A Long Belated Review of Superman Doomsday!

Okay, some backstory. I didn't actually pay for my copy of this movie. (Someone official-like actually emailed me and ASKED to send it to me! How cool is that?!) I've actually owed this review for at least a month. Part of it was an address/email mix up (hee, they sent me an extra copy to apologize! Score!) and then, when it FINALLY came, I had like umpteen things for class due and...

Excuses, excuses. Better late than never, huh? (I'm a crappy reviewer! Sorry!!!)

Of course, since they gave me free stuff, I have to declare it's the best movie ever, right? Isn't that how it works?

Okay, okay, I'll do a real review. I warn you though, I don't do professional high-quality reviews. This is a rambling, ranting mess. But then if you really wanted a good-quality review, you shouldn't come to me! :-)

Besides, I GOT my free stuff already. :-P

Look! A Banner!!! Take it as your spoiler warning:



Okay. The truth is. It wasn't bad.

Essentially, it was like watching two movies. Okay, anyone who's seen the movie already, or read reviews, would already know that the Doomsday fight/death of Superman actually occurs fairly early on in the movie. Which is a good thing, because honestly, up until that point, the movie is completely dreadful.

Seriously, the violence was insanely gratuitous (hey, I like violence as much as anyone, but there was a point where Doomsday snaps some guy's neck that even I thought was too much), the plot lame, Lois Lane's voice actress grated, and Superman's design was wretched.

...seriously, what made anyone think putting cheekbones like that on a square-jawed man was a good idea? You do realize cheekbones are supposed to slope into the jaw, right?

I really didn't like the whole "Bang Lois, but don't tell her my secret identity" thing. Though I was somewhat mollified by the fact that Lois very obviously knew who he was. I did actually like their fight about that.

Also, the robot made me laugh.

And...um...wow. They really played up Lex's obsession to the point of...well...they certainly played it up, didn't they.

So, yeah, until the Doomsday fight: sucktastic. To say the least. After though, it really did begin to rise in my estimation. There were lovely emotional moments that seemed very genuine to me. I liked how the different characters expressed their grief, especially the scene with Martha and Lois.

The clone's emergence was fairly well-done, I thought. It was pretty obvious that something was wrong when he turned down sex with Lois. I mean, come on. Lex...did not appear any straighter, and I was genuinely shocked by the way he took his grief out on a particular henchman so to speak.

The line "intergalactic soccer hooligan" made me giggle a lot. So much so that it gets a special mention in this review.

The resurrection of Superman was fairly well done (though, Lex keeping the body...when he clearly didn't need it for cloning purposes, since the clone was the one who swiped it...creeepy) and I enjoyed the clone's fall from grace (and the way he got rid of Lex's controlling mechanism was pretty hardcore!).

The ending fight was exciting. A lot more exciting than the Doomsday fight, I thought, and I liked Lois's role in it. Also, as much as I've bitched about Superman's design here, I thought the long hair worked much better here than in the comics. It made the incongruous cheekbones less obvious.

Finally, I enjoyed the epilogue scene a lot. And as much as I hated the thought of Superman sleeping with Lois without revealing his identity, the very end made it all worthwhile. (I loved that the big reveal actually involved putting the glasses on.)

Though I feel cheated out of a reunion with Martha. Poor woman ALWAYS gets the shaft.

But anyway, once the Doomsday fight finally finishes, I enjoyed it a lot. I'd watch it again. :-)