Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

I've been meaning to review this movie for some time now, what with Superman/Batman: Apocalypse coming out on Tuesday. Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is one of the most well-known stories to come out of DC Comics in the last 10 years that was all hype and no substance, but it is also now more well known for being one of the last stories Jeph Loeb of Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Hush fame wrote before his son died. The premise of Public Enemies is that the U.S. economy is in ruins, people are skeptical about their government, and most politicians can no longer be trusted. Seeing an opportunity to run as an outsider to the Washington system, Lex Luthor begins a campaign for president on the Independent ticket. Not far from what could have happened in real life, right? The only exception here, of course, is that superheroes exist in their world. During Luthor's inaugural speech, he sets out to make superheroes arms of the law and to charge other superheroes with vigilantism if they do not comply.

Obviously, Superman refuses because he will never trust Luthor and Batman simply doesn't trust anybody. Luthor knows that Superman will be untrusted towards him, so he goes to meet the man of steel in person, along with his lead bodyguard, Metallo. After Batman helps Superman escape from Metallo's assault, someone (seemingly) murders Metallo and all blame is put on Superman, whom is seen on surveillance camera attacking Metallo earlier in their fight. Luthor puts a $1 billion bounty on the pair, leading both villains and heroes to try to bring them down.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies marks a little over 10 years since the last time we have heard Tim Daly as Superman alongside Kevin Conroy as Batman, last heard during the Superman: The Animated Series episode "The Demon Reborn." Hearing the pair gives me goosebumps, having flashbacks of when I was in 6th grade back when new episodes of The New Batman Superman Adventures were airing. Although the art can be a bit weird at times, everyone is drawn to look exactly as they did during the original Public Enemies storyline.

Final Score: 3 Superman Chins out of 5
While remaining faithful to the comic, Public Enemies takes plenty of liberties removing extraneous details, compacting the story to 70 minutes, and adding little bits of data here and there. Although the story of Public Enemies isn't the greatest thing in the world, the animation is just stellar and in typical Bruce Timm fashion, doesn't disappoint. There are plenty of cameos and fanservice moments that may cause some fans to squeal in happiness and others to squeal in disgust. Public Enemies should be taken at face value and nothing more than that. In my review of Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, I did not recommend bothering with Blu-Ray because it was incredibly average fare. This time, I actually recommend getting the Blu-Ray because of how fantastic the animation and sound is.

Look for my Superman/Batman: Apocalypse review in the coming days!