Superman: Red Son (2020 Video) User Reviews

Nowhere Near the Brilliance of the Source Graphic Novel

[jonaqpetla · 5/10 · 25 February 2020]

The animation was emotionless, the story was forced into a mere 84 minutes. The source material was so rich, so brilliant, that I couldn't believe I was witnessing this dumpster fire. The motives and character didn't come through, simply due to lack of time, and just bad dialogues. The final punchline, for example, was ruined by the verbosity. A TV Series could have done the material justice, because novels are best approximated by series and movies follow the structure of short stories more closely. Brilliant story, ruined by bad adaptation, I recommend people to try the graphic novel instead, and not to think of the novel lowly due to this movie.

I could have been a little biased because I've read the source material. I'm sorry, if that has colored my judgement.

Is so-so, comrades. Read graphic novel for more enlightening look at Red Son

[MasterFantastic · 6/10 · 27 February 2020]

Okay, silly headline out of the way, this could have been great, but instead, it turned into the usual America-good-Russia-bad oversimplification that's been going on and off for the last few decades. Promising start, but it was quickly undermined by poor dialogue, so-so animation--and it felt and looked rushed, cramming the source material into 84 minutes or so--and characters you couldn't really care about.

I get the twist on the usual DC characters--Batman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman--in this universe, but they weren't the least bit likeable. The voice acting was good, but if they'd had lines that mattered, it would have been more enjoyable.

Bottom line: read the graphic novel, or see the motion comic on other social sites. That's infinitely better than this version. DC usually puts out tremendous animated movies. Justice League: Dark, Gods and Monsters, Wonder Woman, and others are far superior examples of animation. This one isn't. It isn't a total disaster, but it could have been something great.

Decent adaptation, but didn't do justice for its source material

[phamvietnhan_96 · 6/10 · 26 February 2020]

The comic of Superman: Red Son, despite its various "comical" moments, is one of the most exquisite DC story in recent history. The animated version, however, didn't thoroughly delivered even half the charm of its source material. In the comic, its writing was clever yet satisfying. They were reduced into uninspiring small talks and some were even cut off in the animated version. For those who seeks a new, light-hearted experience from an elseworld story, Superman: Red Son can provide you with an exciting premise, nothing more. I would love to recommend the comic to everyone, not this animated version.

Not bad, but not as good as the comic

[Ashitaka137 · 7/10 · 25 February 2020]

Superman Red Son Animated movie is entertaining and enjoyable; but the jaw dropping twist ending in the comic version is what made it so good.

Feels rushed...and what the frick is with the feminst crap?

[varunmirasdar · 6/10 · 26 February 2020]

I have not read the source material nor even heard about it. But on seeing the movie it feels that DC is hobbling back in animation after hiatus in making quality animation. Anyone can surely see that the movie should have explored the story more but due to lack of run time they just skimmed over. From the other comments I guess that series was a better option to adapt the source material which again I read from comments that it is fantastic.

Maybe start a petition to make the series and give justice to the comic? And not 'maybe' but 'definitely' start the petition to weed out the overly feminist crap from DC stories. Don't care for others just leave DC alone. WW does occasionally resent men but overtly hating them? Did the writers of this movie hate their fathers or what? Just leave DC ALONE.

And if they can't handle it then just bring back the animated movies of old where the fight was simply between good and bad.

Cut Opportunities

[xtidusxyunax · 7/10 · 27 August 2020]

I think there are the type of reviewers who read the graphic novel, and others who just watch the film. I think this film does a good job in encapsulating the spirit of the graphic novel.

Missing content and characters? You bet, you could say a pivotal character along with expanded character arks of someone like Brainiac, however like I said I think the general idea was executed in this film.

If you would like more content of "what If" Superman landed into Russia, read the graphic novel, if you would like a condensed version, this film is for you.

Another sad destruction of quality/thought inspiring source material

[sumtim3s00n · 25 February 2020]

Supercommie is draped in united colors of Bennetton and marches to the beat of SJW drums who are all women. Man exists only to make women look fierce and strong.

Could have been so much better

[lotheravanti · 6/10 · 18 March 2020]

If only it hadn't gone so woke. The cringe was tangible at how woke it was at times.

Like when Diana tells him she comes from an island of women, wink wink

Or when Diana keeps spouting "men bad"

Or when Lex praises the glory that is Lois Lane.

It's a woke mess.

I haven't seen the original graphic novel

[Puroo · 10/10 · 21 March 2021]

An phenomenal adaptation of the graphic novel with DCAMU's perfection. It's a movie completely unbiased towards either USA or USSR. There's literally nothing wrong about this movie. Batman and Green Lanterns were great in the roles of villains, though Wonder Woman and Lois Lane were talking too much like feminazis (though I don't have a problem with that provided it was set in the mid 1900's). It's a great alternative to the American Superman, and I'd say it's way better of an intro to the Soviet Superman than Man of Steel was to the original Superman.

Another great elseworlds tale

[mirera-23002 · 7/10 · 25 February 2020]

I'm not a DC fan, but I really enjoyed the whole premise of this story, much like Batman: Gotham by Gaslight. I've never read the elseworlds comics before, so I'm reviewing as a normal person watching a movie.

The story is simple yet powerful, examining the lives of many DC heroes when something changed, that is, Superman grew up in the Soviet Union and under Stalin's tutelage. The action scenes are somewhat mediocre. The dialogue and interaction between characters are interesting not too monotonic. There's not a lot of romance here, and it keeps the plot focused.

This may not be a DCAMU movie, but it still is a must-watch if you've enjoyed Batman:Gotham by Gaslight because the animation is similar. Overall, I enjoyed it.

What?

[mvezok · 2/10 · 27 February 2020]

What did I just watch? That´s not the adaptation of the novel "Red Son". It´s a mockery. What´s wrong? Pretty much everything. The movie doesn´t seem to know where it wants to go. Luthor sends a brainwashed zombie against Superman, and it ends with the victory of those who sound like the zombie. The end of the novel was supposed to make you think. The end here is an insult. It´s low, so low. I don´t usually get upset because it´s "just a movie", but to massacre good source material like this should be punishable.

Not sure Americans realise this is anti-US

[grantyardley-33296 · 8/10 · 26 February 2020]

If you watch this from any point of view other than American, it is a great story of how capitalism and 'Merica works. Until the end, when you are expected to think that everything that happened before was planned and all ok.

Superman's USSR was the best country it could be, even prisoners were treated humanly, but 'MERICA! If you can't see it, I fear for the world. Then again, 35% of voters think Trump is a good president, so I expect this will not make anyone think.

Better than expected

[nwsts · 7/10 · 25 February 2020]

Baby Kal-El lands in the USSR instead of USA.....seemed like a somewhat goofy premise and definitely not part of the normal Superman universe. But by the halfway point, the story got quite interesting and held my interest to the end. My only criticism would be how slowly the dialog was delivered. I had to use 1.5x speed to avoid getting bored. That said, it was a good movie and a good reminder that a golden cage is still a cage.

How to ruin a great story

[francescobrosolo · 1/10 · 25 February 2020]

Mark Millar explictely wish for the comic book to not be propaganda on either side. This movie, on the other hand, heavily deviates from the source material to become total anticommunist bashing. Totally unnecessary but also totally american. You are not allowed to have any doubt on which side was righteous. This movie is so full of bias that it could have been made in the 80s by Ronald Reagan's Hollywood friends. We really did not need another Rocky IV or Rambo III

Quantity vs Quality

[xmackdaddy · 25 February 2020]

Very poor Animation. This feels so lazy rushed out without any nice details and cheap 'anybody can do' CGi effects. It's very disappointing to see how less Stylish the Artwork become. Definitely not an eye candy. It feels like a 3fps Pan N scan slideshow sometimes. DC Animations can do better than this.

My hopes are really for the next DC Animation movies: "more detailed Traditional Animation Artwork" in the Future.

• Roger Rabbit - Trail Mix-Up 1993 is a great Animation for example

Liked it

[aarinnkumarmishra · 7/10 · 25 February 2020]

STORY & PLOT: I liked how the story moved, it's well paced and the plot keeps coming up with good surprises.

CHARACTERS: Realistic and more grey than black or white.

DIALOGUES: Dialogues and conversations are thought provoking.

ACTING: All voice actors are quite impressive.

SOUND & ANIMATION: Commendable! Makes the experience engrossing.

OVERALL: I enjoyed watching the movie. I'd totally recommended it.

An average movie saved by a great scene

[trolliyama · 7/10 · 13 August 2020]

This is by no means a great movie: Honestly both the animation and writing are just adequate at best, but I really liked the scene where Superman kills Stalin.

If this movie had included a scene of Superman killing Mao Zedong I would have given this 9 or even 10 stars.

Also, why are Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster are not credited here? Sure, they didn't invent this particular version of the character, but they created Superman, Lex Luthor and Lois Lane. They deserve at least a mention.

Good, enjoyable but not rewatchable

[Sabaher · 6/10 · 25 March 2020]

As a what if experiment, I actually did have a good enough time with it. It's a pretty audacious concept for a film that ties into a bunch of real life events. But, like many of these DC Original Animated films, I was frustrated by the limitations of the timeframe of it. Everything felt pretty rushed. Also, since Superman is a Soviet dictator, Lex Luthor is his old self and Batman is a terrorist, there's not really anyone to root for in the film. You don't really want anyone to win. I enjoyed it enough as asingle watch but I will probably never rewatch it

Enjoyable but flawed

[thesuf · 6/10 · 20 April 2020]

Superman Red Son is a DC animated feature based on Mark Millar's comic books series of the same name. To be perfectly honest I haven't read the comics yet and so I am reviewing this movie purely on its own merit, although I know for a fact that a lot of creative liberties were taken with this movie in moving away from the comics' original story line.

I had a hard time rating this one but eventually gave it a 6 out of 10 and even then it felt forced. I will say, however, that overall this was movie was enjoyable. Disappointing at the same time but enjoyable.

In terms of positives, I am extremely happy to see Bruce Timm back working on DC animated features. I really do hope this isn't just a one-off and he will be working on other DC projects over again and again. You're always guaranteed a level of quality with any given DC animated movie with him linked in somehow, and Red Son is certainly no exception. Great animation, great designs and great voice acting by most of the cast. Jason Issac especially was surprisingly spot on with his performance. I personally thought he'd too deep and regal a voice for Superman but he absolutely proved me wrong. This is despite the fact that his Russian accent wasn't really very Russian sounding, call me picky. Also the Batman opposing Superman angle was very nicely executed in the movie and created some interesting tensions between main the characters.

Where the movie becomes problematic: gender politics aside (and there are plenty of points I can raise here but won't), I think it's always problematic when writers tie in comics storylines to actual historical events or, as in this case, actual historical personalities. This probably comes directly from the comic books' storyline, so really you can't blame the movie makers, but Superman killing off Stalin comes off as a bit weird if not disrespectful to history. My biggest issue personally was seeing Superman turn into a dictator and then actually a momentary villain. I appreciate the alternative reality premise of the whole movie, but the logic wasn't very convincing. Also, Superman throwing an unprovoked punch at Wonder Woman came off as childish and really didn't make sense in the context of the movie. Lex Luthor marrying Lois Lane was probably not a good idea, although again I think this stems from the comic book's storyline. The whole Lex - Lois relationship comes off as too smug and frankly too irritating. Leaving Superman as single with no love interest didn't work for me and I think a lot of hard-core fans would take issue with this as well. I generally love Diedrich Bader in everything he's ever done. His Luthor was far too suave for my liking.

All in all, this was an interesting take on Superman. Alternate reality in the truest sense, packing in as much of the familiar Superman lore we all know and love, with added twists here and there most of which were very welcome. However, as enjoyable as this was, it had its down moments. As a result I really do not recommend getting the movie on DVD or BluRay, there's very little in terms of value-added material on there to justify the costs. You're better off renting it on whichever platform you're using. It's only worth watching once or twice.

Pretty Good. Better than Most Hero Movies Today

[Dark_Lord_Mark · 8/10 · 25 February 2020]

Let me get it out of the way. There are a couple of SJW moments involving Jimmy Olsen, Woner Whaminz and Lois Lane whaminz.

Otherwise, it was a solid movie. It's a classic superman story from the 90's, which was actually taken from the Superboy TV series Live Action TV show from the 80's.

It's Superman growing up in Russia and his trial and tribulations from the Cold War era and it spans 40 years or so. It has some thought provoking moments with Communism vs Capitalism and right versus wrong.

As mentioned, there are a couple of men bad, whaminz good moments. A couple more SJW moments, but all in all not that bad. I do wish these modern animations, spent more time with the art and sound. It seems that DC/Marvel are taking the cheapest possible path, while telling some of their most iconic stories.

Story wise, it's better than most DC movies, almost all their animated movies after 2005, and better than 90% of all Marvel movies. There I said it.

8.5 out of 10. More than a decent watch.

An intriguing concept, done poorly

[siderite · 7/10 · 26 February 2020]

Communist Superman? Terrorist Batman? The US Green Lantern Core? Brainiac helping the USSR? Great! My only fear was that it will portray the US as the good guys and the Russians the bad and for the beginning of the film, it didn't! Even better! However the puerile ending left a bitter aftertaste. The feminist agenda creeping its ugly head, too, even though it was negligible.

As a whole, it was an interesting concept to explore and the beginning was intriguing, but in the end it got to the same black and white mentality that permeates the superhero and American world.

Sloppily scrambled.

[jeremycarter · 3/10 · 18 March 2020]

Why oh why did the writers think it was a good idea to gut the great source material in order to make the story 'relevant' to today. A complete waste of an opportunity.

A breath of fresh air

[niziqbal · 9/10 · 29 March 2021]

Didn't know what to expect going into this movie and it turned out to be a breath of fresh air.

I loved the new take on literally every character. Kept me guessing.

The story is nothing short of epic and it has some real deep tones and messages to consider too.

The soundtrack as well as the art style works well with the movie is trying to convey.

So long as you won't get upset if things aren't the way were used then you will definitely appreciate this movie. Worth a second watch too.

Not as bad as most reviews claim

[jacksonbonner · 7/10 · 27 May 2020]

Most reviews on here claim that this movie is liberal garbage. If anything, this movie is a centrists wonderland.

In the beginning, younger superman is running from a group of 3 boys. These 3 boys are themselves being chased by a young girl whose name I cannot remember. He was not running from them out of fear, and the girl did not save him. It is revealed that superman just did not want to hurt the boys, it is shown that he could get away easily after running behind a tractor. He was not saved, as he never needed saving.

There are some questionably feminist lines in the movie, but they all come from wonder woman, a character who historically resents men. This is not out of character. The only scene that really didn't belong is when superman tries to kiss wonder woman, and she pulls away, and says "I'm from an island of all women, you figure it out", or something along those lines. It was unnecessary, and out of place.

No, women are not constantly doing the saving. They're only 2 times in the entire movie a woman saves a man. One is when wonder woman save superman from anarchist Batman, and the other is when wonder woman saves superman from the green lantern gang. She is a strong woman who has saved superman and many other heroes many times in many different stories.

This strength goes for both sexes in this movie. Think about when the same in named girl dies, or when Lex Luther saves Lois, or when anarchist Batman used the golden lasso to subdue wonder woman. And although she rescues herself, wonder woman was being held on the ground, basically helpless.

Overall, this movie is fine. It's nothing great, but it's certainly good. I'd say watch it, but yet again, don't expect the second Shawshank Redemption or Godfather.

Garbage

[kingofschwing · 1/10 · 17 March 2020]

Huge deviations in the story and characterization of the heroes from Mark Millar's book and not even having that wild, mind bending ending. Why adapt this to video if you are going to change so much of what made this unique? Wish I could give it 0.5/10