DVD Of The Week: Superman - Doomsday (2007)

In 1980, Superman II gave us the first - and still one of the best - live action, superhero-versus-supervillain fights when Superman took on the three escapees from the Phantom Zone in the streets of Metropolis.

For the first time I really got an idea of what a "real" superhero fight might look like.

Now, in 2007, Superman - Doomsday gives us not one, but two, near definitive animated superpowered punch-ups in the streets of Metropolis, showcasing the sheer destructive power of pitting Superman first against the indestructible alien supersoldier Doomsday and later against an enemy who is, in many ways, Superman's equal.

It's certainly not the best superhero animated feature of recent years, but it rewards its audience with better and more sympathetic characters, a more coherant story and more convincing action than Bryan Singer's limp Superman Returns.

The Death Of Superman graphic novel, which collected the original comics that this film is inspired by, remains one of DC's best selling titles of all time. But, by necessity, this 75-minute cartoon deviates from the original text in leaps and bounds (for instance, there is no Steel or Superboy to replace the fallen hero, just a full-grown clone created by the Man of Steel's nemesis Lex Luthor) and simplifies much of the complex, multi-title crossover story.

Superman - Doomsday looks and feels like a Superman comic book, and still manages to give its brutal plot a dark edge the public may not normally associate with the square-jawed Man of Tomorrow and defender of the red, white and blue.

The animation style appears quite dated in parts, compared to many modern superhero cartoons, almost like an '80s He-Man episode or something similar, but that doesn't stop DC from pulling out the big guns for this major release. The cast is packed with A-list voice talents such the gorgeous Anne Heche as Lois Lane, Firefly's Adam Baldwin as Superman, and Buffy's James Marsters as a Grant Morrison-lookalike Lex Luthor.

As a streamlined retelling of one of the cornerstones of the modern Superman mythos, this is fine piece of art and while some of the animation may have been lacking 21st Century finesse the storytelling won me over. I thought I might miss Superman's "replacements", but Duanne Capizzi's script soon made me forget what I thought I knew about Superman and enjoy the film for what it was.