Although the DC animated movies were hit or miss at the start, it seems they’ve finally hit their stride. Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and now “Superman/Batman: Public Enemies”.
With Kevin Conroy as Batman, Tim Daly as Superman and Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor, the voices that made these characters jump out from animated tv have brought the goods again in this flick. And the animation has jumped forward to keep pace.
If you read and enjoyed the original comic book story by Loeb and McGuiness, you’ll see some of your favorite moments repeated here. But you’re also in for some surprises as the story has been trimmed of its continuity heavy elements and streamlined into a self-contained but broad story.
Lex Luthor has become the President of the United States and a kryptonite meteor the size of Australia is headed for earth. But Luthor wants to get all the credit for saving the earth and uses his position to place a billion dollar bounty on Superman. Super-villains and a few heroes come out of the woodwork to bring Superman in, while Batman faithfully stands at his side.
The action and animation is great, it sounds sweet in 5.1, and these actors are unquestionably the best for their roles.
It’s a little odd that Levar Burton was brought on to voice Back Lightning and only say one line. (I’m not kidding. I don’t remember a second.) And the run-time is a little too short. (69 minutes) But if you spend just a few more dollars to get the two disc DVD set, the second disc makes up for it with some great special features. One is a feature on the differences between Batman and Superman, psychologically. Another is a GREAT dinner conversation between the movie producers and Kevin Conroy, in which they discuss highlights of his entire career voicing Batman. Some great insight and anecdotes. SO worth the extra few bucks. Also included is a first look at the next DC animated movie, “Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths”, which looks awesome, but will hopefully be longer than this movie.
Regarding Relevance, there's not much to talk about aside from an imperfect metaphor about Superman being a savior. It almost works, but not quite. Still a stand out moment that may lead to conversation after, though.
DC comics fans should not miss this and DC animated tv show fans should not hesitate to buy it, as long as you go with the 2-disc or blue-ray version.
Rated PG-13 for action violence throughout and a crude comment
Quality: 9.0/10
Relevance: 7.0/10
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