TheLittleSongbird Of the Superman/Batman animated movies, I did find Superman/Batman: Apocalypse much more consistent. Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is still a good movie, but at the same time was left wanting. The film is too short, the story is on the formulaic side and could have done with more conflict, and while it was fun to spot some of the more secondary characters they are not that well developed and are not on screen long enough. However, the animation is wonderful, fluid and full of atmosphere and I liked the haunting undercurrent of the scoring. The writing is smart and Superman, Batman and Luthor are compelling characters. The opening credits are brilliant, and the action sequences have enough excitement to impress the fussiest superhero fan. The voice work of Clancy Brown, Tim Daly and Kevin Conroy I can't fault, the rest are great as well, but these three are unbeatable in these roles and they voice the three most interesting characters of the film. All in all, a good movie that could have been even better. 7/10 Bethany Cox

athomed This is one of the latest efforts from DC and WB. It tells the story of a DC universe where Lex Luthor is elected President (I wonder where they got that idea). Of course he bought the election and although some superheroes begin working for the government, Superman doesn't buy it. He knows there's something more to this story than a crook gone straight.Superman is aided by Batman. Let me tell you the voice work from Superman and Batman is great, as well as the animation. They're a similar body type but you can really tell the difference between the two characters in this movie, from seeing or from hearing them. Also there were some complaints about too many superheroes making cameos but I really liked that part.There is some language and sexual content (mostly implied) which I wouldn't feel comfortable showing to a young child. But I've got to say, Power Girl looks amazing. She really pops :).Whats on display in this movie is the relationship between Superman and Batman. They're friends, best friends as Superman puts it. The camaraderie between them really works. They joke back and forth and jest each other. There are some funny moments in this film, also the final scene is very sweet.My only complaint about this movie is that it wasn't very emotionally weighty, you'd think a Kryptonite meteor bound for Earth that could kill billions would make us feel like there's more on the line.All in all, this is a good direct to disk feature. Its certainly worth a rent and maybe even worth adding to your collection.

joestank15 Superman/Batman: Public Enemies - Lex Luthor becomes president because the DC world inevitably tips the scales in favor of Lex Luthor for some reason. Superheroes become outlaws, and a meteor of kryptonite is going hit Earth. This is based on a comic series written by Jeph Loeb.One aspect of this story did not need to happen, and it's the meteor. By now, everyone must be rolling their eyes at the lack of rarity of kryptonite. Approximitely all of Krypton must have exploded onto Earth at this point. And there are other types of krytonite. Surely one of those could have brought a fresher element to the story, like say, Red Kryptonite? Batman and, more importantly, Superman being public outcasts (Batman has always been on the in and out with public opinion) is a far more interesting story. It the story this movie claimed to have been about, but decided it couldn't follow through on. Instead we get 5 minutes of plot and 55 of action. Intermittently there are spots of overly friendly dialogue between Batman and Superman (when the hell did that happen?) and fairly stark wooden dialogue from anybody else. Luthor's super-enforcers and Luthor's scene with Power Girl stand out best in my mind.The animation is decent, but why oh why is everyone so overly muscled? Did necks go out of style? Genitalia must have too for Captain Atom because that looks like a skin tight suit. Power Girl is kind of a joke too, albeit decent eye candy.Just to be clear, where did the rest of the Justice League go? And since when did Supes and Batman become an item (Batman doesn't like to be held? Awww. Intimacy issues)? Because the two men should be completely different and less trustworthy of each other to my knowledge, like when Batman kept a log on how to defeat every other member of the Justice League in case they turned rogue. It's a relationship the audience is to accept with no explanation, or lead into. There is a niceness to the differences in their combat styles. Batman's inventiveness, gadgetry and martial arts expertise are nicely demonstrated as he puts down superpowered foes. I also like Superman's ability to whip up tornadoes and flying of foes into levels of the atmosphere where they can't breath.Frankly though, a little goes a long way. While action is expected over story in a 65 minute cartoon, it's too much muscle and no meat and bones. There is almost no drama, tension or story. It's a slugfest, worthy of a generic video game. While other films like Justice League: The New Frontier, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, and Batman: Under the Red Hood had drama, themes and issues to explore, this film does not. Superman never loses faith in humanity or doubts whether or not he is in the right. Lex Luthor is simply evil and cannot be trusted, which WE KNEW. It would have been better if some other politician had come around to demand a ban of the superheroes. Marvel's Civil War this isn't. The less I say about the end the better. It involves a giant robot/rocket, an irritating Japanese boy out of left field, and Lex Luthor losing whatever menace he ever possessed.It's a shame and a lost potential. Kevin Conroy and Tim Daly should not be whored out like this for subpar animated films like this. And what the hell was with bringing John C. McGinley into the mix as Metallo and only giving him two lines?

bob the moo In the middle of a deep recession, Lex Luthor's third party alternative manages to win the race for the presidency on promises of change and tough orders. As part of his winning campaign he brings in several superheroes and aliens to be part of his team and work directly for the government rather than being a law onto themselves. Neither Superman or Batman follow this dictate and, at a meeting to discuss a meteorite heading towards Earth, Superman is framed for murder by President Luthor, who then turns the public against the vigilante superheroes with spin and presentation. Whenever Superman escapes capture, Luthor offers a billion dollar reward for Superman which brings every hero and alien on the hunt for him and Batman.I stumbled onto this cartoon by chance but gave it a shot since I have enjoyed this sort of DVD before and am a Batman fan. Things start really well with a lot of promise. The opening sequence depicts a society in collapse, with "normal" people turning to petty crime just to stay alive, communities living in tent lots and an economy collapsed, leading to the election of Luthor and a well designed title sequence and dramatic score. This scale and excitement either is followed up or isn't followed up, depending on your point of view. What follows is essentially one fight sequence after another and, as such it is distracting fare for those that are happy with this. It looks good with typically square-jawed heroes and well animated sequences throughout.The downside of it is that there doesn't appear to be much to it beyond the punching and the flying. Dialogue is minimal but more disappointingly the film seems to lack the dramatic atmosphere that the first few minutes and the title sequence created. It was a problem for me simply because I do look for some darkness in these cartoons and it is disappointing for them to have none – making it harder for me to swallow the spectacle of the whole thing. The voice cast has some good names in there but the lack of any meaningful substances means that they can't really bring anything other than their names and their "oh it's on the tip of my tongue" recognisable voices. Brown, Berkeley, Pounder, McGinley and a few others are strange finds while Conroy and Daly do solid enough work with their deep voices in the title characters.Public Enemies is a solid enough cartoon. The fights and animation are big and distracting enough but it is a little disappointing to find it lacking atmosphere or genuine drama – particularly when it all starts with so much promise ahead of the titles. Good enough for a look if you like this sort of thing but not good enough to win over the casual viewer.