Directed by … Sam Liu
Written by … Stan Berkowitz
Adapted from the Graphic Novel by … Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness
Executive Produced by … Bruce Timm, Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan and Sam Register
Produced by … Michael Goguen, Alan Burnett and Bobbie Page
Voice Casting and Direction by … Andrea Romano
Storyboards by … Jay Oliva
Editing by … Margaret Hou
Original Music Composed by … Christopher Drake
Kevin Conroy ... Batman / Bruce Wayne (voice)
Tim Daly ... Superman (voice)
Clancy Brown ... Lex Luthor (voice)
Xander Berkeley ... Captain Atom (voice)
Corey Burton ... Captain Marvel (voice)
Ricardo Chavira ... Major Force (voice)
Allison Mack ... Power Girl (voice)
John C. McGinley ... Metallo (voice)
CCH Pounder ... Amanda Waller (voice)
LeVar Burton ... Black Lightning (voice)
Calvin Tran ... Hiro Okamura / Toyman (voice)
Mark Jonathan Davis ... Newscaster / Additional Voices (voice)
Brian George ... Gorilla Grodd / Additional Voices (voice)
Jennifer Hale ... Starfire / Killer Frost (voice)
Alan Oppenheimer ... Alfred Pennyworth (voice)
Andrea Romano ... Giganta / Computer / Additional Voices (voice)
Bruce W. Timm ... Mongul (voice)
Labeled as outlaws of the United States Government, Batman and Superman fight to save the world and clear their names.
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In comics, partnerships flicker…team ups occur…crossovers come and go…
But one duo, the pinnacle…stands mythic above all others.
For when the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight join forces, you can bet it’s going to be the stuff of legends.
And as far as the DC Universe’s Animated Line (to date) is concerned, it hasn’t gotten quite as legendary as director Sam Liu’s “Superman/Batman: Public Enemies.”
Adapted from the kick ass Jeph Loeb/Ed McGuiness graphic novel, “Public Enemies” is an action packed romp through damn near the gamut of the DCU…weaving a story of politically charged vendetta, brutally bombastic combat and a who’s who laundry list of appearances, both hero and villain, in a struggle against evil that takes a national turn.
With America thrown into economic and civil upheaval, she becomes desperate enough to turn to the most unlikely of leaders with the election of Lex Luthor (Clancy Brown) into the Oval Office.
Using his silver tongue and an outreach program to make super heroes and metahumans become agents of the US Government, Luthor faces his first major crisis as President with the foreboding approach of an enormous Kryptonite meteor…heading directly for Earth.
However it’s a direr situation that the world knows. Fueled by his unquenchable obsession with destroying Superman (Tim Daly), Lex uses his refusal to comply with the current administration as a means of discrediting him in the eyes of the public…and said obsession has taken over, distracting the President from saving the planet.
Now dubbed a social outcast with a billion dollar bounty on his head, the Kryptonian powerhouse must turn to the only ally he’s got left…Batman (Kevin Conroy) to help clear his name, stop the meteor and end Luthor’s reign once…and for all.
Working with such a massively scaled story and a bunch of material to cover, “Superman/Batman: Public Enemies” already has a lot to live up to. It’s unfortunately anorexic 67 minute (67 MINUTE!?) runtime doesn’t do the source material any favors. Thankfully, the project still has Bruce Timm in its corner.
Despite an almost unavoidably predictable story, the film trims off the fat and succeeds as well as it does thanks in most part to its wonderful pacing. It maintains the intrigue of the comic and most of its important story beats (save one which is sorely lacking…I’ll get to it in a moment) while creating an incredible forward momentum that doesn’t ease up…that refuses to let go of the audience.
If only ALL Comic Book films could be more this way.
Aside from the intriguing bit where it’s speculated that John Corben…a.k.a. Metallo…is potentially the lowlife mugger that gunned down Bruce Wayne’s parents, most of what made the book so great is kept intact…much appreciated.
Although that funky kiss between Lex and MetaHuman Affairs official Amanda Waller is just as shockingly ‘yuck’ here as it was in the book.
But much like the book, the cameos…oh man…they just keep on coming!
Power Girl, Silver Banshee, Katana, Starfire, Gorilla Grodd, Mr. Freeze, Captain Marvel, Bane, Giganta, Black Manta, Captain Atom, Hawkman, Mongul, Nightshade…it’s almost endless; reminiscent of what made the latter seasons of “Justice League: Unlimited” such a fanboy dream!
And most fortunately (or unfortunately for some) the comic book’s goofiest plot device is still very much alive. 13 year old Hiro…a Japanese answer to Superman’s old enemy Toyman (only he works with our heroes rather than against them) and his crazy-as-hell skyscraper tall Half Superman/Half Batman robot!
To quote Batman himself upon seeing the behemoth machine…
“Wow.”
Still it’s comics, what do you expect?
The cast is yet another solid assembly for DC. As one of the fortunate who started at the beginning with seeing “On Leather Wings” on FOX Primetime and grew up on “Batman: The Animated Series” and “Superman: The Animated Series,” it was such a pleasure not only to have the now iconic Kevin Conroy back in the cape and cowl…but they went all the way back past “Justice League” voice actor George Newbern to the OG animated Supes…Tim Daly! Hearing these two men together again brought back fond memories of the “World’s Finest” movie…truly, those voices, for me, define both Bats and Big Blue, as they do for an entire generation of us fans. My childhood came to life again with this project.
Not only that…we even got Clancy Brown as Luthor again! So awesome…
The supports are filled with a well constructed collection of character actors…including “Star Trek: The Next Generations” LeVar Burton as Black Lightning, “Smallville”s Alison Mack as Power Girl…Ricardo Chivara as Major Force and even John C. McGinley in a small cameo as Metallo.
Just a tremendous cast, one of their best so far.
The art direction and animation is polished and makes a lovely companion to the graphic novel, fusing the animation stylings of the Timmverse with McGuiness’ exaggerated cartoony artwork in a seamless fashion. The palette is a wonderfully bold mix…light-hued purple nights and royal blue skied days…the backgrounds in Washington, Japan, Metropolis…all exquisite work. It’s more pristine, personally, then other efforts like “Justice League: New Frontier.”
It’s all primary colors and bold heroics here and it benefits the adaptation nicely.
Accompanied with Christopher Drake’s dynamic yet less present score (to mimic the fact that the two most powerful men in the DCU have to go under the radar, I assume), “Superman/Batman: Public Enemies” is a film that I’m personally of two minds about…
On the one hand, if you look deep enough, the film can be see as a message to never lose faith or sight of your goals in the face of evil or adversity…to always trust in yourself and do what you feel is right despite having the rest of the world oppose you.
But on the other, I see it as a perfect example of what makes Superman and Batman simultaneously the great myths that they are.
The Greeks have their Gods…The Catholics have their Saints…The Druids have their Deities.
And we have our Comic Book Superheroes.
Consider this…we’ve all seen images and the like of young children, playing within the rubble of some war-torn providence on the other side of the world.
They know nothing of the freedoms and luxuries you and I take for granted.
They don’t deal with the oddities and absurdities that get shoved down our throats every single day…they don’t care about who’s going to win the next “Dancing with the Stars” or how much money the next “Twilight” movie’s going to make.
“The Hills”
Jon and Kate Gosselin
Bill O’Reilly
Miley Cyrus
“Gossip Girl”
Barack Obama
Despite any sort of good intentions, they could honestly care less.
But…have you noticed…in many of those same images, those same children can be seen in t-shirts…adorned with an iconic ‘S Shield’…or an equally symbolic Black-Winged Bat over a field of yellow.
Truly, more than anything else…Superman and Batman are universal, reaching all corners of the globe.
In a time where people are more concerned with voting for the next American Idol than they are of voting for the next President and Nobel Peace Prizes seem less like awards and more like trinkets won in a raffle…
The purist and truest ‘icons’ and ‘idols’ America has to offer…are a Kryptonian Moses sent down the sea of tranquility to become the ultimate immigrant and savior of all mankind…and a man broken by violence, having the two most important things in his life torn from him who rose from the ashes of tragedy to have vengeance clad in the blackness of winged night.
From the isolation of the Great Depression to the bleakness of World War II…from the constant conflicts between culture and counter-culture to the increasing threats of terrorism, both at home and abroad…The Man of Steel and The Dark Knight have been through it all…and they have never once wavered in their morals, their beliefs of what is right and what is wrong…
They are a contemporary example of goodness, 70+ years in the making to date, that we can all look up to.
Superman and Batman represent to the world that despite all the hardship and chaos, we must always hold onto the hope that out there waits good men ready to act on a moments notice to protect us and shelter us from evil.
Believing that goodness exists in the world is a need we all have…and these two pillars of heroism, despite being a fictional representation, are clearly a respected one.
I’ve never been known for having a real man to look up to, thanks to own falling out and disappointment with my father.
Batman and Superman where the answer to that problem for me.
Icons that not only deserve my respect…but have earned it with courageousness and bravery in the face of unbelievable odds, both in their adventures and even in the real world.
“Public Enemies” is a fitting tribute to the Man of Tomorrow and the Caped Crusader.
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9/10
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