| Based on the six-issue comic-book arc by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness, Superman/Batman Public Enemies finds DC's stalwart heroes on the wrong side of the law. It's not too surprising, considering Lex Luthor has been elected President of the United States, and he sets up an elaborate scheme to frame his archenemy for murdering his henchman, Metallo. That puts a bounty on their heads that a horde of supervillains is determined to collect, and a good part of the movie is dedicated to all-out action against Gorilla Grodd, Captain Cold, and many, many others. And when it's not supervillains, Superman and Batman have to face off against heroes that Luthor has recruited to his administration, including Captain Atom, Power Girl, Katana, and Starfire. The movie is very faithful to its source material, reusing many of the dialogue lines, though without the internal monologues, and some of the situations toward the end of the book are missing. At 69 minutes, Public Enemies is fairly short for a DC Universe animated movie and perhaps because the original story is part of an ongoing series, it feels more like a string of episodes from one of executive producer Bruce Timm's TV series rather than an event like Wonder Woman or The New Frontier. But it's entertaining to watch, and highlighted by the return of familiar voices Tim Daly (Superman), Kevin Conroy (Batman), and Clancy Brown (Luthor). Inside joke: Smallville's Allison Mack voices Power Girl. --David Horiuchi |
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![user comment Superman/Batman: Public Enemies [Blu ray]](http://www.batmaniatoys.com/wp-content/plugins/ReviewAZON/images/user_comment.gif "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies [Blu ray]") The Comic Comes To Life! |
| Review Date: September 21, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Q. Pair, USA |
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
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Only problem - they set the bar too high for the future
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| Review Date: November 23, 2009 |
| Reviewer: A. Westefeld, |
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.
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Another really great offering from DC Animation.
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| Review Date: February 14, 2010 |
| Reviewer: James Donnelly, Arizona |
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. |
excellent animated movie/great story...
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| Review Date: October 18, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Wesley Rowland, Oregon, USA |
I finally got the chance to watch this movie on Blu Ray disc today...
It was fantastic!
It was well written & the voice overs were perfectly done by the same guys who did the justice league batman and superman voices...
The action was fierce!
Batman & Superman made a great team as they were portrayed more as friends in this movie, as compared to a few past series or movies that they were in together...
The Blu Ray graphics/clarity were perfect...
Even some of the old villians showed up for a fight...
The only Con for me, is that I wish it would have been a longer movie...
I hope they make more of these and start a new justice league series or batman/superman together series up soon...
Please use the same voices too...
Thanks, enjoy watching this one... |
SUPERMAN/BATMAN: PUBLIC ENEMIES
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| Review Date: October 20, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Robert L. Gordon, Long Beach, CA. USA |
| This was a great story! If you're a Fan of Kevin Conroy as Batman & Tim Daly as Superman, then you want to ADD THIS to your DC Comics DVD collection! |
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