Superman and batman enemies public1/28/2024 If you prefer your heroes godlike, powerful, iconic - strictly Silver Age - this flick probably won't be your cup of tea. Ultimately, your enjoyment of Public Enemies' take on the two leads will depend largely on how you like your supermen. With so many characters, most of these supporting roles don't get much to do, but for the most part nobody phones it in and nearly every character manages to get a definining moment, however brief.Ĭharacterization is also fairly solid across the board. They're backed by a who's who of actors filling in the supporting heroes and villains, from 24's Xander Berkeley as Captain Atom to Smallville's Allison Mack as the chesty Power Girl and LeVar Burton as Black Lightning. George Newburn did a workman's job in the Justice League series, but Daly's take on the character has been much missed, and it's great to see (hear?) him back. Kevin Conroy's definitive Dark Knight is as definitive as ever, but the film also marks the return of Tim Daly as Superman and Clancy Brown as Luthor, two of the highlights of the excellent Superman: The Animated Series. The absolute best thing about Public Enemies is the voice casting. Also, there's a conventiently timed giant kryptonite meteor on its way to wipe out the Earth, but more on that later.įirst, the good. With a hefty government bounty on their heads, the dynamic duo that doesn't include Robin find themselves being hunted not only by law enforcement, but by cadres of supervillains after the cash and a contingent of patriotic superheroes convinced that not even their world's two most iconic heroes are above the law. Before long, things kick into high gear: after Luthor orchestrates a "misunderstanding" that makes it look like Supes tried to assassinate him, Superman and Batman are declared enemies of the state and their arrest is ordered. Which is a shame, because I'd love to get Glenn Beck's take on that. Luthor's president, Superman doesn't like it, but he can't really do anything about it, since so far the country's actually doing well under his leadership, and also Superman has this weird moral hangup about frying duly elected officials with his heat vision. Public Enemies just glosses this over in an effort to get to the action - Luthor's in office, get over it - and while I can understand not wanting to allocate much time to arcane DC trivia, a bit more explanation might help non-fanboys suspend their disbelief so they can move on to the part with the adolescent Japanese robotics genius who builds a giant composite Batman/Superman robot for no apparent reason whatsoever.Īnyway. We've still got people who don't believe Obama's an American, so I can't help but believe that the nomination of a man who has at various points flown around in green-and-purple battle armor firing death rays at Superman might be at least as controversial as that of, say, a cartoonish Alaskan hockey mom. Since the film doesn't make any real efforts to explain how, exactly, Lex Freaking Luthor managed to win that election. Fans of the comics well remember Luthor's brief and traumatic tenure as commander in chief a few years back, but I don't know that this tidbit has soaked through into the wider pop-cultural consciousness. Superman and Batman have a problem with this, obviously, but more importantly, so may less fan-savvy viewers. The movie starts in the aftermath of Lex Luthor being elected president of the United States. After all, you can only watch one guy punch another guy through a wall so many times before you start wanting more from the relationship. While the cameos are a blast, the voice acting top notch, and several set pieces entertaining, Public Enemies ultimately disappoints a bit by managing to make 67 minutes of almost nonstop hero-on-villian-on-other-heroes action a little, well.tiresome. Adapting the first six issues of Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness' 2003 Superman/Batman comic, the flick takes an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to DC contunuity, tossing The Big Blue Boy Scout and The Dark Knight together on the wrong side of the law and setting them against literally dozens of other heroes and villains from across the DC landcape. Warner Home Video's exploration of the animated DC Universe continues with Superman/Batman: Public Enemies.
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