This was such a mindfuck to watch. On one hand, it's a whole new movie, free of all previous Superman: The Animated Series (and for that matter, Justice League and JLU) continuity...and yet it's the exact same animation style with most of the S:TAS voice actor alum intact.
Speaking of which, nothing against George Newbern, but a huge welcome back to Tim Daly! It was like he never left.
I was morbidly curious as to how Lex Luthor would be handled, as using the S:TAS animation style and having a voice actor other than Clancy Brown caused some alarm. But Powers Boothe was absolutely masterful, as he didn't channel Brown, but rather channeled the Lex Luthor of the Superman movies with his smooth-talking, yet sleazy and opportunistic persona. Lex was a total blast, especially at the end.
The story wasn't anything to write home about, but it did its job of creating hype for Superman Returns, with this movie being an exhibition of Superman's powers, Lex Luthor's motivation, and Superman's relationship with Lois Lane (and Clark's lack thereof). And yet if this movie had happened six years ago, it could have easily been put in the Timm-verse timeline with the way Lois and Jimmy were characterized.
If you didn't catch it on Cartoon Network, this is worth a rental when it comes out this Tuesday.
EDIT: For those curious, Line of the Movie:
Clark: If I don't stop Brainiac, who will? Lois: Navy Seals, Special Ops, that Green Lantern guy...
Eh, I didn't think it was anything special. I know I'm in the minority, but I actually prefer Newbern to Daly, although there's not a whole lot of difference between them. I didn't like the way they did Lex, because I've never been a huge fan of the way they handled him in the movies either. Hamming it up with bad jokes might be kinda fun, but Lex is supposed to be the most dangerous man in the world. And I won't spoil the ending, but I thought the way he saved Lois was kind of lame. Just my opinion.
Don't feel bad, I always thought Newburn was at worst still Daly's equal.
And now a round of "I can't believe."
I can't believe Powers Booth signed on to this... I can't believe Dini/Timm aren't forming a militia over this... I can't believe Henrikson was in this movie (I really, really thought Booth was double dipping)... I can't believe that (in a way) they brought back Richard Donner's biggest transgression The Super Kiss.
Ugh, I didn't care for this movie at all ... It was nice to hear the guy from Wings as the voice of Superman again, but - I'm sorry - that was NOT Lex Luthor. From the goofy mannerisms to the annoying new voice, that was just not him.
And they bother to bring up the Phantom Zone, and no General Zod appearance (not even a passing reference)? Boo.
Count me in among those that was less than impressed. I found the story to be weak and pointless, the writing to be sub-par even compared to episodes of Superman: TAS, and for the life of me I could NOT get past the Boothe voicing and character changes they did for Luthor. That last item might not have bothered me as much if I hadn't disliked so many other things about it.