Superman: Brainiac Attacks

• Directed by Curt Geda
• June 20, 2006

Voice Cast

• Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman-Tim Daly
• Brainiac-Lance Henriksen
• Lex Luthor-Powers Boothe
• Lois Lane-Dana Delany
• Perry White-George Dzundza
• Jimmy Olsen-David Kaufman
• Jonathan Kent-Mike Farrell
• Martha Kent-Shelley Fabares
• Mercy Graves-Tara Strong

Lex Luthor forms an alliance with the powerful and sinister intelligence Brainiac.

Released as a marketing tie in with Superman Returns, Superman: Brainiac Attacks is done in the style of Superman: The Animated Series though it is not part of that continuity even with the presence of a good chunk of that show’s voice cast. There are some serious differences, most notably the portrayal of Lex Luthor. He is much goofier than his personality in the series. I’m left wondering how this Lex got in charge of a business let alone posed a threat to Superman on any level. He is more in line with Gene Hackman’s performance of the character.

I do like the return to the style that made the DC shows so special. It works with the sci-fi and superhero aesthetic perhaps better than many of the other looks they’ve attempted over the years. It’s that expressive yet minimal design inspired by the classic Max Fleischer cartoons.

The replacement voices for Lex Luthor and Brainiac are very noticeable given the animation style they chose. Lance Henriksen is always welcome and he does well enough, but Corey Burton was absolutely perfect for the part. Henriksen has a menacing voice and physical look but the menace in the voice is largely missing and that could be due to it not being Lance Henriksen face we see.

Powers Boothe is not a bad actor but his voice work lacks the toughness and sinister edge that Clancy Brown can brought to Luthor. You could believe Clancy Brown’s Lex Luthor was a gifted manipulator and unequaled genius. Perhaps going with a Gene Hackman-esque Luthor pushed them to recast.

The story lacks focus. Perry White seems to be trying to push Clark to take a foreign correspondent position for the Daily Planet but equally seems to be trying to get Clark to realize his place is in Metropolis at the Daily Planet? I don’t know. The story split between the two and I’m not even sure if Clark actually spends any time overseas even if a line or two implies he does. Is the focus of the story Clark deciding where he belongs or is it the threat of Brainiac? Is it deciding on how to break through to Lois before Loise figures it out? The Man of Steal spends lots of time wringing his hands over stuff.

The humor is nice. There is a cute joke where they bring into question what the purpose of Jimmy Olsen is the age of cellphones and Lois can take her own pictures. Seriously. Why does Jimmy Olsen matter as a photographer?

Brainiac Attacks feels like sort of a fan film but official. The movie is aided overall by the classic style and the working in your mind that this could be connected to the animated series. There’s not much meat to the story. There’s plenty of action and cool moments, but not too much narrative. It’s a couple of fights and a space weapon knocking around Superman.

Superman: Brainiac Attacks is nothing special but it’s a good standalone film. A few good visuals and great action sequences in an otherwise thin story. Not a bad choice though.