Studio: Warner Bros. Animation
Director: Sam Liu
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Producer: Amy McKenna, Sam Liu
Stars: Jason Isaacs, Amy Acker, Diedrich Bader, Vanessa Marshall, Phil Morris, Paul Williams
Review Score:
Summary:
Decades of Cold War history change dramatically when Superman is raised as a Soviet symbol while Lex Luthor leads American efforts to stop him.
Review:
Based on Mark Millar’s popular DC Comics Elseworlds story, “Superman: Red Son” asks the question, what if Superman’s rocket landed in Soviet Russia instead of Smallville, Kansas? More to the point, this alternate timeline tale explores the kind of character Superman might have become if he had been raised on communist doctrine as a servant of the Red State instead of by the Midwest American apple pie values of Ma and Pa Kent.
What the animated adaptation doesn’t do is retread the familiar ground of Superman’s oft-told origin. That ought to be music to the ears for anyone who’s as tired of seeing baby Kal-El found on a farm as they are of Martha Wayne’s pearls bouncing off Crime Alley’s pavement. “Superman: Red Son’s” pre-credits prologue covers the bare bone basics of Soviet Superman first revealing his powers at age 12 in 1946. The audience’s presumably plentiful memories of everything that probably happened between the crashed rocket and red cape, just on a different continent, then fill in “we get it” blanks as the movie formally starts in 1955.
“Superman: Red Son” still mires itself in a lot of setup though. The movie moves through key Cold War years between 1961 and 1983. Each time the era changes, groundwork gets laid in the form of talking head exposition in addition to a great deal of dialogue about capitalism versus communism, power of the people, oppressive governments, and so on. Sure, it’s difficult to do a “what if Superman grew up in Russia” story and not have it become political in some fashion. But the balance of clashing ideology content that takes place in conversation versus physical confrontation is disproportionate for an animated adventure film that ought to favor visual excitement.
At least the film doesn’t reductively simplify scenarios into a black-and-white ‘Democratic America = good’ while ‘Communist Russia = bad’ dichotomy. Outside of accurately depicting Joseph Stalin’s gulags as criminally inhumane labor camps, “Superman: Red Son” mostly plays fair with both countries. As the world power struggle ebbs and flows across several decades, the Lex Luthor-led America and Superman-controlled USSR take turns being positive about their people, relentlessly ruthless in wartime, and misguided by good intentions. Superman isn’t turned into a villainous monster by communism. His superhero status is merely perverted by mistaken ideals about creating a perfect utopia, which becomes a common theme illustrated on both sides.
That’s serious subject matter to be tackled by a cartoon whose primary intent should be to provide colorful entertainment. I haven’t read the source comic, but the scattered speed with which the film runs through a 37-year time tunnel also makes it clear that the book bites off more material than an 80-minute adaptation can creatively chew.
“Superman: Red Son” repeatedly loses sight of every side story it introduces because it just doesn’t have the space to let them run free. Mid-movie, Lex Luthor gets painted as a neglectful husband who marginalizes his wife Lois Lane. She in turn gives Lex a wicked tongue-lashing for cruelly creating a creature he willingly murders. Then we don’t see the couple directly interact for another 30 years, when Lex heroically rescues Lois and their marriage appears healthily hunky-dory.
Lex’s redemption arc follows such a bumpy trajectory, I was certain it had to be a sham. Surely his inspirationally uplifting speech about extending compassion to reinvigorate Russia’s downtrodden populace hid a reveal that Lex had an even more maniacal master plan up his sleeve. Spoiler alert: He doesn’t. Luthor just goes from callously criminal opportunist to beloved public figure with no second act in between.
We also get a Roswell-like scene of JFK and Luthor recruiting Hal Jordan to lead a new military branch after the government recovers a Green Lantern ring from a crashed spacecraft. But we don’t actually see this incarnation of the Green Lantern Corps until 16 years later, and only for a fisticuff faceoff of little consequence since Superman briskly defeats them and continues where he was headed before they got in his way.
Somewhat similar to Soviet Superman, “Red Son” has its heart in the right place. With an emphasis on static chatter over energetic action however, it just doesn’t wash out in the top tier of DC animated movies. The animation style fits well with the Bruce Timm look of the 1990s syndicated series. But odd inclusions such as Wonder Woman’s abrupt mention of her sexual orientation, which only becomes relevant as a quick rebuff for Superman’s attempted kiss, suggest a glib handling of adult concepts that doesn’t align with the looser Saturday morning spirit of the movie’s driving vibe. Suited more for fans deeply entrenched in all things Superman than for audiences looking for continuous cartoon thrills, this take on “Superman: Red Son” begs for treatment that has a hard time fitting neatly into compact DTV animation.
Review Score: 55
It is moderately compelling in the moment, but it has a hard time holding up to even cursory scrutiny as far as believable “found footage” concepts go.