My Review of Superman: Brainiac Attacks · 9:13pm January 13th
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
Greetings, folks! This is Mr. J back with another movie review for today. This afternoon, I will be reviewing “Superman: Brainiac Attacks” released in 2006. Now, this movie was released just ten days before “Superman Returns” came out in theaters at the time, so in order to get people excited and hyped for the live-action movie, they made an animated movie that has a similar tone to “Superman: The Animated Series”…yet different in almost every other way. As a result, this ended up being a mediocre disappointment.
This movie is about the Man of Steel confronting Brainiac, who is basically AI personified. After suffering his first defeat, Brainiac’s remains are scooped up by Lex Luther who forms an alliance with him. Will Superman defeat Brainiac and keep Lois Lane from harm’s way?
So let me get this straight: Curt Geda was selected to direct this movie as he did a wonderful job directing the episodes of STAS, and then he decided to direct this movie with a similar animation style but different in terms of tone and humor?
I know this isn’t connected to the show or the DCAU in general, but this movie failed to capture the essence of the show. It felt like Curt and the writers wanted to make this film for the sole purpose of hyping fans up for the live-action movie without putting any heart and soul into it.
The main issue I have with this movie is the over-the-top action. This is only an hour and sixteen minutes, yet 80% of the movie is just action non-stop. The worst part is the fight scene between Superman and Brainiac during the climax; it kept going on and on without stopping.
Not once did Superman decided to use a method that would quickly end the battle so he could save Lois on time; I get that he needed to save the civilians first because they were in imminent danger, but if only he thought about going all-out in ending the threat outside Metropolis, the battle wouldn’t feel like it’s taking forever to end.
The other issue I have is how the villains were acting so out of character in this movie. Lex Luther doesn’t feel like Lex at all; instead of being the cold, calculating genius he’s supposed to be, he acts so goofy and whimsical. I’m not sure what they were trying to accomplish with his character, but the way he acts and talks didn’t like him whatsoever.
The same can be said for Brainiac unfortunately; in STAS, he’s a stoic, emotionless, knowledge-hungry computer who thrives on acquiring the knowledge of every planet he encounters via force and destruction. But in this movie, he laughs and smiles like a Saturday morning, twirling-mustache villain who seeks for global domination. He would never act like this.
Additionally, their original voice actors did not reprise their roles as their respective antagonists which is a contributing factor to their OOC behavior. I don’t know why they didn’t bring back Clancy Brown and Corey Burton, but they simply made the wrong choice in selecting two other actors for those roles.
Lance Henriksen is a great actor overall, but he is not the right fit for a character like Brainiac. He didn’t capture the emotionless energy that an AI robot alien is supposed to have and sounds like a psychotic old man in a robotic suit instead. He’s great at voice acting, but this is so far the only time he was miscast for a villainous role.
The late Powers Booth was likewise miscast for the role of Lex Luther. Keep in mind, he was the same actor who voiced Gorilla Grodd in “Justice League” and “Justice League Unlimited”. So whenever he spoke in this movie, I couldn’t help but hear Grodd in Luther; perhaps it’s because I’m so used to hearing Clancy that it felt weird to hear a different actor in the character with the exact same animation style and design from STAS.
Tara Strong as Mercy Graves was…okay? I still prefer the original actress Lisa Edelstein, but Tara wasn’t too bad…although she wouldn’t be my first choice for the role.
But here’s what I want to know: why did they bring back all the original voice actors for Superman, Lois, Jimmy, Clark’s parents, and Perry White but not the original VAs for the villains? I tried looking it up but couldn’t find any answers.
But the weirdest part about this entire movie…was Jimmy Olsen thirsting for Mercy Graves. What in the actual hell??? Not only is that incredibly out of character for Jimmy to do but also uncomfortable and creepy to watch. He never had a crush on her in STAS, so why was he doing this here? I just can’t see Jimmy taking inappropriate pictures of a lady who is much older than him. Was that really necessary to add in this movie?
I get that Curt wanted to add more lighthearted humor and romance in this iteration, but it felt completely out-of-place in a movie that has awfully similar animation style despite not being connected to the DCAU. In my opinion, he went a little out of control in his direction.
All of these negative factors significantly taint this movie from being enjoyable. But on a positive note, there were a few saving graces in this whole mess.
They at least got Superman right and kept him being the same heroic, relatable role model we all know and love from the show. The voice acting from the returning VAs was overall great, and the storyline itself was decent for the most part.
But there was something about this that left me scratching my head: Superman had to use that yellow substance from the Phantom Zone in order to cure Lois and protect himself from Brainiac’s modified kryptonite. My question is: why isn’t this plot device used more often? If it could help him recover from modified kryptonite, it would surely shield him from regular kryptonite, right? That would’ve been so helpful in STAS and in other pieces of Superman media!
Lastly, the way Superman revived Lois from a near-death experience with tears and the healing substance from his body was so cliche. If that was so easy to do, then what was the point of bringing that vial with him which was originally intended for Lois? Just hug people with tears in your eyes, and it will do the trick!
Overall, this animated movie felt more like an ambitious fanfic filled with action that didn’t know when to stop. The villains were over-the-top and out of character, the plot is decent but thin, and the voice acting is overall mixed. It is not terrible per se, but it is not good either.
It was decent during my first time watching, but during my second watch, it became slightly more annoying and dull. For that, this gets a 5/10. I don’t recommend this to any Superman fan out there, but if you want to watch this for curiosity’s sake, then watch this at your own leisure. I won’t stop you.
Peace out!
Ironically, I remembered feeling interested in checking out this movie based on the fact that it starred Lance Henriksen as Brainiac, having been a fan of his work as Kerchak in Disney's "Tarzan". Henriksen was one out of several actors I noted who, in retrospect, often starred in animated projects as a way of introducing themselves to younger audiences, mainly because the majority of the live-action films they starred in are adult-oriented & violent.
Of course, after you commented here that Henriksen was clearly miscast as the Brainiac, I began having second-thoughts.