Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009)

Ok before I start, let me clarify something: Unlike the reviewers before me, I have actually SEEN this movie, so my review is not based on the graphic novel of which the movie is based, nor what the movie might be like based on who's behind the making of it. I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE. Now that thats out the way, onto the good stuff.

I know a lot of Batman, Superman, and Batman/Superman fans were holding their breath on this one. With all classic the DC Comic character movies coming out lately (some of them not as good as others) it was reasonable to assume that "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies" the movie could have gone either way. Well good thing for the loyal fan base, this was definitely a hit. I can say I am more then pleased with how this came out, and I have every intention of buying this DVD and watching it again the day it comes home with me.

One thing is abundantly clear when watching this movie: WB Entertainment, and more importantly, DC Comics actually LISTENS to their fans. One of my (and others) biggest fears in this was that we were going to be hearing some sub-par voice acting for the main characters involved, i.e. Superman, Batman, and Lex Luthor. As with past offerings from WB Entertainment ("Superman: Doomsday" for example) we got some weak casting for the voices of Lex and Sups. That alone detracts greatly from the overall enjoyment of the movie. With Public Enemies however, we have the best voices ever cast for the starring 3 roles: Tim Daily as Superman, Kevin Conroy as Batman, and Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor. For those who could give two flips about these guys, they are the same voices from the popular shows Justice League Unlimited, Batman The Animated Series, and Superman the Animated Series.

On top of superb voice acting, the animation is crisp, sharp and just plain beautiful. Again, faithful to fan feedback, the artists from Justice League Unlimited seem to have had their hands in this project, because the art is pretty much the same (which is by no means a bad thing), and it looks great. Almost straight from the comic.

Speaking of which, as far as the story goes, keep in mind while watching this that its an adaptation to the comic. That being said however, the movie stays remarkably faithful to the story told in the comic. Minus a few altered frames, scenes and situations, its like reading the comic all over again, except with no imagination needed to enjoy it. The story in general is a very good one, highlighting Batman and Superman's friendship and giving you a glimpse into how deep it really goes. Granted, you get more of that in the comic then you do in the movie, but the movie compensates for the lack of inner dialogue with good script writing, full of the humorous exchanges between Sups and Bats and emotional moments and outburst we know and love from our favorite caped heroes.

This is a great movie, and you don't have to have read the comic first in order to enjoy it. Even the review value is moderately high, I can and WILL be watching this again as soon as I can, and some more times after that. This is worth price, grab it and enjoy a motion picture work of art.

Peace

So I watched Superman/Batman:Public Enemies twice in one day after I got it. And I will keep this review short as most of the main points have been hit by the people who reveiewed this already (at least the ones that waited till it came out). So here's my break down and the end will be final comments.

STORY:

It was adpated from Jeph Loeb's first arc on the ongoing comic. Love it or hate it, but it was a very faithful adaptation, streamlining something that was basically a set up for the subsequent arcs as well as Infinite Crisis. It was silly, and balls to the wall, and the only gripe I had was not explaining why the Robot was a better choice than Luthor's missles (Answer, robot was made of Metallo, not the guy, the alloy.) But hey all and all I liked what they did.

Characters (voice and portrayal):

WHOA! Okay I read the comics and almost forgot the laundry list of vilains who come out the cracks for the bounty. Batman and Superman were pitch perfect and their banter was great after seeing them so serious with each other all the time in Justice League and JLU. Tim Daly returning for Superman was great to have, though I'm one of the few that feel George Newburn's performance as the character is just as good. Kevin Conroy and Clancy Brown however are the quintessential Batman and Lex Luthor respectively. Props to getting CCH Pounder to return as Amanda Waller even if the charatcer model looked horrendous. Lastly the supporting charatcers were great. However I wonder why so much fuss was made about LeVar "Reading Geordi LeForge's Rainbow" Burton as Black Lightning when he had one line. Killer Frost was a throwaway villain that had more to say. *Sigh* Wasted talent.

ART AND ANIMATION:

Again based on the source material, the art style took a muscular turn and was fully mimicing Ed McGuiness' style where every male looks like a "Masters of the Uninverse" figure. I personally love his style and always though it would translate well to the screen. I was mostly right. They made Superman look too young, and I think it's because of the eyes. McGuiness does the squinty look better than most, and we see this in Captain Marvel's design, and in the comics Superman has the same look sometimes. That plus the cheekbone line makes him look a bit older. Well probably out of fear of backlash (last time they put lines on his face people said he looked too old, and in "Doomsday" he looked even older)they elft those lines out and he looks too young. Everyone else in my opinion looked fine. Okay Powergirl's eyes bugged me too but I was distracted by something else.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I liked it. It was a great action flick, and didn't need too much character development. It's Superman and Batman, if you don;t know who they are why are you even picking up te movie. It's a buddy flick with wall to wall action. My biggest issue is it felt rushed. At 67 minutes it's like 15 minutes shorter than previous releases and could have really benefitted from them. That said if you like the characters and you like action this is worth it.

AFTERTHOUGHT:

The preview for the next upcoming animated feature, Jusitce League: Crisis on Two Earths was great. Yes I know after Public Enemies going back to new voices will suck but they got some good ones. Mark Harmon makes a pretty good Superman, I'm on the fence for Billy Baldwin as Batman (needs to be grittier), James Woods does an amazingly devious and twisted Owlman, and Gena Torres was great as SuperWoman. Hope you enjoy!

Buy Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009) Now

The first DC animated movie to make an impact with me since New Frontier (I love team-ups and big action sequences), Public Enemies features the World's Greatest Heroes joining forces to stop President Lex Luthor.

First off, other than the first Superman serial, Superman and the Mole Men and Superman III, who has been the featured villain in every movie? Luthor of course and while he can be an interesting character, when he's reused as a villain over and over, I grow bored with the character. It's not like Superman doesn't have other villains that can be used in a movie. It's also a shame that they never use any Batman villains when he's teamed with Superman. Yes Joker, Harley Quinn and Ra's al Ghul were villains in team-up episodes of the animated series, but in the team-up episodes (except the one with Ra's) there's always a Superman villain involved and my favoritism of Batman and his Rogue's Gallery aside, the Bat-Villains have always proved more interesting due to their psychology. Granted, I never read the Public Enemies graphic novel or the comics that featured Luthor as the President, its just one of the problems I have with the Superman movies; the overuse of one villain over others and the fact that when Batman`s teamed with the Man of Steel, the impression I'm given is that his villains aren't a big enough threat (sort of why the only villains we ever saw in JL were Superman villains). And why does everyone but Batman and Superman go to Luthor's side? They've battled each other for years and then just because he's the President, they think he's turned over a new leaf. And they automatically attack the two heroes that they've known and worked with for years just because Luthor says so? I find that pretty hard to believe, let alone a man who's had no political background, wins everybody over with pretty speeches of promised change and then gets the presidency (that sounds so familiar doesn't it, if only this movie had been released around late 2007-early 2008). On the other hand, the thrill I get when I see heroes team up was satisfied. Even seeing the other heroes and all the villains was enough to satisfy my tastes. But at 67 minutes (the second shortest movie I own next to Dumbo at 64 minutes), it feels rushed and with all of the action sequences, there's barely enough time to catch my breath.

I'm a little divided on my feelings on the animation. On one hand, everyone looks different than what we've seen in previously, which I like since most of these movies are adaptations of comics with different art styles. We also get many heroes and villains making their animated debut like Power Girl, Major Force, Lady Shiva, Icicle, etc. Though I have two problems with the animation; first off, why is Amanda Waller so fat? I know in JLU she wasn't that skinny but in this she looks as big as a whale. I've never read any of her appearances in the comics so JLU is the only reference I have to go by, but was she a bigger woman in her original appearances? Also why do all the males have six pack abs? I know they work out (Batman especially) but not in any comic I've read have the males been bulging out of their costumes.

A DCAU voice reunion as we get Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, Clancy Brown AND CCH Pounder reprising their roles. Heck even Jennifer Hale has a small speaking role as Killer Frost! All still make their characters believable and its always to hear them voicing their iconic characters again. My only problem with the voicing is that, while I know not every character gets to speak, why they go through the trouble of promoting LeVar Burton as Black Lightning (going so far as to feature him in the preview feature on First Flight and getting an interview at The World's Finest) and the guy has one line of dialog! He's featured more than Hawkman and Captain Marvel and those two get much more to say than him (Hawkman's actor doesn't even get credited)!

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The way I measure a movie's success is by how much I want to watch it again. I watched Watchmen five times in the first month of owning it, on the other hand, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies I've watch twice in the entire time I've owned it.

Lex Luthor is president, and a giant meteor made out of Kryptonite is headed for Earth. While "trying to work with Superman," and I use that very loosely, Lex frames Superman for murder, and declares him and his ally, Batman, public enemies. The reward money Luthor offers has wave after wave of supervillains coming after them, and a few well intentioned superheroes searching for the Dark Knight and Man of Steel. While it all leads to a fairly entertaining climax, it's basically one big slugfest.

Part of what hurt the film from my point of view was the hype made about the voice cast. Sure Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, and Clancy Brown all bring their normal brand of excellence to the voices they played in Superman and Batman the Animated series. But, for instance, I remember they made such a big deal about LeVar Burton playing Black Lightning, and he has ONE LINE in the entire film. Plus a handful of stars playing other bit parts. So, in the end, you have all these heroes and villains, and they have nothing to work with, because it's only a 72 minute film.

I must admit I haven't read the source material, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness, but from the few glimpses I've had, they do make a good attempt to replicate McGuiness' "rippling muscles" art style. And more than likely, the book was a slightly more complex slugfest. But whatever they cut, and I have heard stuff was cut, has left the plot pretty thin.

Extras on the two disk include, "Behind the Scenes of Blackest Night" DC's major summer event focusing on Green Lantern. A short Documentary "A Test of Minds: Superman and Batman," it's fairly informative, especially for those viewers who don't understand the dynamic between the two heroes. And "Dinner with DCU, with Special Guest Kevin Conroy" where most of the team behind the film, and the other DC Animated series, converse over dinner about +10 years in animation. If you're the type of fan that likes to know the behind the scenes stuff, this is one conversation worth overhearing.

Finally, a look at Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, and two episodes from Superman the Animated Series. The Demon Reborn, where Rah's Al Ghul tries to kill Superman, and Knight Time, where Superman impersonates Batman.

It's an okay film, but I say rent it first.

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Superman and Batman are two of my favorites. I watched their animated series, their straight to dvd movies, the comics, and pretty much anything I can get my hands on. So when I watch this movie, I was very entertained, hearing the classic voices from the animated series return, and feeling like a story that could fit into the shows continuity if you let your mind go. The trouble was that I can't help feel that I loved the nostalgia and the memories watching this brought more than the actual movie itself. Sure, it was fun, but a bit uneven, with a little less character development than I had hoped for. While I ordinarly would ding the movie, it didn't really bother me. I'm not sure if it was because the animation and story was entertaining enough to get past the flaws, or because I felt like a kid again watching my cartoon. Either way I liked the movie and will watch it again. I'd only recomend caution when watching this movie, as you may not get the same level of entertainment as I did.