So a package arrives for me from Amazon this morning and I got mildly excited since I was waiting for the new Stargate Blu-ray and I was in the mood to watch the movie again, I opened the package and I found Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics which confused me since I couldn't remember ordering it, I knew it was coming out but I just didn't remember ordering it, I quickly got online and checked my Amazon account and sure enough I'd pre-ordered it months ago - apparently as I'm getting older my memory is starting to go.
Now it wouldn't be unfair to say I'm somewhat of a comic geek and this movie is right up my alley in terms of documentary subjects, it is a basic overview of the history of DC comics, it covers the origins of the core characters featured in the DC books as well as some of the highs and lows faced by the company and it's creators over the years.
The documentary is narrated by Ryan Reynolds ( the Green Lantern in the upcoming movie based on the DC comic of the same name ), Reynolds makes a less than interesting narrator but this is a minor quibble since I assume it's the writers, artists and other creative forces at the company that the viewer of this program wants to see and here's my problem, I'm pretty sure I've already seen a lot of the interview footage used in this movie in the various special features that have accompanied some of the DC animated movies, sure someone watching this may not have seen those features bust as someone who owns those movies I feel slightly ripped off.
The other thing this documentary lacks is depth, there is just too much history to be crammed into 90 minutes leaving the whole movie ( at least to me ) feeling rushed, at the end of the movie I felt like I hadn't learned anything new and I'm certainly no expert on DC comics and their history.
If you are someone who is new to DC comics and interested in the company's background this is worth a look and I guess it might be worth something to have all this information collected on one DVD rather than scattered over several as bonus features but honestly don't pay full price for the film as in my opinion it's just not worth it, it is a reasonably pleasant viewing experience but wait until you can get it on sale or can rent it or even better watch it for free on TV.
I suspect that this is destined for bargain bins in the near future, also the DVD has no special features, not even some trailers for other DC products and it came in what was the cheapest and flimsiest DVD case I've ever seen.
