Movie Review: Superman: Red Son (2020)

Loosely based on the three issue comic book run of the same name, Superman: Red Son is a 2020 animated feature based on the premise of Superman’s pod landing in the Soviet Union, instead of America. In a story spanning decades, The Soviet Superman (Jason Isaacs) uses his powers to the benefit of Joseph Stalin, as he faces constant attack from the mind of Lex Luthor (Diedrich Bader), and finds little companionship from fellow powered friend, Wonder Woman (Vanessa Marshall).

+ I enjoyed the time jumps, and the way it seemed to consistently stick with a new, interesting time period and/or story development

– the animation was bland and uninspired. None of the unique alternate comic designs works in motion, and Soviet Superman never feels like the various evil versions of Superman, such as Ultraman or the Injustice version
– none of the voice work did it for me in any memorable way. Bader’s Luthor was perhaps the most disappointing big name animated movie voice I’ve heard in a while, outside of Isaacs’ horrendous accent
– Wonder Woman’s new sole character trait of ‘men = bad’ — and seemingly not the ‘human = bad’ version of the word ‘men’ — is just frustrating and a waste of a good character. I don’t recall her having this vendetta against males in her comic arc, or at least certainly not to this extreme
– the ending of the comic is completely ignored, taking away what, in my mind, is a major plot point. Instead, the movie ends seemingly immediately following the climax. It was very unsatisfying

Should you see this film: This was not good, either as an adaption or a standalone movie. Bland animation, lethargic and substandard voice work and a bare bones plot when compared to the comic left a really poor taste in my mouth. Avoid this.