Fan Film Mondays - Superman: Awakens Review

 

It's been weeks since the release of James Gunn's Superman, but I still have that movie on my mind. So I think it's a good idea to see what the fan film side of things have done, again.

Superman: Awakens is a 2023 CGI animated short fan film that takes inspiration from the character of Kingdom Come Superman along with other works by Alex Ross. Antonis Fylladitis directed and wrote the story along with Stavros Fylladitis and John Finnegan.

The story is, after suffering through great tragedies Superman doesn't feel as though he's the beacon of hope he once was. Can the Man of Steel come back and be that hero people need, or will he give up?

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

I do have just one mix feeling regarding this and that's Daniel Zbel as Superman. Now he didn't do a bad job with acting. I thought he did good. But his Superman voice is a mix bag. Now I get what they were going for. This is not just an older Superman but also one who's been beating down because of all of the tragedies in his life. So naturally Superman isn't gonna sound as confident and triumphant. But I think his voice sounded a bit too gruff and brooding.

• Positives

One thing to praise is the story. Taken a bit from Kingdom Come, Superman is broken and doesn't know if he's the symbol people believe him to be. The voice over by Zbel a provides very well done narration of how Superman is trying to find his way back. The closing dialogue by the end actually got me excited. It was incredible.

The last thing I'll praise is the animation. The team used an Unreal Engine. For any of you who don't know, is 3D computer graphic software typically used for video games. And the animators used it to perfection. On one hand it looks like Alex Ross' draws were brought to life and on another hand there were some shots that almost looked like they were close to looking like it was live-action. That's how great these guys did.

I strongly recommend you watch Superman: Awakens. It's only four minutes long but it's worth the time.

My final rating is, Great.

That's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Jul 26th, for my review of the newest MCU movie, The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.