#dcao

So the FIRST thing that struck me was the animation style ofc!!! Because this pre-dated B*urassa and his awful style hadnt yet permeated to the dc movies, it was very fresh to watch!!! Bouncy and lively and flowy and above all so EXPRESSIVE!!! The dogfight scene especially had me absolutely THRILLED, but every big combat in this movie had such Energy that I havent seen from a DCAO movie in far too long!!

Normally especially when Talking Head scenes happen I have a very bad tendency to check my phone, but even lower energy scenes had interesting Movement to them, not a single frame was I tempted to avert my eyes for even a fraction of a second.

Again, that might just be because when we’ve gone so long without something to break the monotony of animation style, anything new feels Fresh and Interesting... But I dont think that was entirely the case here.

I dont know how else to explain it, other than that it feels like a lot of love went into the animation for this movie, and I think that partly, its because this felt like such an important Superman story. Which leads me to...

The fact that this story felt so wonderfully, quintessentially Superman.

There is a time and a place to enjoy stories of rogue agents with a Might Makes Right policy, or hell, even to enjoy a tale of small forces overthrowing oppressive regimes. But the reverse of this idea, of that small force taking things a step too far with little to no oversight-

That’s exactly the kind of thing for Superman.

Because Superman still considers himself an American above all else, behold to our ideals and the idea that Good will prevail. That the greater part of humanity will choose to be better. And that though he holds a lot of power, he is still beholden to the people and to protect them, to stand up to injustice and maintain peace.

Now I haven’t read the issue that this movie adapted itself from (will remedy that tonight since its apparently a single-issue), but given the context of when it was published, and when this movie was released (in 2001 and 2012, respectively), I feel like its just as, if not more, relevant now as it was then.

Because with a Global pandemic looming, the 2020 presidential election only a month away, and our country in such a horrible state of disarray, this is exactly the kind of story I needed to see.

That there will be people to take a stand against injustice, and against those who stand against the very foundations of Truth and Justice. That we can come out of this, no matter how bleak things feel. That we should be hopeful, and believe that there’s a fundamental goodness that will outshine all of the worst that humanity may offer.

I tend to stray from Superman stories because typically, I prefer ones on a smaller scale, that deal moreso with interpersonal dramas or have elements of true crime/smaller crimes or otherwise would have some inherently supernatural element to pique my interest. But that doesnt make these grandiose ideals and larger scale conflicts all the less important.

Because stories about larger acts of terror have their place in comics as well, and a character as big as Superman is sometimes one of the only ones to handle them. A character who at his core, is meant to stand for that hope that we damn well need from time to time. An idea that I didnt realize I needed in my life, even for just a nice little hopeful moment.

(And god i really wish i could end it on that note, but I want to also squeeze in the fact that Lois & Clarks interactions in this movie were really cute and just. Overall i really liked it. I’ll probably look more into Manchester Black & the Elite later because I found them compelling and remember seeing them briefly in my Damian reading and obvsly a little in Supergirl before I think I dropped off paying attention to the show BUT. they’re a topic for another time)