so.
16 minutes later
OK...I wasn't expecting Superior Man to die in that kind of matter. That was just...incredibly morbid. Wow.
4 minutes later
Wait, so Superman, or Soviet Superman I should say, managed to reprogram Braniac, one of the most iconic villains of the Superman lore, as part of the Soviet state? That is something I never thought Superman would be able to do. But considering the Superman in this movie, I wouldn't put it past him to pull something like that off.
1 minute later
...Well, guys, I just saw this movie's version of Batman blow up an entire museum full of people. And...he's blowing up other buildings all across Moscow...you know, I think I'm already starting to like this version of Batman, guys. Plus, the remark he gave after blowing up the museum was hilariously dark, too. I wasn't expecting that.
12 minutes later
You know, guys, just seeing Batman literally beating the shit out of Soviet Superman like a rag doll is something that I didn't think was possible. But considering the plan that Batman had in order to get Superman into this kind of state, I am rather impressed he was able to pull it off.
8 minutes later
OK, I have a question, and this is kind of a serious one. So, we're seeing a bunch of Hal Jordan's crew flying with the powers of the Green Lantern Corp. Where the hell did they get all of the rings of the Green Lantern? Did they just, like, recreate them? Or did the other members of the Green Lantern Corp get together to help Hal Jordan? I'm really curious, guys, and it's beginning to bug me slightly.
The Review
Well, guys, that was "Superman: Red Son". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off...OK. Where to even start? Well, after seeing this movie, I am really interested in checking out the mini series that this thing was based on. Not just to see what they had to adapt in order to turn this into an hour and a half movie, but because the story is so good on it's own, despite what might've been left out here.
Now, before I get into the writing, I need to clarify one thing that I mentioned when I was watching the movie. And it was something that I brought up at the start of this Reaction & Review. It was the issue of Superman not being able to see through lead. So, when the movie was going on, I decided to look it up myself, and according to what I've found, apparently, X-ray's, in general, can't see through lead. Because it is far, far too dense for them to see through. And admittedly, it does make some level of sense. So, I'm not going to fault the movie for that here. Mainly because, I didn't know that basic fact. But then again, I'm not a doctor, so I guess you could say I lack any knowledge in that area.
But anyway, let's finally get into the writing, shall we? The writing here is really solid. As I mentioned at the start of this, the concept of Superman leading the Communist Party to advance it's ideologies sounds like an amazing premise, and it certainly does live up to just about all of it. There is one thing that I do have to question in terms of writing. And that is something I brought up way late in the film, but I still want to know where did Hal Jordan's crew get all of the Green Lantern rings? Because, earlier on before that, we get a scene where Luthor and President Kennedy are showing Hal Jordan a damaged ship with the Green Lantern insignia. And then we see a body of Abin Sur. And if you know your comic book history, then you pretty much know where this is going. However, in this movie, Abin Sur is already dead. So by the powers of Luthor, Hal Jordan inherits the Green Lantern ring, and, well, he becomes the new Green Lantern. Now, I don't mind that slight change from Hal Jordan's backstory, but the one thing I'm curious about was where did the rest of the rings comes from? Because as I mentioned before, we get to see the rest of Hal's flight crew inheriting the powers of the Green Lantern Corp. But we don't get any kind of explanation as to where, or how, the other rings were obtained. I, originally, thought it might've been recreated, but I figured the U.S. wouldn't be capable of doing so because they don't have that kind of technology. I'm also wondering why all of the people who inherited the rings are regular humans? The only two of those who makes sense are John Stewart, because John was the Green Lantern from the Justice League cartoon. And, of course, the other one being Guy Gardner. But everyone else is just some nameless pilot. I may not be the biggest historian when it comes to the Green Lantern Corp, but I could've sworn that the Green Lantern Corp was a group of different alien races. So why exactly do these flight crew members have these rings? Did the Green Lantern Corp just have a few extra rings laying around and decided to give them away as a charity? I don't know. Now perhaps maybe there was more to this little side plot in the mini series. And if there was, I'm curious to know as to what exactly was the issue involving the missing Green Lantern rings.
Now, aside from that one issue, everything else is great. The characters here are very well developed. I really like how Superman is facing the conflicts on what he should be doing to advance the Soviet State's ideologies, and whether or not how he's doing it is either right or wrong. It is some really gripping stuff. One of my favorite things about this movie is the character depth. And my favorite has to go to Batman. Now, it's not because it's Batman, even though I, admittedly, have a bit of a bias towards him, since he is one of my favorite superheroes of all time. The reason is that he's not really a hero in this story. Hell, he's not even an anti-hero. No, he's a straight up terrorist in this movie. Because we see him blow up tons and tons of buildings, which gets Superman's attention, especially after he kidnaps Wonder Woman with the Lasso of Truth. And as he's beating the holy hell out of him, he explains to Superman that what's he's doing is no better than how Stalin would've done things, by enslaving the people in his own way to advance the Soviet ideologies. And the one sided battle basically ends up being a battle of morals, because, with Superman, you already know why he's doing the things that he's doing. With Batman, he wants chaos and should let the people to decide their own fate with their freedom. To me, guys, the one sided fight was one of the biggest highlights for me when it came to this movie.
So, guys, the writing here is great. And even with the issue involving the Green Lantern rings is not going to kill this movie for you. In fact, if anything, it's a really minor issue in the long run, because the rest of the movie is just that good. The acting is also really good. One of them I was kinda surprised by is Roger Craig Smith as Batman. Now, mind you, he has played Batman in the past. And I'm mainly talking about the stuff that I'm familiar with such as Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Origins: Blackgate. Though the latter kinda sucked as a video game, but I'm not going to dwell on that too much. So I am familiar with his voice work as Batman. But here, he is able to pull off a Russian accent with this version of Batman, and you wouldn't even notice that it was him. In fact, I didn't know who voiced him until the credits started rolling. And he makes Batman, in this movie, his own character. And I'm always happy to see someone that isn't Kevin Conroy, try to take their own spin on an establishing character and make it work. And, mind you, I love Kevin Conroy as Batman. But I don't want to just see him take on the voice role of Batman. I want to see others do their own take on the character. And Roger Craig Smith knows how to do that here, and I'm really happy to see that here in this movie. Everyone else in the cast does a fantastic job. Nobody here phones in a performance that I would say kinda sucked, or the actors just didn't care. So I can safely that the acting is top notch.
Animation here is really good. It's really similar to stuff that you would see in other DC animated films such as "Justice League: War", "Superman/Batman: Apocalypse", "Justice League: Throne of Atlantis", and many others where the art style is consistent with the several movies I mentioned. And it still looks amazing here. What doesn't look amazing, however, is the CG. The CG in this movie is mostly used on vehicles, such as cars. And the cars in this movie looks absolutely hideous in CG. There were maybe, like, a few shots where I would see cars that would look like boxes. And the cars looks so poorly rendered, that it really stands out, especially when you consider that the rest of the hand drawn animation is so good. And it's not just the cars that have this issue. It's also an issue with Brainiac's ship. And Brainiac's ship looks almost as bad as the CG cars that are in this movie. Now it doesn't look like a boxed car like the CG cars in this movie, but it still looks horrendous in CG. And it's kinda shameful, considering that this movie was released in 2020, and you have CG that looks as though it came out of the early 2000's. There really is no excuse for the CG to look this bad in 2020. Now, beyond the terrible CG, the rest of the animation is fluid and great. And, as I just mentioned, the art style is really good, too.
Music here is really good. The sound-mix is awesome. Ultimately, guys, can I recommend "Superman: Red Son"? Oh, hell yes. This movie is great. Now, do I think it's the best DC animated film I have ever seen? No. This thing is nowhere near as good as movies such as "Superman vs. The Elite" or "Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay". And considering that "Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay" is one of my favorite DC animated films of all time, that would be very difficult for "Superman: Red Son" to overcome. But still, guys, if you are fan of these direct-to-video animated movies that DC has put out, then I would say go check it out. It's a fantastic movie in it's own right. And seeing as how I mentioned both "Superman vs. The Elite" and "Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay", I kinda want to go and marathon both of those movies, so I'm gonna go do that. And "Superman: Red Son" is gonna have a happy spot on my DVD shelf.
And, with that, guys, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all in the near future. Peace.
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