Customer Reviews

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (with Collectible Lenticular Packaging)

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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!

I watched Public Enemies last night with my two boys, ages 7 and 9, and we all enjoyed it. In fact, the only other DC animated film that I like more was Justice League: New Frontier. Having Kevin Conroy (Batman), Tim Daly (Superman) and Clancy Brown (Luthor) back was nice, and I really liked the Ed McGuinnes-style animation.

However, there is some colorful dialogue that isn't necessary that made me cringe a bit. Lex Luthor calls Amanda Waller a "female dog" and Batman uses the word "hell" a few times. There's also a Jon Stewart Show style intro at the beginning that bleeps out the bad language, but you'll still get the picture.

Bottom line, the animated movies are PG-13 for a reason.

Public Enemies was a reasonable close adaptation of the graphic novel. The artwork evoked the feel of the comic book, and the dialouge was straight out of the book in a lot of important places (Best byplay/accuracy: check out the scene where Superman is shot and Batman is trying to get the Kryponite out of him quickly. No spoilers here)
And getting the actors who did Batman, Superman, and Luthor to return to the roles from the TV series added to the fun, experience tells after all.
Now the only issue is that future DCU movies will not likely use actors who have popularized the characters from the TV shows for these DVDs and after Having Conroy, Daly, and Brown it may be a little disapointing. DC - take a cue from your competation.
Hugh Jackman is now Wolverine, Robert Downey is Iron Man, etc. Too late for the Crisis on two Eaths DVD I know(and the preview for that was fun), but future DVDs can use actors that have made these characters familiar to our ears.

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.

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)!

This was fun to watch, but I wanted something else. I have the graphic novel and was ready for something closer to it. But, alas it was not to be.

For a feature presentation based on the two biggest stars in the DC Universe, it was strange that the film only lasted about an hour. Come on DC, these are your big guns! Give them their due.

I was a little annoyed by the way the plot was handled. Characters were under used and story lines were trimmed. Although I absolutely love Allison Mack as Chloe on Smallville, her Power Girl was silly. This definitely needed more back story to feel right. Also, most people wouldn't know who Captain Atom is and this version makes him look like a smuck. I get that he is the epitomy of the good soldier and always follows his orders patriotically. But its never explained why he would think Superman is an outlaw when everyone knows all the good Superman has done and all the bad Luthor has done. History is completely tossed on the trash heap with no explanation whatsoever.

Worst of all, I had a huge problem with one big plot hole. *Spoilery tidbits coming* When Luthor frames Superman for Metallo's demise, Supes looks towards Bats and says "You can't possibly believe this, you were with me the whole time." Now, technically, Batman wasn't. But, they WERE together when we (and they) last see Metallo alive. Why Batman so quickly questions Superman's integrity makes no sense? I understand the dynamics of their relationship, but, for whatever reason, that just bothered me.

On a side note, I did like what I thought was a nod to the old Composite Superman character from the 1960's (timewise I think). You'll know what I mean towards the end of the movie, if you are familiar with the character.

Even though I'm critical, I would say this is an above average movie. Voice acting of the main three is top-notch. I'll leave all the discussion about animation and the like to others. If you want to pass the time with some familiar heroes, you could do a lot worse than this. But if you have read the graphic novel, you probably won't like it as much.

I've followed BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES from the start. Bruce Timm, a co-creator of the series definitely had an eye for the look and feel of how a Batman cartoon should really be, and this cartoon just never really went on the cheap with dialogue or animation. While not being a huge fan of the Superman character, I generally avoided SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, but the episodes I saw, I did enjoy. The animated film offerings they provided were excellent too, like BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM, or BATMAN: SUB-ZERO. Then came BATMAN BEYOND, which was an excellent 'Elseworlds'-style tale of the Batman of the future. They really took it to a dark place when they did their next film, BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER, which was an animated film so dark, they released a G-Rated version and a PG-13 version (The PG-13 version is better, by the way...) But when DC decided to really up the ante and create JUSTICE LEAGUE and JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED, they went to a place that they hadn't been before. Great story arcs, great chemistry between the heroes and villains, and massive battle royales. Unfortunately that series was cut way too short. Then DC started focusing on new Direct-to-DVD animated projects, and while they haven't been as successful as some of their previous efforts in animation, they were certainly watchable. SUPERMAN: DOOMSDAY was passable, but since that story bothered me anyway, I wasn't that into it going in. JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW FRONTIER was a really good adaptation of Darwyn Cooke's new classic graphic novel. BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHT, while ambitious, was a bit of a misstep by making us believe that this is what happened between the big-screen outings of Batman. WONDER WOMAN was the best of the lot. It was really a joy to watch. GREEN LANTERN: FIRST FLIGHT left me incredibly cold. It's much too epic of an origin to tell in such a short time-span.

And now comes SUPERMAN/BATMAN: PUBLIC ENEMIES. Now, first off, I am so not a fan of Jeph Loeb. I think his writing work is incredibly overrated. However, I did enjoy this story arc of the SUPERMAN/BATMAN comic.

That being said, I have to give HUGE kudos to Timm and the team that adapted this work for this project. They jettisoned some of the more embarrassing moments and streamlined it and made it near-perfection. The writing, directing and animation are all top-notch.

And let's give a major shout-out to longtime DC Animation voice director Andrea Romano, who had the foresight to give us the original voices of these characters dating back to the original BATMAN series. Kevin Conroy as Batman, Tim Daly as Superman and Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor. These voices are the holy trinity of the DC Animation 'Verse and to have them together again is just a wonder. There has not been another voice actor who has been able to capture these characters as well as these three performers.

The best thing about this project, aside from the massive battle royales that it gives us, is that it gives a spotlight to the chemistry between these two titans and what makes their relationship work. Is there a bit of bromance between Batman and Superman? You bet. They are each other's reminders of what is right and what is necessary. Neither of them envy the other's life, but they understand that when they are together, they may very well be at their best whether they'll ever admit it or not.

This is the most entertaining of the DCU animated films and I hope they keep up this level of entertainment.

Much excitement was abuzz when it was announced that Tim Daly, Kevin Conroy, and Clancy Brown, would reprise their patented roles of Superman, Batman, and Lex Luthor in "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies". Though Conroy and Brown had continued providing the voices in subsequent "Justice League" incarnations, Daly had not done his duties since the cancellation of the Superman series.

Unfortunately, having these revered talents on board with a script that didn't give them much of any value to say was a travesty. The storyline involved an attempt by President Lex Luther to discredit Superman, hiding the fact that the bald villain planned to eradicate much of humanity in his warped quest to build a new world in his image.

The animation, a stark departure from recent DC direct-to-DVD releases, is somewhat stilted and the "look" of the principal characters takes some getting used to. Superman looks like Killer Bane pumped up, recurring character Amanda Waller (again voiced by CCH Pounder) resembles Spiderman foe The Kingpin, and Lex has never looked so badly. Only Batman, in cape and cowl, is passable.

Powergirl, voiced by "Smallville's" Allison Mack, is a little "top-heavy" in the upper torso department, almost laughable.

The character's movements are not as fluid as in earlier films and the "palettes" of the movie are much too garish and bright.

The addition on the DVD of producer Bruce Timm's favorites "Demon Reborn" and "Knight Time," two installments from the animated Superman show, reveal the inadequacies of "Public Enemies". In those two installments, the writing is crisp, the dialogue more engaging, and the voice work is superb, both featuring performances from the regulars, as well as guest voices Henry Silva, the late Roddy McDowall, John Glover, Paul Williams, Olivia Hussey, and David Warner.

Other extras, many of which serve as "commercials" for other Warner animated projects, are well-made and informative. Chief among these is the "peek" at next year's "Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths".

3 stars for "Public Enemies"
5 stars for the extras
Resulting in FOUR stars, overall

I am always excited when a new Bruce Timm project is on the way. Whenever a new one is released on DVD the first thing I do after I watch the feature is watch the preview for the next one. When `Green Lantern: First Flight' was released I could not wait to see what `Superman/Batman: Public Enemies' was all about. I will be brief I pre-ordered the movie exactly one day after I saw the preview.

I am always excited to see a Superman and Batman crossover because there is such a great lineage of stories when these two heavy hitters collide. They are so similar and yet so different at the same time and sometimes you don't even know if they are pals or want to kill each other. The premise of Public Enemies is a pretty easy to follow story. Pulled right from the Joef Loeb story, Lex Luthor manages to become president when the world is pretty much in chaos. Doing so, he manages to bring the world back to stability and manages to hire an interesting secret service. Led by the patriotic Captain Atom, Black Lightning, Power Girl and other well known heroes are now working to keep America safe. Unfortunately they didn't notice the country sized kryptonite meteor heading towards Earth. Luthor, as president feels now is a great time to finally get Superman so he blames the meteor on him and sets a one billion dollar bounty to bring Superman to justice. Now the most powerful hero is on the run from heroes and villains alike and the only person who believes him and knows how to set things right is none other than Batman.

This movie has a lot of great elements, but there are a few problems with it as well. The major flaw in this film is plot. The story while it is fun to watch there are a few parts that really don't make much sense. For people who love these movies, but don't read the comic books they probably have no idea who some of the characters are. The graphic novel which this film is based on has a few major plot points removed which are essential to the story. This problem is linked to another flaw. `Public Enemies' is way too short and due to time constraints is why we have these gaping holes in the story. This is actually the shortest of all the DC Animated movies running at a shameful 67 minutes. I mean I know that this movie was all about the action and it was win with a side of awesome sauce I think the movie would have given justice if it had been at least 90 minutes. The positives on the other hand make the negatives tolerable. The first plus is the animation style. What I love the most about the DC Animated projects is when they base their films directly on graphic novel stories they try pay homage to the comic art through the animation. `Justice League: New Frontier' was the first one to do so and like it `Superman/Batman: Public Enemies' pretty much took the characters from the comic and brought them right to the TV as the big, buffed muscle on muscle powerhouses they are in the book. It just made the action sequences so much more awesome when you saw Superman or Batman throw a punch you pretty much said `Yea...they can hit that hard'. The other plus was the voice cast. With the success of the 3 part Worlds Finest episodes of STAS it was only right to bring Clancy Brown, Tim Daly and Kevin Conroy back. They have worked together for so long and their chemistry is incredible. Of course my favorite thing about this film was it was an in your face, knock`em out the box slugfest. Every second a new adversary and some of the most intense action I had seen since the final episode of JLU.

Once again Bruce Timm and company do it again bringing us a fun film. Still, while there has been so much success with this one and its predecessors there are a still some kinks that need to be worked out. I know there are plenty more films to make and who knows which story they will choose next. The next project `Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths' is definitely a make or break, just because of the history that this film is based on. They are really anticipating this one to be their best, and I don't think they would try to disappoint.