Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009 Video) User Reviews (55)

Lethal Weapon With Capes

[DarthBill · 7/10 · 20 March 2010]

PLOT: When America falls into a series of unfortunate events, it finds salvation in the most unlikely man of all, Lex Luthor. Now President of the United States, Luthor appears to have reformed and the USA has benefited from his administration turning the country's problems around. Only Superman, Luthor's life long arch enemy, doubts the sincerity of the 'new and improved' Lex. When Luthor calls on Superman to discuss collaborating on stopping an approaching asteroid that is basically one big ball of Kryptonite, it turns out to be a trap to frame Superman for a crime he didn't commit and pass it off as the Kryptonite asteroid affecting his psychology and then putting a reward on Superman's head - wanted dead or alive. Determined not to give up, Superman joins forces with Batman to thwart Luthor and save the Earth, a task made all the more difficult thanks to the heroes Luthor has dispatched to get in the way of the two men long hailed as The World's Finest.

The biggest criticism one can attribute to this animated feature, which is based on the Loeb/McGuinesss miniseries of the same name (the first in a stretch of stories they collaborated on) is that it removes what actually made their original graphic novel so special: the internal monologues in which Superman and Batman compare, contrast, and critique one another. That is where much of the heart and soul of the original book stemmed from. Superman and Batman are without argument the two most famous heroes of the DC Universe, and their alliance is among the best known 'odd couple' pairings in comics. Theirs is a very difficult dynamic to do properly, two sides of the same coin, the light and dark sides of justice, and has been mishandled more than once over the years as Batman's popularity grew while Superman's popularity sporadically waned, resulting in more than a few unpleasant instances of Superman being forced to step aside so that Batman can look cool, regardless of whether or not it made sense from a storytelling stand point. The Public Enemies monologues, by far, is among the very best examinations of these two iconic heroes and the unlikely friendship between them. As the "history of" documentary that examines their history together itself explains, the key to writing good Superman/Batman stories lies in rooting out why these two very different heroes need each other, and not fixating on the things that would drive them apart. While the basic bulk of the plot is the same, the loss of the internal monologues was truly unfortunate.

As for the feature itself, despite the loss of those monologues among a few other bits and scenes, it is still an entertaining diversion which can be best described as "Lethal Weapon With Capes". With animation that looks like it was ripped straight from the book, Superman and Batman go on their adventure, they kick ass, they take names, and exchange witty banter with one another in between action scenes. Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly and Clancy Brown reprise their roles from the DCAU, along with CCH Pounder returning as Amanda Waller (from JLU), and they all deliver strong performances, as usual, as do the other actors. After the embarrassment that was "Brainiac Attacks" it is especially nice to hear Daly reprise the Superman role with stronger material (no disrespect intended towards George Newbern, who replaced Daly for Justice League/JLU, as Newbern himself turned out to be a solid Superman once he found his footing). "Public Enemies" also features some of the best animated fight scenes for Superman ever drawn, from battling Metallo, to fighting off an army of bad guys, to dealing blows with fellow heroes such as Captains Atom and Marvel, to the final clash with the Kryptonite suit powered Lex Luthor. Batman himself doesn't slouch on the battle field either.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10

Fluid animation, fast paced action, falls short in story

[xamtaro · 7/10 · 23 September 2009]

Mixed feelings followed after i first watched this extremely short(compared to other DC animated movies) adaptation of the Jeph Loeb Superman/batman graphic novel. For starters, there was the running time. At a mere 67 minutes(6 of which goes into the opening and closing credits sequences) this film's story disappointed me in many aspects.

First there was the story. In a time of severe economic downturn and financial crisis, the United States turn in desperation to one man, Lex Luthor, and elects him president in hopes that his vast resources can turn things around for the better. With Luthor now in power, the country returns to a state of peace. That is until the a gigantic meteorite composed entirely of Kryptonite is discovered to be on a collision course with earth. President Luthor wastes no time in capitalizing on this opportunity and, through devious manipulation and media propaganda, gets Superman branded as a criminal. A One billion dollar bounty is declared on the Man of Steel which draws not only a vast array of villains looking to cash in on the bounty, but other superheroes either convinced that Superman as gone rogue. Teaming up with Batman, the two must work together if they are to save the world, clear their names and uncover Luthor's sinister hidden agenda.

Story sounds great doesn't it? Sadly it plays out nothing like an epic tale that i was expecting, but rather like a three episode story arc of the Justice League TV series(not that Justice league was a bad show. It was great, but having a TV series styled story in a movie where the ante is expected to be upped, is really disappointing). What could have been a clever metaphor for the social and political problems that USA has recently faced soon descends into a familiar and almost formulaic narrative style. This movie just had so much potential to expound on more of the underlying themes, which sadly, it did not.

"Familiar and formulaic", thankfully does not extend into the artwork. THe character designs follow the original graphic novel's art by Ed McGuinness rather closely. Whether you like it or not, every character look like they went through a couple hundred protein shakes and body building regimes. Even Powergirl looks buff and bulging with muscles. The CGI backgrounds look stunning with muted tones that make them look like painted artwork at times, But it clashes very very obviously with the lesser detailed and more brightly colored characters and vehicles. On a side note, the CGI of the vehicles are extremely bad and look no better than the primitive CGI employed for "The Zeta Project"(the Batman Beyond spin off).

Speaking of the characters, This show is clearly for the long time fans since all the characters are presented already in "full view" with hardly an attempt at further character development.. There is no tension between Superman or Batman, no indication of any differing ideals or methods. From the start, they seem like best buds already which makes the whole "unlikely team up" part(not to mention the climax where the unlikely duo come to really respect each other) a little redundant.

Despite these shortcomings, what really justifies the price of this show is the action and animation. Sure the animation is a little stiff in the more conversation-heavy scenes, but it transits to a very fluid animation style during the numerous fight scenes which boasts an exceptionally high frame rate. Fresh from directing Marvel animation's "Hulk Vs", Sam Liu(the Director)manages to bring out the most in every action sequence; fast paced, relentless and brutal. Every one of those scenes look almost cinematic in feel and epic in scope thanks to some great shot angles coupled with dynamic framing and story-boarding. The grand, adrenaline pumping score by Christopher Drake compliments the movie perfectly.

On a certain level, i enjoyed Superman/Batman:Public enemies very much. The animation and action surpassed the standard direct-to-video animated movie. The character interplay by veteran voice actors Kevin Conroy and Tim Daley(reprising their respective roles of Batman and Superman from the animated series)is very well scripted with a couple of witty one liners here and there.

If you like your superhero movie big on action and don't mind one that comes up short in the story aspect, then Superman/Batman: Public enemies is for you. Also highly recommended to fans of the various DC animated series.

Action packed team-up movie

[KineticSeoul · 7/10 · 12 February 2015]

This is the first Superman/Batman team up movie I have ever seen. And it's fast-paced with some entertaining and cool action. The story isn't all that great, but it also didn't seem like it was something that was just there to make the two heroes team up. The animation on the other hand is fluid and well animated, although the design might not be appealing to everyone. So the story is this, Les is the president of the united states and has some heroes under his thumb by winning their trust. That is except Batman and Superman who he puts a hit out on. So the two heroes are running and fighting other heroes while finding out a way to delve into the source of the matter at hand and take down Lex Luthor. The premise isn't anything super original, but it's a Superman/Batman team up movie and that in itself makes it worth a watch.

7.2/10

"Clark, what the hell are good villains?"

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 12 July 2015]

Fun animated movie based on an enjoyable comic book story by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness. The story has Lex Luthor becoming President of the United States (!) and using his new authority to go after Superman. Batman steps in to help his buddy and the two find themselves pursued by their government and their friends. A solid script with nice banter and one-liners. Not as meaty as the original story but still good. There's some subtext about patriotism and the difference between loyalty to country vs loyalty to government. But, for the most part, this is just an exciting action story with lots of superheroes and supervillians and big fight scenes. Nothing at all wrong with that.

The voicework is excellent with Kevin Conroy, Clancy Brown, Tim Daly, and CCH Pounder all handling the characters they have perfected so well. In addition there's solid work from Xander Berkeley, Allison Mack, LeVar Burton, and many others. The animation is fluid, colorful, and bright. The story is smarter than it had to be, which I appreciate. It probably plays better to fans but I think the uninitiated can still enjoy it. I'm not a big supporter of the direction DC animation has taken in recent years. I loved their stuff from the '90s and early '00s but lately they only seem concerned with appealing to the lowest common denominator. This one was made after their prime but when there was still a little bit of magic left. Very entertaining and packed with action.

Solid but not good enough to win over the casual viewers due to the focus on the fight sequences above all else

[bob the moo · 14 February 2010]

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.

Superman/Batman

[jeremy-addison · 7/10 · 18 November 2009]

This is a fun animated movie. While not perfect (it is a cartoon after all) it is definitely worth a rental. The movie stems out of the 1st story arc of the Superman/Batman comic, formerly World's Finest.

The main premise of the story is that America is in shambles and Lex Luthor is elected president. (Oddly similar to Norman Osborne's current Dark Reign story) He recruits meta humans and heroes to serve as his personal gestapo.

THE GOOD: 1. The battle scenes are excellent. Not only do Superman and Batman square off against a wide variety of villains such as Grodd, Banshee, Giganta, Solomon Grundy and others but they also have their run ins with some of their fellow superheroes as well. The fight between Captain Marvel/Shazam and Superman is well staged as well as Hawkman vs Batman.

2. This movie is never short on action. It is after all a comic book adaption.

3. The voice overs are very well done.

4. There is a wide variety of characters featured. Most of them are cameos in short battle scenes but it was awesome to see some of DC's major heroes & villains that haven't been featured brought to animated life.

THE BAD: 1. it is criminally short. They could have easily gone 90 minutes with this.

2. The animation of some of the characters is almost silly at times. It seems that every major male hero shared the same physique to a tee.

All in all this is definitely worth a rental.

the only one of the recent DC animated movies to be a mixed bag

[Quinoa1984 · 6/10 · 10 October 2009]

I was so ready to get into Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and love it. I love Batman, I admire Superman, and I really loved Jeph Loeb's comic book Batman: The Long Halloween. From the word I've heard on Loeb, maybe I haven't read enough of his stuff (or, rather, the less read, apparently, the better). This special 67 minute movie (shorter than usual) was adapted from one of his graphic novels, about how in a kind of bizarre turn of events (if not Bizarro-world) Lex Luthor is made President and declares after a faked-taped scene where Superman appears to be squashing a guy with a car, he puts a bounty on his head for a billion dollars. Now he is on the lam, and only his best friend Batman (er, not Jimmy Olson) comes to his aid when being attacked by a huge rogues gallery of Batman/Superman/DC villains, and even some superheroes who work for Luthor now that he's president. But there's also a meteor Armageddon style (if going through a wormhole for some reason) on the way. Ah, priorities.

The animation, as the biggest asset, is very good here, and the DC animation department deserves the highest praise for this one. For direct-to-video releases, their work just keeps getting better and better (if not quite up to par with last year's near-masterpiece New JLA New Frontier) and it's hard not to want to look at how they reveal a new villain or that giant robot-rocket that the Japanese kid/man develops shaped out of Batman/Superman fandom. But as for the story and writing, it's not so strong. It's predictable writing for much of the time, and the whole cast of villains and heroes is made for the die-hard comic book fans to be interested in - that is until they're pulled out of their one or two seconds of screen-time for someone else (and actors like John C. McGinley, good actors, don't have much time to show their own work). It also takes too long to get to the main problem of the meteor, and instead we get some of those silly scenes where Luthor acts all big and mean and nasty but is really just an a-Hole that could be squashed in a moment.

This isn't to say a great movie couldn't be made out of this premise of Superman and/or Batman on the lam. Maybe there's already similar episodes done in the past on Justice League Unlimted or another Justice League cartoon. But there's just something about it, the predictability and the weak bits of dialog, that don't settle easy. And it's also the fact that so much of what the WB/DC animated group has put out has been quality work (just recently as the Green Lantern movie two months ago) that it comes up short. Length, too, is also a factor; I'm ignorant on the Loeb comic, and maybe that is better (or worse), but it's hard not to want a little more story as opposed to mostly generic fighting scenes. For all of its good qualities, and the strength of the classic-cast voice work (Clancy Brown, Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly), it's just... OK. The original 90s Batman/Superman animated movie with the Joker and Luthor as villains is superior if you must see a match-up.

The Big Two: Wanted, Dead or Alive

[madbandit20002000 · 9/10 · 21 September 2009]

The sixth DVD project from Warner Bros's DC Animated Universe unit, "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies" is a fun, socially-conscious adaptation of the six-part comic book story/graphic novel by writer Jeph Loeb and artists Ed McGuinness and Dexter Vines. Sure, it's short (67 minutes) and not to the letter (no continuity-oriented sidebars), but it's action-packed coolness.

America's plagued with crime, economic despair and war, making it easy for unethical corporate shark Lex Luthor (Clancy Brown, "The Shawshank Redemption" ) to run for and win the White House. There, he initiates that meta-humans and costumed crime-fighters serve the U.S. government, but the Big Two, optimistic Kryptonian boy scout Superman (Tim Daly, "Private Practice") and brooding urban detective Batman (Kevin Conroy, "Dynasty") rightfully feel he's full of it (including the "sh"). That gives the mastermind reason to frame the Man of Steel with the murder of "reformed" Kryptonite-powered cyborg Metallo (John C McGingley, "Scrubs"), marking him a wanted criminal and Bats as an accessory. As the Big Two fight both friends and foes, there's a huge chunk of Kryptonite headed towards Earth. The stakes are very high.

With a script by Stan Berkowitz ("Justice League: The Animated Series"), director Sam Liu ("Jackie Chan Adventures", "The Batman") gives "Public Enemies" the blockbuster-with-a-brain treatment, a fashion used in previous DC animated projects. Reprising their roles from the heroes' solo shows, Conroy and Daly are great, emphasizing their characters's differences on how to mete out justice. Brown, also doing a reprisal, nearly counters with their heroism with his callous insanity. The standard but lively animation interestingly echoes the art by McGuinness and Vines.

The other voice actors are competent: CCH Pounder ("The Shield") replaying government liaison Amanda Waller from "League"; Xander Berkeley ("Shanghai Noon", "Year One") as the noble Captain Atom and Richard Chavira ("Desperate Housewives") as his volatile counterpart Major Force. It's weird hearing Allison Mack ("Smallville") as Power Girl, due to the character's…well, you know, but she's durable in the role, even with a subtle, but funny sexual gag, validating the PG-13 rating.

"Public Enemies" should be on every DC Comics fan's wanted DVD's list.

Could have been more, but has a lot to like about it

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 3 September 2012]

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

Awesome decent superhero Superman/Batman DC animated movie I love it!

[ivo-cobra8 · 9/10 · 17 August 2016]

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is a really decent awesome DC animated movie! I really enjoy this film, more than Man of Steel and the new horrible DC Zack Snyder's film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice! This is the real Superman/Batman movie in here our two superhero's teams up together to stop Lex Luthor and the meteor destroying our world. In here Superman and Batman does not kill people, Batman wanted to kill those guards, but Superman didn't allowed it. In this movie you have a heart, justice and hope! So yea I love this flick it is a fun film to watch. This is a real good movie, the animation fit the characters, the characters look good! The film is not too long, you have only 1 hr. and 4 Mins. long without credits.

Plot: When Lex Luthor gets elected US President, he uses the threat of an oncoming kryptonite meteor striking Earth as a rationale to frame Superman.

The story is about more Lex Luthor and America is going downhill people are losing jobs and the economics falls down. Pretty much Lex Luthor becomes president that is where the story starts. So we have Tim Daly as Superman, Kevin Conroy as Batman, Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor and Lex Luthor has his own group of superheroes, who's powers will be used for America for good, it is like hey if you want to volunteer to be part of us be my guest, but no one is going to be above the law anymore. It takes place couple of months after that, Luthor is been president, America is been turned around and been doing good, there is this meteor/kryptonite coming down to earth and Luthor is like I don't need superheroes and I got all the calculations and I am going to do this. Later we found out that Luthor is and always was insane, his taking this kryptonite gun and putting this stuff in his arm like steroids, he thinks he can take care of this problem and he will get all the credits for him self. First we see Superman chasing down this car that flips over and Superman actually saves people in here he saves people.

Superman doesn't want to admit that Luthor did a good job, because he doesn't trust Luthor. Since Luthor comes in to presidency crime is been down and things are going well, but Superman doesn't want to admit it and I really don't blame him. Even when he talks to Batman he still says "I don't trust this guy." Luthor wants Superman to meet him, he does and of course it is a trap and you have Metallo, Metallo is there and superman goes in to a big fight with Metallo and I thought it was really well done fight and the animation was good. That is what I like about this film! This film is pretty much a lot of action, Superman and batman beating other super heroes who are a treat and are working for Luthor. Superman goes in to a big fight with Metallo he is shot with kryptonite and he falls down on graveyard and Batman saves him and he try's to get the bullet out of Superman and they both on a run and Superman is accused of murdering Metallo of course he didn't do it and Batman stood's with by and cheers him up. Batman says they both have to stop that Meteor I love the wend when a Toyman creates a rocket launcher and super Luthor wants to stop our hero and Batman fly's there alone and Superman says "That was my best friend and you just killed him"! than he gets mad and he punches Luthor out and that hard on the end Batman destroys the Meteor and Superman saves him.

Overall: I love Superman/Batman: Public Enemies DC Animated Film it is a decent awesome super hero movie. The rating this film get's 9/10 it deserves it.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is a 2009 original direct-to-video animated superhero film adaptation of "Public Enemies"—the opening story arc of DC Comics' Superman/Batman—which focuses on Superman and Batman teaming up to prevent a meteorite from striking Earth and take down Lex Luthor, who has been elected President of the United States.

9/10 Grade: A- Studio: Warner Bros. Animation Warner Premiere DC Comics Starring: Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, Clancy Brown, Xander Berkeley, Corey Burton, Ricardo Chavira, Allison Mack, John C. McGinley, C. C. H. Pounder, LeVar Burton, Calvin Tran Director: Sam Liu Producers: Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, Michael Goguen, Bobbie Page, Sam Register, Benjamin Melniker, Michael Uslan Screenplay: Stan Berkowitz Rated: PG-13 Running Time: 1 Hr. 7 Mins. Budget: $3.500.000 Box Office: $10,328,363

Spectacle first... and second

[educallejero · 7/10 · 15 May 2022]

The movie tells a story without much nuance, more as a vehicle to showcase the superb action sequences almost non-stop that compose the last two thirds of the runtime.

The character designs are amazing, and the animation is pretty great, and both perfectly combines with the plethora of villains and heroes that makes an appearance. The voice actors are also pretty good.

So yeah, the story is as simple as it gets. Probably a bit worse than that. But as pure action packed entertainment, this one gets the job done.

Action Packed Superhero Extravaganza. Terrific!

[Vivekmaru45 · 10/10 · 28 September 2010]

Nonstop action start to finish. Great acting by all the three lead characters Batman, Superman and Lex Luther. The background musical score is also superb.

The plot is very good and effective. This shows again the important of a well written script.

The plot: Lex Luthor has been elected President of United States during a severe nation-wide economic depression. This is mainly due to his great wealth. The United States government discovers that a massive Kryptonite meteor is hurtling toward Earth. Luthor wants to destroy it using nuclear missiles and take all the credit for it. Now all he needs is to take Superman out of the way for good.

He immediately proceeds to frame Superman. He engineers the a fight between Metallo and Superman. Later we find Metallo has been killed, and Superman has been framed for it. Luther puts a million dollar bounty on Superman.

Batman who has been observing Luthor and the meteor all the time, intervenes and helps Superman to clear his name in the eyes of the public.

But with all the villains looking to collect on the bounty, will Superman live to see another day, destroy the meteor and foil Luther's plans yet again?

Watch and find out.

10/10 a must for any DVD/BLU-RAY collection.

Intriguing Yet Lacking

[gigan-92 · 7/10 · 31 December 2010]

I finally got around to seeing this movie, and let me warn you die-hard fans I have not read the graphic novel, so I'm judging this solely as a film. I'm happy to report Clancy Brown is Lex Luthor, and both Kevin Conroy and Tim Daly reprise their roles. The animation is different than what I'm used to, but I grew accustom to it. The action is, as expected, is relatively entertaining and non-stop. Powergirl, voiced by Even Allison by the way, stars in this one, and despite this being aimed at primarily kids those E cups easily stand out in any scene. If this had been live action, it would've been ridiculous yet funny, but as a DC animated short I'll let it go.

My problem with this film, as with many DC flicks, is that it is way too damn short. Even though I haven't read the graphic novel, I'm under the impression there was a lot more substance than in this 70 minute movie. This is all action, spliced with "political intrigue" (as the DVD boast), and Powergirl's ridiculously large breast. I suppose the small ones may be pleased, but I assume the casual and die-hard fans alike will feel a bit unsatisfied.

Just read the book

[ZekeRage911 · 3/10 · 6 October 2009]

Kevin Conroy as Batman, Tim Daly as Superman, in an animated film based on one of my favorite graphic novels. Pity the execution falls so short it doesn't even look like it tried to jump.

This is the story of Lex Luthor as president of the United States, most of America presumably having suffered amnesia, who frames Superman for murder in order to turn the public and his friends against him while a giant Kryptonite meteor plummets towards Earth. I know that doesn't sound like a highly complex plot, but the devil's in the details of this story. However, for the slightly over 60 minute animated version, much of the details have been tossed aside. The story is rushed, compressed, and partially re-written to cut out a lot of the deeper ideas, like Metallo possibly being the killer of Batman's parents, or Lex Luthor's struggle to remain credible despite the outrageous nature of his claims, and of course Superman dealing with the people he's sworn to protect turning against him. Oh, but of course they kept the giant robot, the only part of the story I truly hated. And in the end everyone lives happily ever after and Lex Luthor goes to jail. If I wanted to watch "Batman and Superman beat the bad guys" I think there's enough of that back in the old Superfriends cartoon. Granted they don't have Kevin Conroy doing the voice of Batman, but the devil of the details is that without even an adequate foundation, it doesn't matter how pretty your wallpaper is, because you're wall's on the ground, outside, in the rain and bugs are getting into your house. I think I'm stretching the metaphor, but since I don't really care, I'm just going to keep doing it. Oh, and the artwork. It seems the artists were paying just a little too much attention to everyone's pectoral muscles and not nearly enough to Power Girl's chest. Or, for that matter, any sort of sense of atmosphere. The incessant DC villain cameos was also just a bit pointless. It works in the book, but in the movie they're there for four minutes as a minor obstacle, then the story (such as it is) moves on. The whole thing feels rushed. It's as if they didn't have enough money left to finish it, so they just slapped most of their scenes together, filled it in with action shots, then begged Kevin Conroy to do Batman to attract all the nerds and fanboys... like me. Boy I'm stupid.

A vehicle to get Superman and Batman to fight a variety of other different DC characters

[cricketbat · 6/10 · 3 August 2018]

Essentially, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is just a vehicle to get Superman and Batman to fight a variety of other different DC characters. The plot is very stretched out, even at 75 minutes. However, even though it's not that good, seeing Batman and Superman fighting together still appealed to the little kid in me.

Actually not all that bad...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 28 May 2019]

Right, well initially I had very little expectations for "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies" given the fact it being an animated superhero movie. I am normally not overly keen on the superhero genre, but I do sit down to watch them with my 9 year old son.

Turns out that the 2009 "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies" was actually rather enjoyable. Why? Well, because it was somewhat of a step up in the right direction. By that I mean meant for a more mature audience, given the concept of the storyline, and it not just being a good guys vs. bad guys run-of-the-mill that superhero movies tend to be.

I thoroughly enjoyed Clancy Brown doing the voice acting for Lex Luthor in this animated movie, because he has such an iconic and easily recognized voice.

The animation was good, although the art style was bordering on being a bit too childish for my personal preference. But luckily the action and the storyline managed to draw the attention away from the art style for most of the time.

The dialogue in "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies" was good, and they had a rather nice list of voice actors to perform the different voices for the characters. And let's just face it, in an animated movie, the voice acting is alpha and omega.

I was genuinely entertained with the outcome of "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies", and I am rating it a solid six out of ten stars.

A qualified "hooray"

[neil-476 · 7/10 · 6 November 2009]

This was good but not great.

The elements which dragged it down were:

1. Some areas where it was slow and talky, particularly towards the start;

2. Paradoxically, far too much fighting;

3. Much shorter than it needed to be;

4. Animation could have been lusher.

Lifting it up:

1. Excellent voice work, and particularly gratifying to have Conroy, Daly, Brown and Pounder reprising their characters from earlier iterations;

2. Picking up McGuiness' art style for character design;

3. Putting the composite Superman on screen, even if in the form of a giant robot. Hooray!

Oh, and movies featuring Superman really shouldn't be pitched at an age-restricted audience - this is Superman, people, so lay off excessive violence and boob jokes.

My favorite DC animated movie of all time

[WeAreLive · 10/10 · 7 December 2017]

Not gonna lie this movie is actually my favorite animated movie by DC.

The animation was good even though some of the designs in this movie could have like Amanda Wallers because the suit looked too tight. The voice acting especially having Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, Clancy Brown and Jennifer Hale reprise their roles was even better. Even though I prefer George Newbern to Tim Daly but it was still good having him reprise the role.

This would have been a good movie for Cartoon Network if Lex Luther never said the word "bitch" and it was weird that Solomon Grundy was speaking in proper English.

The best part was the last battle and the ending.

The DCEU Should Have Adapted This

[Ltufano23 · 6/10 · 26 February 2024]

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is based on the 2003 Jeff Loeb & Ed McGuiness comic book run, Superman/Batman. Almost directly adapting the first 6 issue storyline, the animated feature tells the story of our heroic duo, on the run from President Lex Luthor while attempting to eliminate a global threat. Though I adored the comic this is based upon, the movie failed to bring the same sense of excitement. I have never been a big fan of DC's animated films as the voice acting and speech animation have always felt a bit stiff in my opinion. While the voice cast is full of iconic actors, some in their iconic roles, this is the weaker of their performances and does not compare to DC's video game or animated TV performances. Staying loyal to the source material, the story tells a fast-paced and heart racing journey, constantly putting the heroes one step behind their foes. Utilizing the larger DC Universe as well, it becomes a delightful 'Who's Who' of the larger mythos. Superman/Batman: Public Enemies crafts an enjoyable story, but stays victim to the flaws shared by similar projects.

i thoroughly enjoyed it,but the story suffers in favour of wall to wall fight sequences

[disdressed12 · 8/10 · 20 February 2010]

i gotta say,i thoroughly enjoyed this animated offering from DC/Warner Premiere.the animation was top notch.the voice acting was terrific.the fight scenes were outstanding.in fact,the movie was basically just one big long fight scene after another with a veritable rogue's gallery of DC Villains all lining up to take on Superman and Batman.of course,the story takes a huge back seat in this case,other than a brief set up at the beginning.and the movie is short,clocking in at just over an hour not including end credits.normally i prefer a little story depth to my movies,but i got caught up in the action on this one.however,if you do prefer a more fleshed out storyline,you might be disappointed in this one.for me,Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is an 8/10

Fine adaptation of the comic

[mhorg2018 · 8/10 · 15 July 2018]

President Luthor learns that a meteor made of Kryptonite is headed for earth. When the plan to nuke it out of existence doesn't work, he declares Superman an enemy of earth. Batman stands by him, but while the rest of the heroes are hunting them, they need help to stop the meteor, help only a young genius from Japan can make happen. Fun!

Fun to be had in the fisticuffs, but they sometimes overshadow the plot.

[Pjtaylor-96-138044 · 6/10 · 9 June 2018]

'Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009)' is essentially a less nuanced version of 'Captain America: Civil War (2016)'. It presents an interesting premise but does mostly boil it down to its most barebones of beats, with more moments ending up in high-flying but appropriately weighty fisticuffs than in character development or other narrative-based thought. Still, there's consistent fun to be had and, though the characterisations are all fairly basic and unfaltering, the admittedly fairly generic story tries to be at the forefront of the piece at all times. There are only some sections in which that focus seems to have been slightly misplaced, moments in which the punch-ups overshadow the plot. Even then, however, there's always entertainment in seeing our heroes fight their C-list - and sometimes even D-list - foes (with a few more famous cameos thrown in for fun), even when it would better serve the narrative for a more subtle scene. Silly moments come and go, too, but can all but be forgotten in the wider context of the piece. In the end, this is enjoyable but pretty one-note stuff. 6/10

Superman/Batman are shaking their heads

[thefilmguy7 · 5/10 · 1 October 2009]

I think anyone who was a kid during the 90's was a fan of the Batman animated series. It was just unlike any other cartoon we'd seen before and it was so faithful to the heart of the character. Plus we got the best Batman voice of all time Kevin Conroy. Even though I've outgrown the animated series, I've still remained fond of the old days and I check in on what they are doing from time to time. I was really impressed with Gotham Knight animated film that came out around when TDK came out. It was really fresh and unique to the Batman animated world. I was looking forward to seeing more mature animated Batman films that adults could enjoy.

When I heard about this film, that it was PG-13, was an adaptation of a comic, and starred Kevin Conroy, I was very interested. I'm sorry to report that the film is a major let down. It's all action and no substance what so ever. It's as though Michael Bay had directed the movie. It's just non stop fight and fight and then the movie is over. There is no time taken to construct much of any narrative and the one that is there seems more suitable for a video game. And don't get me started on the totally moronic finale with the transformer wannabe.

It's a huge step down from the direction that the series was taking with Gotham Knight. The only reason that this film got a PG-13 is because of a totally unnecessary use of a swear word that adds nothing to the scene or the story. With out the swear word and this film is definitely a kid film. I'd say it's more for children than even the 90's animated series. I really think that they should go back with the direction they were taking with Gotham Knight. Continue to take risks and tell edgy stories. There are so many amazing graphic novels from the Batman universe that would make amazing animated films if they were done with respect.

Well made Superman/Batman animated film

[darapjohnson · 7/10 · 29 June 2023]

I'm not going to lie, I came into this movie expecting Superman and Batman to fight, don't ask me why, the cover just made it look like that, so you can imagine the disappointment I had when they didn't. But although that would've made me rate this higher, it actually did very well with its plot. I actually enjoyed myself with this one.

"Superman/Batman: Public Enemies" sees our two heroes, Superman and Batman team up against the classic Lex Luthor to save the world. It's a simple plot which was made decently well by Sam Liu, the director. I liked the action, the relationship between Batman and Superman and cameos from other superheroes/villains as well. So far from 2007-2009 the best DC movie so far from the ones i've watched so far at least. On to the next on the list!

Between mediocre and average... Really quick opinion and thoughts.

[Torche1 · 6/10 · 2 September 2013]

Just finished watching it.

I usually love DC animation movies. This one had a decent plot. With the right producing and directing they could have made a great movie with this plot... but the art style and animation are a big let-down. This really feels like something that was made back in the late 90s/early 2000s... I still have a hard time believing this was made in 2009. I look at "The Dark Knight Returns" films, which were made with the exact same budget, and the art/animation is vastly superior in those titles. Hardly even comparable.

I generously give "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies" a 6/10. For the plot and because I'm a big DC fan. If you are looking for a visual feast, you will be disappointed.