Superman/Batman-Public-Enemies-Review
October 15th 2010 05:08
Superman/Batman Public Enemies Review
Information:
Actors: Clancy Brown, Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, Xander Berkeley, Corey Burton
Directors: Sam Liu
Writers: Ed McGuinness, Jeph Loeb, Stan Berkowitz
Producers: Alan Burnett, Benjamin Melniker, Bobbie Page, Bruce W. Timm
Format: Animated, Color, NTSC
Language: English
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Number of discs: 2
Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Release Date: September 29, 2009
Run Time: 67 minutes
Synopsis:
A desperate solution for a troubled country: Lex Luthor for President with the Justice League in the service of the government. Only Batman and Superman stand against the new regime – and their disloyalty proves to be exactly what Luthor intended. Using their outcast status to instigate a scandal against Superman, Luthor finally tastes a victory in his vendetta against The Man of Steel. From Executive Producer Bruce Timm and voiced by the cast from both hit Batman and Superman animated TV series including Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly and Clancy Brown, this DC Universe Original Animated Movie of Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness’s popular graphic novel seethes with political intrigue and action-packed battles between heroes all believing they’re on the right side of the law.
Review:
It is a dark time for our country. We are in a recession. People are struggling to survive. Rising crime rates, bank foreclosures and evictions are happening all around. Martial law has been enforced. Who will save us from these tough times? None other than Lex Luthor, newly elected President of the United States.
This is the beginning of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, the sixth movie in the DC Universe Original Animated Movies. Fans will be happy to hear Kevin Conroy as Batman as well as Tim Daly as Superman and Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor. The voice acting by them is superb and one of the reasons is much of the voice over work was done with the actors in the same room so they can play off one another.
As President, Lex Luthor begins to fix the economy and all the growing problems. He creates a government employed group of superheroes to police the nation made up of Captain Atom, Black Lightning, Katana, Starfire, Major Force and Power Girl. Batman and Superman are not part of this because they know Lex Luthor and maintain their distrust with him even after he’s elected President.
Batman and The Man of Steel facing off against Luthor's hired group.
A new problem Luthor faces is a kryptonite meteor the size of a small country heading directly towards Earth. Wanting all the credit for himself, Luthor plans to destroy the meteorite by shooting missiles directly at it and destroying it before impact.
Before executing this plan, Luthor requests a meeting with Superman so they can settle their differences and work together. Or so Luthor says. At the meeting however, Luthor frames Superman and brands him an outlaw. He claims the radiation from the meteor is affecting Superman’s judgment and places a one billion dollar bounty on his head.
This enticing amount brings all of the villains out to claim Superman’s bounty. These include Silver Banshee, Mr. Freeze, Bane, Nightshade, Gorilla Grodd and a whole lot more. Seeing Batman and Superman take on all these villains at once is a lot of fun to watch. However, it does not last very long and at a running time of 67 minutes, I think they missed out on an opportunity for some great battles. Not to say that there isn’t action, there’s plenty of it. But to me it all felt a little rushed to get to the climax of stopping the meteor.
Last week I reviewed Planet Hulk and enjoyed it a lot. A lot of it had to do with the way the story was told. In contrast to Public enemies, Planet Hulk took its time, introduced us to new characters and back stories and had long fight sequences. Public Enemies assumes you know the back stories and characters but for people not familiar with the DC Universe, it will probably leave them guessing who’s who. The longest fight scene in Public Enemies is the inevitable battle between Superman and Lex Luthor towards the end. To me this is the best one because it is long and thought out and you don’t know what’s going to happen.
Public Enemies is based on the comic of the same name written by Jeph Loeb. It is filled with great one liners and references. This, along with the friendship and great mutual respect Batman and Superman make it a good watch.
Grade - B - Good, but not great. Check it out if you get the chance.
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