The Death of Superman (2018)

The Death of Superman (2018)

Dirs: Sam Liu + Jake Castorena

TDoS starts badly, with 'millennial' dialogue that made me cringe. Unfortunately, that aspect of it doesn't get much better as it goes on, and the voice casting is mostly weak, meaning even the well-written lines are often delivered without gravitas and with little in the way of real conviction from the speaker.

The strained romantic relationship between Clark/Superman (Jerry O'Connell) and Lois Lane (Rebecca Romijn) is a major concern in the story. Quite often that kind of thing can feel rushed or under-developed in DC movies, but it's given a respectable amount of time to develop. That alone could've been something to celebrate, if not for the aforementioned weak dialogue and lifeless voice of Superman.

The Kryptonian's voice actor isn't even the worst of the casting decisions. That dubious honour goes to Rainn Wilson as Lex Luthor, who sounds like he'd be more at home in a Wind in the Willows or Winnie the Pooh cartoon. As it is, any hint of menace and/or intrigue in the Lex character is completely absent. A boring Lex is an ineffectual Lex, in any medium.

In the interests of attempted balance, credit to Nyambi Nyambi and Cress Williams for their work as Martian Manhunter and Steel, respectively, both of whom projected a feeling of actually caring about the level of performance they were giving.

NOTE: TDoS was re-released in 2019 alongside its direct sequel, Reign of the Supermen. That version, renamed The Death and Return of Superman (2019), joins the two halves together, creating one 2 hr 46 min movie. The joining is a simple fade-to-black with all credits left until the very end and with the first film's post-credit scenes positioned where they ought to be.

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