Posted on: February 17, 2011 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

I must admit, I have only recently came back to the comic book (and video) mythos of Superman after about 15 years of inactivity. Grant Morrison created a 12-issue mini-series that ran from 2005 and 2008 that represents the basis of the movie here. In this, Lex Luthor creates an elaborate plan to kill Superman, one that increases eir powers dramatically over the course of one year until a point when ey would likely just fall over. With only this short period to live, Superman comes clean to Lois Lane and encounters a number of different obstacles along the way.

A number of random pulls from Superman’s lengthy history (the Sun-Eater, Samson and Atlas, Solaris) make Superman’s Herculean tasks into a must-watch movie. While not an “R” film, All-Star Superman does benefit nicely from the inclusion of fitting cursing; it adds to the inevitability of Superman’s death. The only issue that I can even begin to see with the film comes in the aforementioned duties of Superman; it creates something that seems a little disjointed and quickly paced. While I still need to purchase a trade paperback or other collection of All-Star Superman, I feel that the film leaves out a few different tasks that would have transferred perfectly to the video format (namely, the whole Bizarro story arc).

While limited to a certain number of minutes for the main feature, Warner Bros have added a number of great featurettes for viewers to sink their teeth into; for those that missed out on its initial run, there are two episodes of Superman: The Animated Series. Furthermore, “Incubating the Idea” goes into detail about the creative process associated with transferring the comic to a moving format, while viewers can top off their viewing experience with the trailer for the new DC Comics film, “Green Lantern: Emerald Knights”.

Rating: 8.4/10

All-Star Superman (DVD) / 2011 Warner Bros / 75 Minutes / http://www.warnerbros.com

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