Origin stories are always tricky. Too much exposition, too much reliance on old themes and old storylines, they become dull. Too little, they're empty. This effort is somewhere in between. While it isn't terrible, it isn't that great, either.
What we have here is another reboot of how Superman came to be and a riff on how Parasite came to be but not unbe. The story is familiar and with a "love conquers all" message at the end--not needed, IMO, because of how treacly it was--it brought down the movie to a level of barely passable.
Pluses. The voices are good, particularly Zachary Quinto as Lex Luthor. I'm used to Clancy Brown, but Quinto's riff on it wasn't bad, and the evilness of Luthor in the final showdown was solid. Darren Criss as Superman/Clark Kent was fine, and Alexandra Daddario as Lois Lane was good. I'm sort of spoiled by Brad Garrett's interpretation of Lobo, but Ryan Hurst does well enough, showing the meanness...but not all the humor. Ike Amadi as Martian Manhunter does well enough in his role, investing his character with gravity and pathos.
Music. Good, but not great. Direction also good but not great. The story could have moved a bit faster. It was a by-the-numbers direction job, but not terrible by any means.
Minuses. The animation could have been a lot better. It reminded me of The Brave and the Bold style, with somewhat less of a black outline around the characters.
Parasite reminded me more of Godzilla: Resurgence (which was pretty awesome, IMO) but his character really didn't move me one way or the other. He's supposed to garner the audience's sympathy for his condition; he left lukewarm. Couldn't hate him, but definitely didn't like him. Every superhero needs a villain, and Lobo was more compelling in his own way.
But the biggest drawback was the overall familiarity of the story and the unwillingness to move in a different direction. I'm a huge DC fan, so I always look forward to what they come up with, but this is a far cry from being their best or even being near their best. It's worth a watch, but not a buy.
What we have here is another reboot of how Superman came to be and a riff on how Parasite came to be but not unbe. The story is familiar and with a "love conquers all" message at the end--not needed, IMO, because of how treacly it was--it brought down the movie to a level of barely passable.
Pluses. The voices are good, particularly Zachary Quinto as Lex Luthor. I'm used to Clancy Brown, but Quinto's riff on it wasn't bad, and the evilness of Luthor in the final showdown was solid. Darren Criss as Superman/Clark Kent was fine, and Alexandra Daddario as Lois Lane was good. I'm sort of spoiled by Brad Garrett's interpretation of Lobo, but Ryan Hurst does well enough, showing the meanness...but not all the humor. Ike Amadi as Martian Manhunter does well enough in his role, investing his character with gravity and pathos.
Music. Good, but not great. Direction also good but not great. The story could have moved a bit faster. It was a by-the-numbers direction job, but not terrible by any means.
Minuses. The animation could have been a lot better. It reminded me of The Brave and the Bold style, with somewhat less of a black outline around the characters.
Parasite reminded me more of Godzilla: Resurgence (which was pretty awesome, IMO) but his character really didn't move me one way or the other. He's supposed to garner the audience's sympathy for his condition; he left lukewarm. Couldn't hate him, but definitely didn't like him. Every superhero needs a villain, and Lobo was more compelling in his own way.
But the biggest drawback was the overall familiarity of the story and the unwillingness to move in a different direction. I'm a huge DC fan, so I always look forward to what they come up with, but this is a far cry from being their best or even being near their best. It's worth a watch, but not a buy.