Superman: Man of Tomorrow
review by Bobby Blakey
DC Entertainment has proven themselves with an outstanding catalog of animated feature films over the last couple of years including The Dark Knight Returns, Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Death of Superman saga, Batman: Hush and Superman: Red Sun and Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. Now they are bringing the early adventures of the Man of Steel into the mix with their latest film Superman: Man of Tomorrow. Could this latest take on the Man of Steel continue their reign of animated features or will it fail to take flight?
Superman: Man of Tomorrow follows the dawn of a new age of heroes, and Metropolis has just met its first. But as Daily Planet intern Clark Kent – working alongside reporter Lois Lane – secretly wields his alien powers of flight, super-strength and x-ray vision in the battle for good, there's even greater trouble on the horizon. Follow the budding hero as he engages in bloody battles with intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo and fights for his life to halt the attack of power-hungry alien Parasite. The world will learn about Superman … but first, Superman must save the world!
Right out of the gate I can say that this film looks and felt different than their previous films. There is a bold look to the art with darker and thicker line art that makes it feel like it was made by a different company. It reminded me a lot of the animated series Archer, which I love, but here it just felt off. I have no doubt it was meant to stand out from the other films since it’s a new take on the legacy of Superman, but to me it just felt a bit cheaper looking. While I am not a fan of this look it did seem to mesh well enough as the film moves forward and in the end worked better than it started.
In relation to the story and tone the film works great. This is a new telling of Superman that works and brings the fun thanks to the addition of one my
favorites Lobo. This brings some great action sequences and overall fun to the whole thing. I really enjoyed this story taking us on a journey to the birth of Superman as well as the early days of Lois Lane and their relationship. This offers you a great history to the famed character with both classic and new directions to the story. I am not a huge Superman fan, but always love seeing these animated and live action features and this one is no different. It’s not one of my favorites in the DC animated catalog, but it’s still worth checking out.
In addition to the film this release features bonus content including featurettes, trailers, cartoons from the vault and a first look at DC’s next animated feature. Grab our copy of Superman: Man of Tomorrow available now on digital and then on 4K Ultra, Blu-ray and DVD on September 8th from Warner Bros Home Entertainment.