Masterful Cinema

The movie is wildly uneven but lively and timely - in its own surreal way

The acting in this movie is really good.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The second in this wonderful serious is the best. This cartoon is also one of the cartoons i remember the most. If you read my review of the previous cartoon, you will know i owned a dvd with most of these cartoons on it. This one is one of the cartoons i remember very well from my childhood, because it used to scare the crap out of me when i was a kid, for some reason. I think i just thought the robots were scary. Anyways on to the cartoon.The story is about this evil scientist, crime boss, og criminal rich guy. Who has build these big robots who steals jewels and cash for him at night. The story about robots flying around and stealing gems, jewels, and cash is of course published by many newspapers, including the Daily Planet. Later, as Lois Lane and Clark Kent are covering the museum's exhibit for the Daily Planet, one of the robots lands in the street outside. The police tries to stop it with machine guns but the bullets can't stop the robot and it marches through the big window in the museum. As the museum visitors, including Clark and Lois, flee, the monster marches towards the jewels and steals them. While Clark phones the Daily Planet, Lois climbs into the Monster's back, just as the monster leaves the museum and takes off into the sky. Now it's up to Superman to save the day.There's really nothing i dislike about this cartoon, other than it's dated by today's standards, but again, i can't really dislike it for that. The X-ray vision being introduced in this cartoon, is enough to love it. But this cartoon has lots of other reasons why it's my favorite. The animation is great again, it's bright and colorful. The designs of the robots, is really cool. And one of the best action scenes of this series, in the end, where superman beats the crap out of the robots is the highlight of this cartoon. It also gets pretty dark at the end, when the villain tries to commit suicide, by jumping into the lava. but then Superman grabs him, and flies off. It's also very impressive that this short inspired movies like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and Hayao Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky. As a big fan of Miyazaki, i will say, this is pretty damn awesome.In conclusion, this is my favorite cartoon of the Fleischer/Famous Studios Superman cartoon series. 10/10

When it comes to plot and dialog, the Max Fleischer Superman cartoons pale in comparison to pretty much any modern superhero cartoon, even Batman: The Brave and the Bold is better written (I ought to write a review for that underrated show sometime, but not now). However, it's clear that's not the point of these cartoons. The point is to dazzle. To blow your mind with some of the most beautiful animation ever committed to celluloid. And almost all of the shorts succeed at that perfectly. Other than some very, very, very, very, very minor lapses that are easily ignored, the movements are fluid and grand on a level that would make the head of any MadHouse Studios animator explode.I chose to review them on the "Mechanical Monsters" page because it's my favorite (aside from perhaps The Artic Giant, but that's probably just my love of Godzilla). I mean, come on: it's Superman fighting a bunch of robots, how cool is that?

The Mechanical Monsters, the second Superman cartoon from the Fleischer studio, shows us quite clearly that a pattern is being followed.We see a bank which has been broken into, and what appears to be the shadow of an aircraft flying from the scene. We follow the shadow until it arrives at the secret hideout of an unnamed crook, at which point we discover that it is a robot with a aeroplane propeller at its neck. The robot - number 5 - opens a hopper in its back and deposits the proceeds of the robbery in a receptacle, at which point it joins more than 20 (going by the numbers painted on them) other robots, awaiting the next crime.The Daily Planet headlines the robbery on its front page, and also features an article about the House of Jewels exhibition. Lois and Clark attend the exhibition but, when robot 5 smashes into the building, having been unharmed by a hail of police gunfire, Lois drags Clark to "safety." Clark ducks into a phone box, where he actually makes a phone call to report the crime, but Lois sneaks back to the robbery and manages to climb into the robot's hopper. When Clark realises she is gone, he realises that "This is a job for Superman" and changes in the phone box.Flying after the robot, he uses his X-ray vision to spot Lois in her hiding place. He flies down and tries to pry the hopper open, but it isn't easy. The robot flips over, the hopper opens and the jewels fall out (although Lois manages to hang on), and Superman tumbles down and becomes entangled in power lines below.When the robot arrives at the secret base, the crook demands to know from Lois what happened to the jewels and, being unhappy with the response, he ties her to a hoist in order to lower into a vat of molten metal in the smelting works in his basement(!) (OK, so it's a cave). Superman, having extricated himself from the power cables, beats in the reinforced door but the crook powers up all the robots and sets them onto him. They are no match for him, however, and he catches Lois as she is about to fall into the molten metal, spreads his cape wide to deflect molten metal which is being poured onto them, and flies off with Lois and the crook. The flight to prison, Daily Planet front page, and knowing wink to the audience are an exact replay of the ending of the first cartoon.Some points to note: The Robots themselves are clearly the inspiration for the flying robots at the start of Sky Captain. My word, don't those policeman expend some ordnance on the utter futility of trying to damage the robot! The establishing shots at the World of Jewels are far too long. This short sees the first use of X-ray vision in a film. Superman falling and getting caught up in the power lines is, to be frank, a bit weedy of him. Superman's bounding into the crook's lair after breaking through the door is badly conceived - it appears quite effeminate. On the other hand, the rescue from molten metal is pretty good and, again, the effects animation is excellent.Overall, another very enjoyable one reeler, although it suffers from similarities with its predecessor.

Another mad scientist has constructed a bunch of giant robots to rob banks and jewelry for him. They also can transform themselves into planes and fly to their targets (!!!). Lois Lane hitches a ride on one of the robots. The scientist discovers her and is ready to boil her alive in lava. Superman has to rescue her but he's attacked by the scientists' multiple robots...Another great animated short. I was surprised by the violence (you see a large bunch of policeman shooting at the giant and Superman takes quite a beating from the robots) but it's still perfect for kids. Also they show Superman using his X-Ray vision--that sequence alone was just unbelievable!Fast, fun, full of action. Just great! A 10.