Review: Superman vs. The Elite

Lily and I watched the movie on Monday. I put it in the viewer and started the movie and when Lily realized it was a Superman movie, she asked, "Daddy, why do you like Superman so much?"

So I paused it and went upstairs and picked up a comic book and showed her two of my very favorite pages featuring Superman and had her read the panels.

I wasn't expecting great things going in. I was acutely disappointed in the last DCU animated movie I saw. (Justice League: Doom.) I'm a pretty big Superman fan and even I didn't think this looked good. I thought the story on which it was based was well-intentioned, but lacking in nuance, and if there's anything I hate more than people reducing a position I hold to a strawman and attacking that, it's people who share my opinions attacking a strawman built from the other side, and and I think that's what was going on in Action Comics 775. I thought Kingdom Come got there first and did it better.

However, it is three-quarters of a really good movie. The voice acting is great. I always enjoy George Newbern as Superman, Pauley Perrette of NCIS fame is pleasantly raspy as Lois, and Robin Atkin Downes kicks all kind of ass as Manchester Black.

So, the movie.

It's not easy to write Superman. This movie has a lot of little details that really show an understanding of what Superman is all about. One of the bits I like best is when Lois and Clark are walking along a city street, and this man, glowing and near death from an attack by the Atomic Skull, says, "Help me," and that's what Clark does, instinctively opening his arms to catch the man.

Some time later, he encounters a group of superpeople, the Hat, Menagerie, Coldcast and of course, Manchester Black. I like everything about Black, his attitude, his design and of course, that name.


(I'll confess that I didn't particularly care for the look they gave Superman in this outing, but I think it looks a lot better in motion than in stills.)

More like Superman's chin versus the Elite.

Also, speaking of character designs. The Hat looks an awful lot like Jigen from Lupin III when he's lying in the field.

They work together to save some people in one of those fictional Middle Eastern countries that exist only in DC comics. Superman isn't sure what to make of these newcomers. That's another detail I like. Superman believes in the good in everyone, but he's not blindly trusting. He's going to give them an opportunity, but he's going to perform his due diligence too. Clark Kent, you may remember, won a Pulitzer for his reporting.

So he tracks Manchester down in England and they chat a little. This is another really well done scene, because you get the impression that Manchester's crew have good intentions, but a legitimate difference of opinion on how to make the world a better place. (I also like that they're starstruck when they meet him in person "You're really tall.")

A terrorist attack occurs while they're in England, and Superman asks for their help. Manchester protests, saying their powers are only good for "kicking the snot out of wankers". Superman says it will be a good test of their imagination, and takes off and they do help him with damage control and disaster relief.  I like that bit. Superman calls on them to be the best that they can and they rise to the challenge.

And they look like they're going to be heroes right up until the point when Menagerie and Coldcast show up with the terrorists they captured and Manchester starts torturing them for information right in front of Superman.

Vera, Manchester's sister tips off Lois and this was a small encounter that I liked "My brother is misguided and angry, Miss Lane. He saved my life. I'd like to save his."

The Atomic Skull escapes prison and goes on a rampage. It's a pretty good fight scene. It's just visceral when he leaps on top of Coldcast and starts pummeling him, and showing it from Coldcast's point of view was a nice touch.

Superman and the Elite take him down, but not before he kills a bunch of people and Superman is unable to prevent Black from executing the Skull.

We get some man on the streets reaction and one I particularly liked was a woman saying "I've lived all my life in Metropolis. Superman's always been there for us, but so have the criminals he keeps putting away."

And this is when the movie starts to go completely off the rails.

Though there is one part I like, Black looking at Kandor when they come to the Fortress of Solitude to confront Superman.

Then it all sucks.

They challenge Superman to a throwdown at dawn and they fight on the moon. They go back and forth for a bit and the Elite get the upper hand, but then Superman flips the fuck out and starts murdering them, ranting how he sees that their way is the right way. He concludes the fight by burning out a portion of Black's brain with his heat vision.

But wait! It was just a trick! He was just pretending! He used all of his Superman robots to fake the deaths of the Elite. (Hey, Superman, maybe a better use for those robots would be protecting people from the Atomic Skull instead of just using them to punk Metropolis.) And he didn't really flip out, he was just making a point in the most idiotic way possible! And everybody's cool with this. Blarg! I'd spoiler tag this, but I watched it with a five-year old and she saw it coming. It was so good up until then.

A picture of me in my Amber hoodie

My wife snapped this when we were hiking on our camping trip and I thought it might be interesting for the Zelazny fans around here. It's a picture of me in the "God is Diceless" sweatshirt Phage Press used to sell along with the Amber Diceless RPG.

Children Learn what they Live

I love my daughter very much.

Lily on our camping trip

I tend to be oversensitive about a great many things, but never about Lily. When she gets mad, she'll say the most hurtful thing she can imagine. Lately, it's "I'm going to find my real daddy!" This really bothers Jen, who tends to be phlegmatic about most other things, but I'll just laugh and say, "Pass me my car keys. I'll help you find him."

I know that she loves me. I'm poisoned with uncertainty, but this is one thing I know for sure. I love that she thinks about things and pipes up with odd comments like "Ultron's not really indestructible, because the Hulk can break him," or "Did it hurt when Daredevil got chemicals in his eyes?"

I think she's going to face increasing pressure to conform and in a few years, she's going to drift towards her friends and away from mommy and daddy, and I think she'll lose interest in the games and the things we do together.

We were camping with another family last weekend, and the other mom had her Nook with her. (I had mine too, but hers had a lot more kid's games on it. Mine was mostly full of PDFs.) One of the games she had was FlipPix Art. It's a nonogram puzzle game, where you have to determine which squares on the grid have to be painted or broken based on the numbers above a specific column or row. If there is a 5 above a column, you know that five consecutive blocks must be painted, if there is a 1 2, it means that one block is painted, followed by a break, then two consecutive blocks must be painted in the same row. On the kiddie puzzles, the grid is 5 x 5, and at least one row has a clue that allows you to figure out the puzzle pretty easily.

I downloaded this game once we got home (It's free, huzzah!) and I have two little stories about it.

It's interesting to watch Lily play it. She has a superb memory. When we play memory games on the computer, I'll move the mouse and she'll tell me which cards to flip. She's rarely wrong. With the FlipPix puzzles, she's eschewing the clues almost entirely and trying to solve them through brute force, trial and error. If she makes a mistake, she'll make a note of it, reset the game and start that puzzle over. She's astoundingly tenacious, and this approach works for her, but I'm amazed she can do it without getting frustrated.

The other thing is, I thought it would be neat to show the game to Jen. Lily explained it to her, and Jen tried it out, but accidentally pressed the wrong button after she had highlighted a number of squares, and smashed them instead of painting them. She grumbled a little bit, but Lily just reached over and restarted the game, saying, "It's okay. We all make mistakes sometimes. I used to do that too." She was kind when she said it, and so gentle. It was the voice I try to use when talking to her.

I was thinking of the little Children Learn what the Live poem. My family had it when I was growing up and we have a copy on our fridge.

I think it's very true, and I'm glad that she's kind. And when she faces the peer pressure later in life, I hope we've helped her become a strong and gentle person who can weather the vicissitudes of childhood and come out on the other side.

Promoted from the Comments: A Night in the Lonesome October Tribute Issue

I thought I'd bump Chris's post up from the comments in case anyone missed it:

An upcoming Zelazny tribute, via Lovecraft.

Mad Lib Results

From the previous post:

Jen:



Moe worked as a dolly grip, but didn't like it. One day, he skipped into his boss's office and sighed "By Jove! I quit!".

He croaked slyly, "I've had it up to my appendix with this squirrelly job. I want to be a zookeeper instead. It makes me feel merry."

(Jen realized that she forgot a second job, so she just provided it when I was filling this out.)


Tim:

Chauncy Merriweather III worked as a professional amateur, but didn't like it. One day, he pranced into his boss's office and shrieked "Jumpin' Jugs o' Jazz Juice In a Jelly Jar! I quit!".

He hissed queasily, "I've had it up to my pinky knuckle with this fabulous job. I want to be a Good Humor Man instead. It makes me feel runcible."


Zach:

Forepaw McDurkowitz worked as a butt inspector, but didn't like it. One day, he pogo-sticked into his boss's office and hissed "Miserable melon-muck! I quit!".

He regurgitated shamelessly, "I've had it up to my back hair with this under-cooked job. I want to be the assistant to the Chief of Spaghetti instead. It makes me feel misshapen."

(I like regurgitated. I think it's going to become part of my standard repertoire of talkisms)



Greg 1:

Yukon Cornelius worked as a taste tester , but didn't like it. One day, he gamboled into his boss's office and cackled "Jerk yourself a soda! I quit!".

He gurgled feverishly, "I've had it up to my uvula with this lugubrious job. I want to be a crash test dummy instead. It makes me feel bouncy."



Greg 2:


Iddawg the Churn of Prydain worked as a hot buttered elf butterer, but didn't like it. One day, he lurched into his boss's office and chanted "Wousers! I quit!".

He simpered sickeningly, "I've had it up to my frenulum with this adjectival job. I want to be a bunion rubber instead. It makes me feel buxom."