Superman: Red Son

Why oh why did the writers think it was a good idea to gut the great source material in order to make the story 'relevant' to today. A complete waste of an opportunity.

The animation was emotionless, the story was forced into a mere 84 minutes. The source material was so rich, so brilliant, that I couldn't believe I was witnessing this dumpster fire. The motives and character didn't come through, simply due to lack of time, and just bad dialogues. The final punchline, for example, was ruined by the verbosity. A TV Series could have done the material justice, because novels are best approximated by series and movies follow the structure of short stories more closely. Brilliant story, ruined by bad adaptation, I recommend people to try the graphic novel instead, and not to think of the novel lowly due to this movie.

I could have been a little biased because I've read the source material. I'm sorry, if that has colored my judgement.

Okay, silly headline out of the way, this could have been great, but instead, it turned into the usual America-good-Russia-bad oversimplification that's been going on and off for the last few decades. Promising start, but it was quickly undermined by poor dialogue, so-so animation--and it felt and looked rushed, cramming the source material into 84 minutes or so--and characters you couldn't really care about.

I get the twist on the usual DC characters--Batman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman--in this universe, but they weren't the least bit likeable. The voice acting was good, but if they'd had lines that mattered, it would have been more enjoyable.

Bottom line: read the graphic novel, or see the motion comic on other social sites. That's infinitely better than this version. DC usually puts out tremendous animated movies. Justice League: Dark, Gods and Monsters, Wonder Woman, and others are far superior examples of animation. This one isn't. It isn't a total disaster, but it could have been something great.

The comic of Superman: Red Son, despite its various "comical" moments, is one of the most exquisite DC story in recent history. The animated version, however, didn't thoroughly delivered even half the charm of its source material. In the comic, its writing was clever yet satisfying. They were reduced into uninspiring small talks and some were even cut off in the animated version. For those who seeks a new, light-hearted experience from an elseworld story, Superman: Red Son can provide you with an exciting premise, nothing more. I would love to recommend the comic to everyone, not this animated version.

I think there are the type of reviewers who read the graphic novel, and others who just watch the film. I think this film does a good job in encapsulating the spirit of the graphic novel.

Missing content and characters? You bet, you could say a pivotal character along with expanded character arks of someone like Brainiac, however like I said I think the general idea was executed in this film.

If you would like more content of "what If" Superman landed into Russia, read the graphic novel, if you would like a condensed version, this film is for you.