I never appreciated 'Superman' archetypes, their perceived invulnerability to almost everything and excessively artificial shortcomings, if any. I only gave this movie a chance because I was bored, and I never expected it to be anything more than the blunt, mindless violence I usually associate Superman with (blame Public Enemies). So yes, it was quite a mind-blowing experience, because it was anything other than blunt, mindless violence.
Both Batman and Superman hold the same unrealistically high standard of morality in their line of work, that is, to not kill no matter the circumstances. Batman adopted it upon watching his parents getting shot down in cold blood in front of him, whereas Superman, being someone literally not of this world, chose to believe that humanity is capable of becoming so much more than what it had always been in the past and still is, a crude, savage species who regards its savagery as the only means to any end, even as the Elite, a four member anarchist group who initially presented itself to Superman as his allies, led by Manchester Black, a telepath powerful enough to hold out against the Man of Steel, who somewhat resembles Kid Omega, another purple-haired anarchist telepath from Wolverine and the X-men, stood antithetical to Superman's lofty ideals, going so far as to assassinate the leaders of two warring nations.
Both Batman and Superman hold the same unrealistically high standard of morality in their line of work, that is, to not kill no matter the circumstances. Batman adopted it upon watching his parents getting shot down in cold blood in front of him, whereas Superman, being someone literally not of this world, chose to believe that humanity is capable of becoming so much more than what it had always been in the past and still is, a crude, savage species who regards its savagery as the only means to any end, even as the Elite, a four member anarchist group who initially presented itself to Superman as his allies, led by Manchester Black, a telepath powerful enough to hold out against the Man of Steel, who somewhat resembles Kid Omega, another purple-haired anarchist telepath from Wolverine and the X-men, stood antithetical to Superman's lofty ideals, going so far as to assassinate the leaders of two warring nations.
In spite of falling out of the world's favor, who out of desperation turned to the Elite's more utilitarian modus operandi under the circumstances, Superman never for a moment wavered in his stance on peace, showing that there is much more the man than the steel in him, which was something that resonated with me the most. Everyone wants to feel safe, no matter how ill-gotten that sense of security may be, or how far one's ideals should be compromised in exchange for it. Personally, I had always been in favor of the Kantian approach of such superheroes, to treat criminals with the equal respect you would other members of society by punishing them without taking their lives in order to remind them that the same rules of society still apply to them, and I've always viewed the eye-for-an-eye manner of dealing out justice, which more often than not coincides with one's desire for vengeance, as a sign of weakness in the system, and how pathetic we as a species are, to still resort to the culling of others in order to establish any order in our world. Will we one day see our descendants attain this mythical stage of evolution superpowers such as Superman have striven to show mortals such as ourselves? Maybe. Rhetorical questions aside, this is a definite must-watch in anyone's list of must-watch films, an example that a Superman animated film can be as good as any Batman animated film.
One thing I've learned about Superman: just because your skin is nigh impenetrable, and your eyes are capable of shooting high intensity laser beams, does not mean you don't need your own secret hideout somewhere near the Poles, and your own entourage of Kryptonian androids, which I assume they are.
'Clark, when people are scared, they have a tendency to hop on a bandwagon before they see who's driving it. But when they wise up, and believe me, they will, what matters is that you'll be there for them. Leading by examples just like always. Truth, justice and the American way. It ain't broke, so don't fix it.'
Guess who voiced Pa Kent in Superman vs the Elite? That's right, the all too familiar Paul Eiding, who also voiced Grandpa Max from Ben Ten. Forgive me if I only knew Paul Eiding only as such. On the other hand, you would probably recognize as well the equally all too familiar voice of George Newbern as Superman from popular DC animated series such as the Justice League and the Batman, the way Kevin Conroy is as the voice of Batman to all fans of Batman.
Instead of adopting the more mature, so to speak, depiction of Superman in Young Justice and the two tie-in Justice League animated features, as I assumed at first, which was rather presumptuous in my part considering Superman holds as much right to have his own side adventures outside the Justice League as any other member, we see a rather angular (mainly around the chin) portrayal of the Man of Steel surrounded by Young Justice-styled characters, Lois Lane for instance, which overall puts me in mind of Bruce Timm's, save the eyes, which were seen as bigger, less squinting. Of course, those such as myself accustomed to Superman as portrayed by Bruce Timm would find those eyes rather off-putting, or maybe it's just me.
The American Way. Huh. So all it took to put any sense into the minds of the fearful public, was for Superman to bring out the worst in him. To be celebrating death before, for instance cheering Manchester Black on as he took aim to execute a final blow on the Atomic Skull, we seem a pretty pathetic lot.