Certificate – 15
Directed By –Sam Liu
Starring (Voiced By) – Jason Isaacs, Diedrich Bader, Amy Acker, Vanessa Marshall, Roger Craig Smith, Paul Williams, Phil Morris, Sasha Roiz, Phil LaMarr, Travis Willingham, Jim Meskimen, William Salyers, Winter Ave Zoli.
Running Time – 72 Minutes (1 Hour 12 Minutes)
Superman is the granddaddy of superheroes, but DC Comics never seem to push elseworld stories about (or involving) the Man of Steel they’re always fantastic.
One of the most popular Elseworlds comics is Superman: Red Son. The premise is a simple one, what if Superman wasn’t raised in Kansas and by the love of the Kent’s but instead grew up in Soviet Russia.
So it’s only right that this iconic story gets the DCA movie treatment.
What is Superman: Red Son About?
Taking place in an alternate reality where the spaceship bearing the last survivor of Krypton crush lands – not in rural Kansas, but in Stalinist Russia. Can this Cold War-era Earth survive the coming of a Soviet Superman (Issacs)?
Is It Any Good?
DC Animated films are always solid as they take the source material and add for their adaptations and this case it works very well.
Because not only have you got Superman, but also Wonder Woman and Batman in ways we’ve never seen before, but more on that later.
The voice was by Isaacs as this Superman is superb and would love to see what he would do as the traditional boy in blue. Because in this performance there’s so much gravitas to the character throughout the decades from believing in his ideology to being beaten by it.
This is shown with his friendship with Wonder Woman as she sees the good in him and what he wants to do for the world, while also having a surprisingly interesting short exchange about sex, but begins to see the truth and ultimately considers all men as evil.
Meanwhile, the film showed me that without Superman, there couldn’t be a Lex Luthor on the opposite side. What’s interesting those is this film doesn’t change a lot of Luthor’s embedded characteristics. He is still one of the cleverest men in the world and will do anything to be a success.
The only difference is he has people who love him, and in this case, in the form of Lois Lane.
Elsewhere, there’s some excellent use of the DC Comics lore brought into this movie like Wonder Woman, Bizarro, Green Lanterns and Batman.
Speaking of Batman, this isn’t any Batman you’ve seen as he’s a full-blown terrorist and is not a character you support.
Finally, Liu does another cracking job directing with Frederik Wiedmann brings his strongest game when it comes to the music.
Anything Bad About The Film?
There are some interesting political questions raised, especially in the fight between Batman and Superman, but they’re dropped quickly.
Additionally, while I love the animated style in the New 52 DCA films, I wish these Elseworlds movies were able to take on the freedom of being Elseworlds and bring a different style.
Has The Blu-Ray Got Any Special Features?
There’s always plenty to watch and enjoy when it comes to the DCA movie blu-rays including:
- DC Showcase: Phantom Stranger (Animated Short) – A dark, entertaining movie with great voice work from Peter Serafinowicz and Michael Rosenbaum but will always have a hard time to be the follow-up showcase from Death.
- Cold Red War (Featurette)
- Two Episodes From Superman: Red Son – The Motion Comics
- Two DC Animated Episodes
- A Sneak Peek At The Next DC Universe Movie – Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
Verdict
Another excellent addition to the DC Animated Movies Universe with a fantastic adaptation and voice work by Isaacs and directing by Liu.
The Bear Cave 