I'm not particularly familiar with The Spectre and I guess that's the point of these DC Showcases, an opportunity to become acquainted with lesser known heroes.With the neat voice talent of Gary Cole & Alyssa Milano this DC short gets to the point quick.It tells the story of a detective searching for a killer of a Hollywood actor, meanwhile the shadowy figure that is The Spectre is handing out his own brand of justice.Again not being familiar with The Spectre I didn't really know what to expect and have to say it has a real film noir feel about it. Combine that with his powers seeming somewhat overpowered and I'd be curious to see more.The Good:Good voice talentWell animatedThe Bad:Limited due to the time constraintsThings I Learnt From This Short:Gary Cole needs to do more voice work

As Detective Jim Corrigan investigates a murder, The Spectre delivers horrific justice to the perpetrators. My biggest problem with Spectre is that it was the shortest of the previous short DC Films and to be honest it was also my least favorite one as well i mean i don't know lots of things about this certain character too so that might be the case also i found the whole villain thing lacking and it tried to be a bit of 'Mask of the Phantasm' but overall even if you don't know a lot of things about this character i think that casual viewers won't be disappointed. I give The Spectre a 7.0 out of 10 it was a solid good short film.

This is another of these roughly 11-minute-long animated short films made by Warner Bros that came out 5 years ago. The director is Joaquim Dos Santos and his work here and also in the other showpieces lets me think that it would actually be nice if he got his own feature film at some point. The Spectre is a superhero who is relatively unknown and it would be equally nice if he got his own film at some point, maybe even live action. The story here is about a man who gets killed and The Spectre, who has the ability to breathe life into inanimate objects, takes revenge. First we think, it is because of a thing he has going on with the victim's daughter (voiced by Alyssa Milano), but then things move into another direction. The final plot twist elevates a fairly mediocre film to this point. Good writing here, although I still believe that he solved these cases far too quickly. Maybe one villain in the middle of the film would have been enough and instead some more elaboration on how he found out who was really behind it all. Still, that's just a minor criticism. The animation is pretty good and this is a decent film. I still believe "Jonah Hex" is the best of these, but "The Spectre" is maybe 3rd behind Superman as well, but better than Green Arrow and Catwoman. Recommended.

If the ghost of Christmas Future had a creepier crime fighting relative, "The Spectre" would be it. By day, Detective Jim Corrigan investigates homicide cases; his latest case being the explosive murder of a Hollywood film executive producer. Incidentally, the victim is also the father of his girlfriend Aimee Brenner. The usual investigation red tape gets in the way of his investigation as Corrigan finds himself powerless to bring the suspects to justice. But Jim Corrigan has an ace up his sleeve. By night, Corrigan assumes his true form as "THE SPECTRE", an avenging spirit with immense supernatural powers. Unimpeded by the limitations of a human form, the Spectre seeks out the suspects of the murder case and dishes out his own supernatural form of justice. However, the clues might not be as obvious as he thought and the real suspect may be closer than he thinks.From the get go, "The Spectre" animated short film is a beautiful tribute to classic film noir supernatural thrillers. Everything from the old school music to the "grindhouse" film grain is heightens that "1970s" feel. Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, who also directed the awesome G.I Joe Resolute movie, the animation and artwork here is astounding. Character movements are just so "real", so lifelike and extremely fluid. The artwork too has a higher level of detail even when compared to the full length "Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths" main feature that this short film came with. Easily better looking than many of the best Japanese anime too.Writer Steve Niles is no stranger to the horror genre, having penned the critically acclaimed "30 Days of Night" series. Clocking in at barely over 11 minutes, the entire set up of "the Spectre" is a classic, though rather predictable, detective story. But the scenes involving the Specter, glowing green eyes swirling cape and inhuman voice adding to air of creepiness, are genuinely scary with a couple of real shocks. Fans of horror movies will be able to pick out some noticeable homages to films like "Chucky" and "Final Destination". Seeing as how The Spectre might not be as famous as Batman or as popular as Superman, it was probably a wise move for Warner to only make one short film in order to gauge viewers' interest. The result was so spectacular, so oozing with style and boasting high end production values that it really is a pity Warner did not go all out to make a full length feature from the start. Having a mature narrative makes this short film accessible to even viewers who are not fans of animation as it plays out very much like a live action movie.Definitely not to be missed. Get it now with the blu-ray or 2 disc DVD copy of "Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths" or get the "DC Showcase: Original Shorts Collection" DVD and blu-ray due out in November 2010. Oh yes, there is quite a fair bit of violence, actually more so than the main Justice League feature; so be warned.