Superman: The Animated Series is back — in DVD form! That’s probably the best way to describe the new straight-to-DVD movie Superman vs. The Elite. Not to say that the old Superman cartoon from the 90s is really back. More along the lines of this new movie feels like a long lost, extended episode of a generic Superman cartoon show. After watching the new 70-minute film this week, I find that my thoughts are exactly the same as when Superman vs. The Elite was first announced back in February: Why bother?

Is this really the best use of the very awesome and very talented people at DC Animation?

Sadly, the whole movie was not like this

Movie rating: 4/5: Good.

That’s not to say Superman vs. The Elite is a bad movie. Far from it. It’s a perfectly fine movie. It’s well drawn, the action is cool, the characters are fun and the voice-acting is good. Honestly, there are very few problems with this film at all. It’s total quality from frame one. There’s also the matter of the rather significant philosophical question it raises about whether or not superheroes should kill, but I don’t think it gives a very definitive answer — though that’s not the movie’s fault. That’s simply the nature of the comic book beast. I think it tackles this question well, with a few stumbling steps. But maybe those same stumbling steps came from the original comic book story from 2001. I don’t know, I didn’t read the comic. So I couldn’t tell you if this is a good adaptation.

Superman vs. The Elite is just a good, solid Superman story put to animation. My problem is that I don’t see the point of these animated movies anymore. But maybe that’s just me looking a gift horse in the mouth.

The story is actually pretty cool, and a pretty good idea. Superman, as we all know, is this morally righteous boy scout who saves the world and stops the bad guys, sending them off to prison. Well along comes Manchester Black and his new team of superheroes, the Elite. They admire Superman and lend a hand fighting a big monster. But as the Man of Steel gets to know them better, and works with them more often, it quickly becomes apparent that the Elite don’t hold to the same righteous code as Superman. In fact, Manchester and his people have no problem killing terrorists and super-villains, figuring that Superman’s old way of playing nice just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Masks and capes are so last year

The problem with the story is that Manchester and the Elite go too far. By the end, they’re not just superheroes who are willing to kill the bad guys. They start killing political leaders, making pre-emptive threats against all villains and gladly pick a fight with Superman. One of them even kills (or hurts) a dog. That’s a sure sign that they’re evil! Plus it’s revealed that Manchester and his guys were all jerks and troublemakers before they became superheroes, painting them in a negative light.

So rather than have Superman confront some actual heroes, he’s facing off against villains who just act like heroes. It makes his argument against killing far more valid than Manchester’s argument for killing.

And therein lies the big issue. What would Superman have done if Manchester Black and the Elite were all upstanding men and women who didn’t have dark pasts and didn’t have world-domination plans? What if they were heroic and noble and righteously awesome, but were willing to kill bad guys?

One might say superheroes don’t work like that, but to them I would say: Wolverine.

Sadly, he does not make a cameo in this movie

Marvel’s most popular superhero is a killing machine. He doesn’t hide it, he doesn’t shy away from it, and all of his friends know he does it. Wolverine has a body count in the hundreds, if not thousands, and not all of them are bad guys. He kills super-villains, he kills terrorists, he kills bigoted rednecks, he kills whomever gets in his way. And yet he’s not only the leader of the X-Men and headmaster at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, but he’s also on two different Avengers teams. Wolverine is one of the most honorable and noble superheroes in all of comics, but he kills indiscriminately.

What would Superman have to say about that?

Obviously nothing, since Superman and Wolverine are from different companies. But Wonder Woman has been known to kill, as has Green Lantern. They don’t do it all the time, but they’ve still done it before. Does Superman just look the other way when he likes the hero?

Moments before the most epic wedgie of all time

We’ll never really know, because again, the movie makes sure to paint Manchester Black and the Elite as bad guys. Heroic intentions, sure, but bad guys nonetheless. But it isn’t the movie’s fault for taking the easy way out and making the Elite sinister. They were probably just following the comic. And they only have so much time for their movie. But this is a question that has plagued comic books forever. Why don’t the superheroes kill? Why doesn’t Batman just kill the Joker?

Personally, I’m fine with superheroes not killing the villains. Murder is a big deal, and these heroes don’t have the authority to just murder whomever they want. Batman has no responsibility to kill the Joker. That’s not how society works. And besides, the fact that the Joker keeps escaping from Arkham Asylum has everything to do with him needing to appear in more Batman comics. Arkham only has a revolving door because it would be silly to expect all of these villains to have to actually serve their full sentences.

So I don’t think Batman or Superman should kill – but I have no problem with heroes who do kill, like Manchester and the Elite. Neither does the rest of the world in the movie. Everybody gets behind Manchester, with he and his team becoming media darlings. It’s just that they then go and piss off Superman, who draws first blood.

It’s not every normal human that can survive a punch from Superman

The Elite can’t leave well enough alone, and they agree to a final grudge match between themselves and Superman. This part was too bad. The Elite should have done nothing. They should have forgiven Superman and just gotten on with their own heroics. Make Superman the bully, force Superman to keep coming after them while they try to save the world. It puts them on better footing. But nope, they gladly declare war on Superman. And they all go and have a big fight on the moon, which the Elite seem to win.

Then Superman snaps.

He’s got the madness

In order to defeat them, Superman seems to finally cross that line. He starts taking down the Elite one-by-one, making it appear as if he’s killing them. He whips Manchester into a frenzy because Manchester thinks all his friends are dying at Superman’s hands. And then finally, Superman uses his heat vision to destroy the tumor in Manchester’s brain that was giving him his telepathy and telekinesis. Now Manchester is powerless, and Superman reveals that he was just joshin’. The other members of the Elite – Coldcast, the Hat and Menagerie – were just knocked out and are now recuperating. Superman plans to ship all four of them off to prison for the two Middle Eastern world leaders they killed.

Then he gives a big speech about heroism at the end before going off to make sweet love to Lois Lane. Hooray for a happy ending!

So like I said, it’s a good movie. The story is cool and the characters are fun. Manchester Black makes for a good antagonist, and the Elite aren’t nobodies. They each get some personality quirks and good scenes. Menagerie’s crush on Superman is especially fun. Lois Lane has a big role in the movie, and she does splendidly. She fully knows Clark’s secret, and seeing her help out, and have fun at the Fortress of Solitude, are both treats. Everybody is pretty good in this movie.

Especially the Superman robots!

But herein lies my biggest concern: Why bother?

Seriously, there was nothing spectacular or great about this cartoon. Nothing to really wow me and convince me to own this DVD. Nobody was demanding that an old Superman story from 2001 be made into an animated cartoon. There was nothing to separate this DVD from just an extended episode of Superman: The Animated Series. So why did DC put all of their talent and money towards this little outing that nobody was asking for and nobody will particularly care about now that it’s over?

And yes, I realize this is looking a gift horse in the mouth. I should be grateful that someone is producing high-quality, movie-length adventures of some of my favorite superheroes. And I am. That’s not the issue here. I just wonder if this production team couldn’t be put to better use doing something else. Maybe a regular animated series. Or why not an animated movie that could be played in theaters? Or why not helping out with a live action Superman movie of this caliber? Clearly DC has a very talented animation department. But are they really being used effectively by popping out a somewhat mediocre Superman or Batman cartoon every few months?

I watched Superman vs. The Elite once and I’ll never watch it again. Everything that it needed to say or convey was taken care of it one viewing. I’ll never even think of it again. Likewise, I couldn’t even name for you all of animated movies that DC has produced so far. I watch them once and that’s it. Very few of them have excelled on their own merits. Most of them are just mediocre to good adaptations of much better comic books. Why not tell original stories? And why isn’t DC Comics forcing them to adhere to the New 52 look of the characters?

I’m sure these movies have their die-hard fans. And they are definitely well-made movies. But I just can’t help but think that this production team with all of their talent and resources could be put to better use.

Maybe their next movie, The Dark Knight Returns, will justify their ongoing DVD projects. We’ll see.