Superman Vs. The Elite

Apparently this came out on the 12th. Anybody see it?

Watched it yet. Bloody amazing

Artowrk is a little shonky at times, but George Newbern nails the role of Superman again, just the right balance between earnest and anger.

IT expands on the original comic a lot as well, adds more backstory, especially for Manchester Black.

Picked it up Tuesday. Really enjoyed it. The ending was great!

I must say this was surprising given how many people were bashing this movie before it came out. It wasn't that bad at all...

Someone on the internet was wrong!?

I just watched it with my son and we both enjoyed it.

I liked it a lot, but since I've never read the comic it was based on was it intended to thumb it's nose at The Authority?

It's pretty darn good, IMO.

Possibly the best Solo Superman animated movie to date. great story..

Gonna rent it today as a Fathers Day gift to myself. I jave a feeling that I may want to dust my SS/Inv brute off afterwards.

SPOILERS!

I liked it, but I had a couple problems with it.

First: We're supposed to leave the movie thinking Superman's viewpoint is right, that lethal force as a solution is "ugly" and wrong.

Buuuuut... Superman really has no answer to the problem shown by Atomic Skull. Superman did things his way, locked up Skull and then he escaped and immediately killed more people until the Elite put him down.

Nowhere in Superman's speech at the end of the movie does he address this problem inherent in his viewpoint. He could have, and should have, acknowledged that sometimes lethal force is the only recourse, in cases like the Skull.

Manchester even brings it up in a roundabout way when threatens to break out instead of rotting in prison. Instead of confronting the problem there, Superman deflects the issue and goes off on a rant about dreams. Dreams are all well and good, but tell that to the families of the people who Atomic Skull turned to ash.

Second: It was all a trick! Superman didn't kill anyone! Superman robots etc! Buuuut...Superman destroyed several city blocks, caused millions in property damage, terrified innocent people...to make a point. Where's the "dignity, honor and justice" in that?

Third: Superman says the rest of the Elite were captured and are being stripped of their powers as they speak. So....why didn't they strip Atomic Skull of his powers? Instead of hooking him up to a generator which ultimately only helped him escape? Again, Superman could have acknowledged this as a way of dealing with repeat offenders who are not able to be rehabilitated. He should have also acknowledged that the system failed in the Skull's case and that people would be held accountable for the decision that let him kill more innocents.

It all comes back to the fact that Superman's view has major flaws too. He's not made to confront these flaws, acknowledge them or try to deal with them, and the end of the movie sweeps them under the rug and asks us to ignore them because "dreams are dandy".



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I still find it awesome what Supes does to Manchester Black that pretty much ends their first battle....those who read it should know what I am talking about.....

EDIT: SPOILERS! Potentially...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny_Butane Nowhere in Superman's speech at the end of the movie does he address this problem inherent in his viewpoint. He could have, and should have, acknowledged that sometimes lethal force is the only recourse, in cases like the Skull.

The issue of the Skull isn't a problem with Superman's philosophy. If the Skull's death is in the public's best interest, then the justice system should have decided that after he was captured. Superman had clearly shown that lethal force was *not*, in fact, required to stop the Skull and capture him - at least twice in the movie, with the implication that he's done it a number of times prior. If the justice system continually decides not to execute him in an expeditious fashion, that doesn't suddenly give Superman the right to be judge, jury, and executioner.

Exactly.

The Elite set themselves up as gods, they would decide who deserved to die and were going around killing anyone they considered bad. That is what Superman had the problem with.

It wasn't the death penalty that Superman had the problem with, it was the fact that the people with all the power were the ones making the decision, with no input from the "common man" something even the goverment has to take into account.

I'm presuming in the universe that Superman is in, the death penalty, death row and all that stuff still exists. He might not personally agree with it, we don't know, but at least it's being decided by people elected by the public in a court of law. He even acknowledges that it's a flawed system and that there are people out there in charge who are "bad guys" but he knows if he starts to remove those people based on his own judgement, then he risks becoming as bad as the Elite.

But Superman does go directly against his own philosophy in the movie. He preaches again and again that the punishment of the villains isn't up to him, it's up to the courts. But at the end he is the one who strips all of the Elite of their powers. The court system had nothing to do with it.

So maybe the Elite got their point across to him after all. You can't trust in a system that doesn't work vs super beings.

Wow, I'm torn.

On the one hand, I hate it when superheroes pontificate about the preservation of life, then pummel a bunch of stuff. The subtext always seems to be, "I can do whatever I want, since my 133t skillz (and Moral Plot Armor) ensure I'll never kill or hurt anyone by accident, but that man over there who fired a shot over a mugger's head when threatened with a knife is an inhuman monster because he might've hurt someone. You, viewer, need a firm, paternalistic hand from someone better than you in charge." Note that this argument makes at least a little sense with Superman, who really does have abilities that ordinary characters don't. I see it used more often with Batman, where it seems pretty much nonsense to me. (In fact, it's the main reason I hate Batman so much.)

On the other hand, I find it hard not to love anything expressly designed to trash the Authority.

I remember buying the issue this movie was based on out of sheer whim. I had stopped going to comic shops altogether and just happened to see this one. I had the urge to buy something and while the cover didn't particularly wow me compared to covers I've seen in the past, it was the most dynamic cover of what was out that week. I feel lucky that I wanted to spend the 3 bucks that day and I almost didn't. I read that comic over and over till the binding wore thin.

I love the movie. I was blown away. The last few animated movies were meh so I wasn't holding out for much hope but as mentioned before in this thread the movie expanded on what was already a great story. The creators really gave it that adult sophisticated feel. The art was okay. Ostensibly, it was supposed to mimic Doug Mahnke's style in the comic book. The animation was incredible. The action perfectly captured. Supe's powers rarely ever looked this good on screen. You're doing yourself a favor by watching this movie.

Saw it. Liked it a lot.

Definitely better than "All-Star Superman" which is, to date, the only one of these animated films I just didn't like.

My wife liked it also. Though she got a bit worried at the end with what Superman was doing. Since I had read the comic I knew what was happening. It was still cool to watch though, and a bit scary with the ease at which he COULD do stuff if he wanted.