Embittered by Superman's heroic successes and soaring popularity, Lex Luthor forms a dangerous alliance with the powerful computer/villain Brainiac. Using advanced weaponry and a special str... Read allEmbittered by Superman's heroic successes and soaring popularity, Lex Luthor forms a dangerous alliance with the powerful computer/villain Brainiac. Using advanced weaponry and a special strain of Kryptonite harvested from the far reaches of outer space, Luthor specifically redes... Read allEmbittered by Superman's heroic successes and soaring popularity, Lex Luthor forms a dangerous alliance with the powerful computer/villain Brainiac. Using advanced weaponry and a special strain of Kryptonite harvested from the far reaches of outer space, Luthor specifically redesigns Brainiac to defeat the Man of Steel.
- Clark Kent
- (voice)
- …
- Lex Luthor
- (voice)
- Lois Lane
- (voice)
- Brainiac
- (voice)
- Perry White
- (voice)
- Jimmy Olsen
- (voice)
- Jonathan Kent
- (voice)
- Martha Kent
- (voice)
- Mercy Graves
- (voice)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhile this film features the same character designs, general look, style, and most same cast members of as Superman: The Animated Series (1996), the creative team decided to recast villains just as they had done before with Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003). Lance Henriksen takes over for Corey Burton as Brainiac, Powers Boothe takes over for Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor, and 'Tara Strong' takes over for Lisa Edelstein as Mercy Graves.
- GoofsIn one scene, Lois Lane's eyes are black.
- Quotes
Clark Kent: You know, Lois, I never pegged you for such a romantic. I mean, with Jimmy. Playing matchmaker and all.
Lois Lane: I just hate seeing people miss opportunities. Life's too short, you know what I mean?
Clark Kent: I think I'm starting to.
Lois Lane: So I meddle in Olsen's affairs. What's your story, Kent? Seeing someone?
Clark Kent: I'm waiting for a special someone to take notice of me.
Lois Lane: Kent, why so mild-mannered? You shouldn't be afraid to tell a girl what's on your mind. I mean you're kind, intelligent, good-looking, well built...
[Clark gives Lois a serious look that's normally reserved for when he's Superman, causing Lois to hesitate]
Clark Kent: [Catches himself] What is it, Lois?
Lois Lane: For a moment, you... reminded me of someone I know, that's all.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Nostalgia Critic: Superman: The Animated Series (2011)
So for those who are as unaware as I was in 2006 -this movie LOOKS like Superman TAS, uses the same character models, even some of the same voice actors... but is NOT in continuity, and it is an abysmally written boring story that feels like it was lifted from some Golden Age comic.
You learn this quickly when the movie starts with Brainiac landing on Earth and starting to absorb knowledge from computers, then confronting Superman for the first time. Wait a minute, I said, but they already met several times in the show! Well... these may look like the same characters, but aren't. In general, they feel like alternate universe versions of characters you love, who look the same, but are far, far more dumb.
Take Superman - throughout the movie, he keeps thinking that he needs to retire the Clark Kent personality and just tell Lois who he is. Anyone who seen "The Late Mr. Kent" knows that Clark IS the real personality of Kal-El, he doesn't want to be Superman all the time. He is a mild mannered reporter from Smallville at heart. But here, he wants to retire because he thinks he gets Lois Lane into trouble... not realizing this Lois is simply, too stupid to live. Several times in the movie, Lois almost tries to get herself killed in incredibly convoluted ways.
But that's not the worst part, wait until you see Lex Luthor. Remember how threatening and powerful Lex felt, despite not having superpowers? Well, not only his voice changed -Powers Boothe instead of Clancy Brown - but he degraded back to some comical small minded villain from the Golden Age. When he muses that he doesn't know whether to feel sad that Brainiac is destroying his base, or happy that Superman is trashed, I wanted to slap him. He is also incredibly stupid (see a pattern there?), thinking he can partner with Brainiac to have him kill Superman for him, then take a fall and pretend that Lex beat him. To nobody's surprise, Brainiac betrays him.
Speaking of Brainy, Lance Henrikssen replaces Corey Burton, but he cannot save the character from turning into a boring, generic megalomaniac. Gone is the inhuman, cold logic that made Brainiac so scary. Unfortunately he also spends half the movie in a new body made out of a satellite that looks like a badly mistransformed Transformer.
The worst part though, was reserved for poor Jimmy Olsen. His plot for the movie? Well, for some inexplicable reason, he has a huge crush on Mercy. To the point of creepiness, where he takes photos of her and has a shrine. Needless to say, people's warnings to Jimmy that a woman who would rather kill him than look at him and who does Luthor's dirty work is not someone you would date, fall on deaf ears.
The movie has some OK action scenes, and is well animated - same studio who did Superman TAS. The voice actors all do their work well. But the writing and asinine dialogue just ruins it all. It is still, something I recommend to DCAU fans - it is an eerie, strange experience, seeing these beloved characters in identical animation to the show's, yet acting in strange and silly ways. It almost feels like this movie is from a parallel universe, where Paul Dini was never born, and Superman TAS was based on dumb Golden Age comics.
- bbshockwave
- Jan 12, 2022
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Superman: Brainiac ataca
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 16 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1