Superman: Man of Tomorrow

Superman: Man of Tomorrow is a great change for DC animated movies whilst also being a solid Superman origin story, although it would have benefited from a longer run time. Darren Criss gives a great lead performance, Ryan Hurst is perfect and Zachary Quinto, Alexandra Daddario and Ike Amadi are all really good. The animation is great and much better than the usual style. Chris Palmer's direction is really good and the music by Kevin Riepl is good.

Well, truth be told, I can't really claim to have been much overly excited when I sat down to watch this 2020 animated "Superman" movie. Why? Well, it is a superhero movie, and I am really overly keen on those. But still, two things made me sit down to watch "Superman: Man of Tomorrow". First of all, I hadn't already seen it, and I do like to watch movies I haven't already seen. And secondly, it had Lobo in it!

Now, I will say that the storyline actually turned out to be good. I was enjoying it, for sure. But truth be told, why do we need another alternate origins story to Clark Kent and Superman? Haven't there been enough of those made already? To me, it grows tiresome when they keep re-writing origins stories for characters.

It should be said that they had a good ensemble of voice actors and actresses brought in for this animated movie. And that is a very important aspect for an animated movie's success; having the right voice cast. I was very thrilled to know that it was Ryan Hurst adding his rough voice to Lobo, because that was just a superb fit.

The animation style in "Superman: Man of Tomorrow" was adequate, although it bordered on being a bit too edgy at times. I mean, the style of drawing, not the way it was presented. Of course, this is a matter of personal preference. It was good, but I prefer a bit more smooth art style for animated movies.

"Superman: Man of Tomorrow" will definitely please fans of the DC universe, I believe that much, and it was actually well-worth sitting down to watch.

My rating of the 2020 "Superman: Man of Tomorrow" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Seems like a pointless story. It focuses on the beginning how he started how he introduced him self to the world. It feels pointless everything being well known. The graphics are OK the style is just OK. The battles are simple not extravagance. The pacing is OK not boring but not edge seating. All in all it is an OK movie with i do not see the point of other than is a cartoon aimed for kids.

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.

This was a good superman film that really gave a good introspective look into superman's journey to accept his path. The animation is definitely the best DC has put out in recent times and the art style is really unique and pleasing to look at. If you're looking for a good superman story, this is a certainly a good use of time.