Reviews -
Blu-ray
Street Date: September 29th, 2009
Languages: English
Subtitles: English SDH, French
Run Time: 67
Rating: PG-13
Media Quantity: 1 (BD25)
Packaging Type: Elite Blue |
Aspect Ratio:
Original Aspect Ratio - 1.78 Widescreen [16:9 Transfer] 1080p
Sound Quality:
Dolby Digital: English 5.1
|
Special Features:
● Exclusive Sneak Peek at DC Universe's
Upcoming Justice League Crisis on Two Earths
●
Explore the Dynamics of the Evolving Relationship Between Two
Classic Super Heroes in A Test of Minds: Superman and Batman
● Dinner with DCU and Special Guest Kevin Conroy
- Extended Version: The Voice of Batman Shares a Meal and Talks
with a DC Universe Creative Team
● Behind the Scenes of
Blackest Night, the epic DC Comics Superhero Event in Which the
Dead Shall Rise
● Bruce Timm Presents 6 Bonus Cartoons
●
Explore 4 other DC Universe Animated Movies
Synopsis: A desperate solution for a troubled country: Lex Luthor
for President with the Justice League in the service of the
government. Only Batman and Superman stand against the new
regime – and their disloyalty proves to be exactly what Luthor
intended. Using their outcast status to instigate a scandal
against Superman, Luthor finally tastes a victory in his
vendetta against The Man of Steel. From Executive Producer Bruce
Timm and voiced by the cast from both hit Batman and Superman
animated TV series including Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly and Clancy
Brown, this DC Universe Original Animated Movie of Jeph Loeb and
Ed McGuinness’s popular graphic novel seethes with political
intrigue and action-packed battles between heroes all believing
they’re on the right side of the law.
Review (Zach Demeter)
Behold, the worst
kept secret of the DC Universe films: Superman Batman: Public Enemies.
The trailer for this film leaked onto internet supersite
IMDb.com and within hours was all over comic book news websites
and forums. The trailer was eventually pulled, but not before
the majority had seen the animation contained within. Mind you
the leak isn’t all that surprising (it’s the internet—these
things are all too common now), but what was surprising was how
far along this animated film was. We were still waiting on Green
Lantern to finish up and here was Public Enemies, all
polished and pushed into a trailer already. Exactly how did this
film essentially get produced and creep up out of nowhere so
damn fast?
So there you go—a brief history lesson on this
film. Or, at the very least, the history of the film as it
pertains to the online side of things. The film itself was known
for awhile before the trailer leaked, it was just the fact that
the film was already so far along in production that it made
fans wonder exactly what was up at DCU headquarters. In the end
it didn’t matter: months later we got Green Lantern and
another peak at this film, so everything eventually evened out.
Besides, a little early publicity for a film starring DC’s
biggest heavy hitters, even as premature as that trailer was, is
never really a bad thing.
The story itself is adapted
from the comic book of the same name (one I admittedly didn’t
even read until right before I started writing this review) and
while it definitely centers on the same plot, the extraneous
“fat” on the sides is once again excised for simplicities sake.
It’s usually just minor things; Robin and Nightwing don’t show
up, nor does Green Lantern and the dual Superman fight (whatever
it was) in the bat cave doesn’t occur. Quite a few things don’t
happen either, like the intro to the comic book or we get it
mixed into other areas of the story. Unlike other films that
“suffered” the same fate, however, Public Enemies never
feels like too much is being crammed into the story…which is
rather surprising considering this is the shortest DCU film to
date (a brisk 67 minutes).
In fact, and I know I say
this with just about every DCU title that comes out, but this
may very well be my new favorite of the bunch. I enjoyed all of
the films in some fashion or another, but as epic and exciting
as they were at times, they always felt like they bit off more
than it could handle. Not so with this film. No, this one is
(dare I say) lighthearted; it’s got weighty material, to be
sure, but none so much as to really drag the film down. I
honestly haven’t had this much fun watching Batman and Superman
on screen together since “Knight Time” way back in STAS/TNBA
days. It’s really just a fantastic little self-contained story
with the two of them and I’m genuinely surprised by how
brilliantly this was pulled off.
I hesitate to say this
as well, but I’m going to just because it’s what I felt while
watching the film: this film could’ve easily been supplanted
(crude comments/dialogue aside) into a three-part story in Justice
League with little difficultly. I never read the Superman
Batman comics before seeing this film so I don’t know if the
entire series is like this, but just how the characters interact
with one another and the rather quippy and fast paced dialogue
that takes place in this film really sets it apart from any
other DC Universe titles thus far. I found myself laughing at
this one way more than any of the other ones and I think that’s
an important thing to have when you deal with superheroes and
super villains—nothing campy, mind you, but just some genuinely
entertaining laughs. The banter between Batman and Superman
really is some of the best I’ve ever heard and those of you
hoping to hear the “Magpie” bit from the comic book will not be
disappointed—Conroy and Daly deliver that whole sequence
absolutely perfect.
Having said that, I suppose I should
talk now about the voice actors on this piece. Tim Daly, Kevin
Conroy and Clancy Brown return to the roles they played in the
Bruce Timm cartoons and it really adds another layer to the film
in terms of how easy it is to adapt to it. I especially found
Daly’s performance to be really refreshing; I know we’ve heard
him as Supes before his absence after STAS, but hearing
him alongside Conroy, again, was something you hadn’t heard
since “Knight Time” and “The Demon Reborn.” In terms of mood,
this story is a lot closer to “Knight Time,” as, again, it’s
just a very easy to enjoy and breezy viewing. It honestly just
flies by.
Brown really deserves a special note for his
performance as Luthor in this film, however. While Daly and
Conroy bring back what they’re known for, Luthor was a bit
different in this film. With him as president and jacked up on
kryptonite injections, Luthor was skewed a bit more towards the
maniacal scientist angle, but at the same time still very much
the regal and imposing Luthor we’ve been accustomed to hearing
Brown as over the years. He was definitely the source of more
than a few laughs in the film, particularly in a bit with Waller
that was taken from the comic book as well.
The only
thing I can honestly complain about this time around is the
animation. CGI backdrops of the city as Luthor and Superman fly
over them just look strange at times; I can’t really pinpoint why
it looks unnatural, as the cityscapes are just loaded with
detail…maybe the models on top of them were too clean compared
to the out of focus city. And then there are the cars/vehicles
in this piece—they look like something out of STAS, but
with the more detailed models, their simplicity just doesn’t
gel. Probably just budget constraints and I get that, but the
cars really do stick out like a sore thumb. Aside from that, the
animation was remarkably solid; I figured that this piece would
look rushed considering how quickly it was finished, but the new
detailed designs and six-packs on everyone really didn’t
distract from the picture in the least. I really enjoyed the new
look and quite frankly I would love nothing more than an entire
series of Superman Batman titles. This film was just too
much fun to not revisit with another outing down the line (plus
apparently they’re quick to produce).
While the film did
ultimately lose some of the story points of Ed McGuinness and
Jeph Loeb’s original graphic novel, in the end it doesn’t
matter. From the Jon Stewart like news anchor opening the film
with a rather explicit joke (it’s censored, don’t worry…but it’s
pretty easy to make out what it is. I’m just surprised the
“crude comment” that the film denotes in the PG-13 rating showed
up so early in it) to the power packed and almost non-stop
flights of heroes against villains and heroes against heroes,
this film wasn’t exactly thick on plot, but it didn’t matter. It
was just a lot of fun to watch and I honestly think the DCU
titles would be better served to stop gnawing on epic and
complex graphic novels like The New Frontier until their
run times can expand and instead focus on one-shot pieces like
this (or original outings like Wonder Woman and Green
Lantern).
Overall Public Enemies comes
Highly Recommended. This was the first of the DCU titles
since New Frontier that I wanted to watch again
immediately and it should be a big hit among fans. Not only for
the superb voice cast, excellent character designs, simple and
easily progressed story, but also just because it’s just so damn
enjoyable.
The Blu-ray
Remember Green
Lantern: First Flight? The presentation here is identical
(without the green case): a standard Elite case with a
reflective foil/embossed slipcover, a single disc inside and an
insert for WB Insider Rewards and the Digital Copy redemption
code. I’m glad that they didn’t dedicate a second disc to the
digital copy, always seemed wasteful. The film auto-starts and
as such there is no real main menu so much as a pop-up one, but
that’s all simple and easy to navigate as can be expected.
The VC-1 encoded transfer…hot damn does it look
great. The opening and end credits both follow a hyper stylized
intro like The New Frontier with great big splashes of
blue and red and while I can imagine the bleeding and
compression that goes on with the DVD transfers, this Blu-ray
transfer is just…flat out gorgeous. Animation really shines on
the format and Warner doesn’t disappoint with this transfer. My
jaw was literally on the floor at times with the clarity,
especially, again, with those opening titles—just a brilliant
piece of art as well as a fantastic transfer.
Moving
onto the audio we get a DD5.1 mix and…wait, what the hell
Warner? We’re back to this crap again? Where’s the TrueHD mix?
You were going good there for awhile and now you went back to
this lackluster mix. Don’t get me wrong…it sounds good for what
it is and it does have some subwoofer activity, but after the
thudding Green Lantern track I really expected more when
Mongul and Grundy came barreling onto the screen. Oh well…I
guess it isn’t a huge deal, but I wish they’d just pick an
option and stick to it. What’s the point of putting this on Blu-ray
if you’re going to pair the flawless video with compressed
audio?
Extras include over “3 hours” worth of material,
although if you’re a fan of DC animation, only an hour and ten
minutes or so of that is worth watching (as the remainder is
repeat editions of the “First Look” DCU featurettes and six
Bruce Timm cartoons that you’ve seen before). Included:
A Test of Minds: Superman and Batman (19:01, SD)
Dinner with DCU and Special Guest Kevin Conroy (55:59,
SD)
A First Look at Justice League: A Crisis on Two
Earths (11:12, SD)
Blackest Night: Inside the DC
Comics Event
"First Look" at previous DC Universe
titles
Six Bruce Timm Episodes (Question
Authority, Flashpoint, Panic in the Sky, Divided We Fall, The
Demon Reborn, Knight Time)
Now, mind you, I’m
reviewing the Blu-ray edition of this movie so those on the DVD
side of things will probably get a shorter version of the
“Dinner with” for some reason (the Blu-ray is noted as being the
“Extended Version”). But as a nice history lesson as “A Test of
Minds” is as it explores the history of the Dark Knight and Man
of Steel teaming up in comics, if you can play Blu-ray’s then I
implore you to get this edition as the “Dinner” is just…a
fantastic piece.
Let me paint a brief picture of it for
you: I’m not sure how many of you out there have seen the Jon
Favreau Dinner for Five series, but in it he gathers a
group of friends (or actors he admires, whatever…whoever shows
up) and they go out to dinner at a restaurant and just talk for
the entire episode. A lot of cool stories come out of these
conversations and even if you aren’t particularly interested in
the actors of the particular week, they’re always entertaining.
But when you encounter an episode where the table has the
director of Iron Man talking with a smattering of four
other individuals that you really admire and whose work you
enjoy? Let me tell you, there’s no other greater way to spend
time in front of your TV.
With that explanation out of
the way, “Dinner with DCU” is exactly like a Dinner
for Five episode. Bruce Timm, Andrea Romano, Gregory Noveck
and Kevin Conroy sit around for nearly an hour and discuss
everything from BTAS to Public Enemies. It’s a
really fantastic piece and while there may be some repeat
stories that you’ve heard from the participants before, it’s
just such an enjoyable piece to watch that you can’t help but
become engrossed in it. Whether it’s casting stories on all of
the Timm DC animated series or these new DC Universe titles,
this featurette has plenty of interesting chatter as well as
plenty of laughs. It’s honestly one of the best featurettes I’ve
seen for some time and while the production values were a bit
wonky at times (there’s a point where Conroy looks into the
camera and then it abruptly cuts away—kind of jarring), I
honestly had just a ton of fun watching it. If they replace
commentary tracks (as this film is lacking one, ala Green
Lantern) with segments like these, then I’m all for it.
They’re just an incredible treat.
A First Look at Justice
League: A Crisis on Two Earths is the only other extra
you’ll really care about here and within it contains some news
that’ll no doubt anger Timm DC series purists. See, Crisis
is a reworked version of Dwayne McDuffie’s Worlds Collide
script, which was originally a Justice League Unlimited
movie that was going to happen at some point. Well it never did,
so they just reworked it into a generic DC comics universe and
while I’m sure people on our forums are going to go positively
crazy/nuts over this news, I have to say I don’t really care.
McDuffie’s been responsible for some of the greatest animated DC
stories in the past several years, so if this is a way to get
this Worlds out of him then more power to DC.
There are those that will cry foul and that the DCAU is
“officially dead” now and go on a crying spree, but honestly
guys. I know you love the series, but is it really that hard to
let go? Hell I’ve invested an inhuman amount of hours into a
website that was created first as a shrine for those shows and I
don’t even care that it’s over (well I care, but I have
all of the shows on DVD so it’s not like they’re gone forever).
Besides, if we get stuff like Public Enemies every so
often, the “spirit” of the DCAU can live on, regardless if
they’re part of the legendary continuity or not. I’d much rather
have one-off’s anyway, as then it doesn’t have to muck around
with pre-established continuity.
Well that was
unexpected rant to have…but, I had to get it off my chest. I
also felt it necessary since I honestly felt a lot more
comfortable in Public Enemies world than I have in any of
the others so far—it was the easiest to slip into. Which is
surprising, because the animation style is way different…but it
was the familiarity of the voices and the simpler writing style
that made it such an entertaining viewing.
Now if you’ll
excuse me, I’m off to watch this flick again. Highly
Recommended.
[ Back to Reviews ] |
|
|
|
|
|
Superman, Batman, and related characters
and indicia are property of DC Comics and WB, 2009.
The World's Finest and everything
relating to this site - copyright, 1998 - 2009. |
|
