Superman / Batman - Public Enemies

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is an animated movie based on a graphic novel by Jeph Loeb and featuring art by Ed McGuinness. The artwork from the comics is faithfully translated to the animated feature and often looks stunning, even when the storyline falters or makes little sense. "Public Enemies" is still a must-see for Batman and Superman fans.

The storyline involves Lex Luthor as president of the United States and his immense popularity because of turning the economy around. He has even enlisted some superheroes to work for him. Superman is convinced Lex has not turned over a new leaf, though, and he's proven right when Lex frames Superman for the death of the cyborg Metallo.

President Luthor puts a bounty on Superman's head and he (along with Batman) must fight off countless baddies and Captain Atom, who all want the reward money.

The DVD looks and sounds terrific and the voice work is all top-notch. By reuniting the original voice cast (which includes Kevin Conroy, Clancy Brown, and Tim Daly), the entire movie gets a lift. The version up for review is a one disc release with minimal extras of only trailers for other animated features but the 2 DVD set has much more extensive extras and is the version that hardcore fans will want to pick up.

Long on action and short on storytelling and logic, "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies" is a passable, sometimes exciting, animated feature. At a mere 67 minutes in length, it is also paced like lightning, making it a painless and fun way to kill some time.

Comic book fans and general audiences will generally be pleased with this faithful adaptation of the popular graphic novel of the same name.