5/5 Only problem - they set the bar too high for the future
  by A. Westefeld
Public Enemies was a reasonable close adaptation of the graphic novel. The artwork evoked the feel of the comic book, and the dialouge was straight out of the book in a lot of important places (Best byplay/accuracy: check out the scene where Superman is shot and Batman is trying to get the Kryponite out of him quickly. No spoilers here)
And getting the actors who did Batman, Superman, and Luthor to return to the roles from the TV series added to the fun, experience tells after all.
Now the only issue is that future DCU movies will not likely use actors who have popularized the characters from the TV shows for these DVDs and after Having Conroy, Daly, and Brown it may be a little disapointing. DC - take a cue from your competation.
Hugh Jackman is now Wolverine, Robert Downey is Iron Man, etc. Too late for the Crisis on two Eaths DVD I know(and the preview for that was fun), but future DVDs can use actors that have made these characters familiar to our ears.


2/5 Superman/Batman: Brokebat Mountain
  by Garrett Wroblewski (San Jose, CA USA)
I had high high expectations for Superman/Batman: Public Enemies when I ordered it from Amazon earlier this month. The previous Bat-film in the DC animated collection Gotham Knight was a fairly impressive series of adult-oriented vignettes. This is basically an extended Saturday morning cartoon. If that is what they were going for, why bother to include the very brief "crude comments" which warranted it receiving a pg-13 rating? It seems as if DC was hemming and hawing over whether to make it for kids or adults.

Batman and Superman's actions are often strangely homoerotic, they keep being placed into situations which require hand-holding and manly grunting. In addition, what was probably intended to be friendly banter seems like (as one reviewer already pointed out) awkward first-date conversation. The score is bland and vanilla, and the animation blocky. Perhaps I am a bit biased, as I find most Bats/Sups team-ups suck, because the Superman cast is invariably the one most utilized. Batman's rogues and allies are far more interesting, and far less lame.

On the plus side, there are a few nice touches in the fight sequences (Batman vs Lady Shiva was pretty bad-ass), the few crude comments that were in there were fairly humorous, and Power Girl looked drop-dead sexy. Not a complete waste of money to watch with your child, or if you are a diehard who collects everything Bat or Supes related. Rent it though, don't waste $15 on 67 minutes of mediocrity.

P.S. (SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The very end of the film is unintentionally hilarious as it seems like Superman is asking Batman out on a date. The Dark Knight declines, leaving Superman to make out with Lois. One can't help but think Supes is thinking of his pointy-eared companion while he lip-locks with his female sweetie.)



4/5 Another great movie in the Timmverse
  by G. Swift (Southwestern Missouri)
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is a really nice presentation of the graphic novel in animated format. While we don't get to see as much action as in the comic itself, we do get the meat of things and still get to see some of the great matchups between these two heroes and their cohorts.

Taking off with the election of Lex Luthor to the Presidency, things quickly progress to Lex taking advantage of his position to turn public animosity against his hated nemesis Superman. With a dire threat looming over the entire Earth, he instead chooses to pursue his personal vendetta. Batman is caught in the crossfire, never branded with the same label that Superman receives, but certainly unwilling to bend a knee before Luthor in pursuit of the obviously innocent Superman.

The two heroes seek to save the Earth even while facing the opposition from cadres of villains after the reward for Superman and from well-meaning heroes deluded into following the letter of the law rather than its spirit. We get to enjoy the great Kevin Conroy as Batman's voice once again, along with Clancy Brown and Tim Daly reprising their roles as Luthor and Superman from the Superman Animated Series.

The second disc actually presents some nice special features. There is a good if typical feature on how they brought this graphic novel to the screen, along with an after-dinner gathering of creators and Conroy discussing the evolution of things from the early days of Batman the Animated Series through this film. There is also a nice preview of the Crisis on Two Earths movie that will be released next year, though why it has William Baldwin instead of Conroy as Batman is beyond me.

While I think they could have made a better single disc version by putting the specials from Disc 2 on Disc 1 in place of the rehashed features it has, the movie is worth getting. If you want to see the features, you'll need to get the two-disc set, since disc 1 has only features that have already appeared on other movies in this series.

5/5 OUTSTANDING!
  by Dustin Rhoades (Lawton, OK)
I have to tell ya that I've never been a big fan of the Superman/Batman team ups. They just never really did much for me. But it's a cartoon movie where there are so few good ones nowadays (i.e. Superman/Doomsday GAG!), so I took a chance. This movie rocks! I cant say enough good things. First off they had all the voices from the series of the respective icons back for the show. I'm sorry but no one does a better voice over for Batman then Kevin Conroy, a better Superman then Tim Daly, or better Luthor then Clancy Brown. It's like the voice to Optimus Prime you just have to have THE guy that makes that character come alive. Secondly, the story was good, I mean making Batman/Superman bad guys?! How's that work? And i think for American animation it's quite good. I mean I love me some Anime and there's very few shows on this side of the pond to even hold a candle to that kind of detail but this works well mainly because of the animated series both of these characters had. You're just used to seeming them like this. Overall the only bad thing I could say about this show is there's only one of them! They need to get the exact same cast, writers, etc and do more! Enjoy!

3/5 Close, but no cigar.
  by Randall (Houston)
This was fun to watch, but I wanted something else. I have the graphic novel and was ready for something closer to it. But, alas it was not to be.

For a feature presentation based on the two biggest stars in the DC Universe, it was strange that the film only lasted about an hour. Come on DC, these are your big guns! Give them their due.

I was a little annoyed by the way the plot was handled. Characters were under used and story lines were trimmed. Although I absolutely love Allison Mack as Chloe on Smallville, her Power Girl was silly. This definitely needed more back story to feel right. Also, most people wouldn't know who Captain Atom is and this version makes him look like a smuck. I get that he is the epitomy of the good soldier and always follows his orders patriotically. But its never explained why he would think Superman is an outlaw when everyone knows all the good Superman has done and all the bad Luthor has done. History is completely tossed on the trash heap with no explanation whatsoever.

Worst of all, I had a huge problem with one big plot hole. *Spoilery tidbits coming* When Luthor frames Superman for Metallo's demise, Supes looks towards Bats and says "You can't possibly believe this, you were with me the whole time." Now, technically, Batman wasn't. But, they WERE together when we (and they) last see Metallo alive. Why Batman so quickly questions Superman's integrity makes no sense? I understand the dynamics of their relationship, but, for whatever reason, that just bothered me.

On a side note, I did like what I thought was a nod to the old Composite Superman character from the 1960's (timewise I think). You'll know what I mean towards the end of the movie, if you are familiar with the character.

Even though I'm critical, I would say this is an above average movie. Voice acting of the main three is top-notch. I'll leave all the discussion about animation and the like to others. If you want to pass the time with some familiar heroes, you could do a lot worse than this. But if you have read the graphic novel, you probably won't like it as much.