Superman/Batman: Public Enemies was released on September 29th, 2009. Directed by Sam Liu and written by Stan Berkowitz it is an adaption of a story arc from Jeph Loeb & Ed McGuinness's run on
Superman/Batman comic.
In the first few moments of the film it is established that Lex Luthor has become the President of the United States because a financial crisis (this movie was released the wake of the 2008 housing market crash and following recession) has eroded public trust in the major parties. Most superheroes are seemingly on board with this in the interest of democracy and the hope that Luthor's desire for power and prestige will lead him to make decisions in the public interest. Superman and Batman however, are convinced that Luthor has some ulterior agenda that is not in the interest of the country.
The main plot involves a kryptonite meteor that is headed toward earth, which Luthor plans to eradicate using nuclear missiles. He sets up a meeting with Superman, ostensibly to form an alliance, where the Man of Steel is attacked by Metallo. Batman shows up to aid his friend and both barely escape with their lives. Luthor then has Metallo killed (off-screen) and frames the two heroes for his murder using footage taken from their fight. He puts out a one-billion dollar bounty on Superman. As a result of this Superman and Batman are attacked by a myriad of supervillians most of whom are defeated rather easily by the heroes. The rest dispersed by an energy blast from Captain Atom who, along with Katana, Black Lightning, Power Girl, Starfire, and Major Force arrive on the scene to arrest Superman and Batman. Once again they escape.
Clark and Bruce begin investigating Metallo's death and looking into Luthor's plan to stop the meteor, as they suspect foul play. Power Girl, torn between her loyalty to her team and to her friends eventually side with the world's finest. Batman figures out that Luthor ordered Major Force to kill Metallo and convinces Captain Atom and his team to stop hunting him and Superman. They then go to Luthor's base in the mountains to retrieve data on the meteor. There they are attacked by Hawkman and Captain Marvel.
Meanwhile, Amanda Waller discovers that Lex has been juicing with Kryptonite, causing him to lose his grip on reality. His missiles, she finds out, were never intended to stop the meteor, which he wants to hit earth so he can rule over whatever remains of society. This raises all kinds of questions. How is Luthor able to maintain his
mask of sanity in public? Why, after all this time, does he recklessly reveal this to Waller? How has no one discovered his madness before this? Why, after the initial attempt to stop the
missiles fails, does he furiously attempt to come up with a new plan?
Batman and Superman eventually break into the base but Luthor escapes them. Waller gives them the data on the meteor which they take to the Japanese Toyman, who has designed a spacecraft to destroy it. Luthor shows up and destroys the controls, causing Batman to pilot the ship manually. Superman, believing that his friend has sacrificed himself, destroys Luthor's battle suit in a fit of rage and Captain Atom shows up to arrest the traitorous president. Of course, it turns out that the spacecraft was built to withstand the impact and Bruce survives.
As the story is incredibly rushed the emotional of Power Girl's torn loyalty, Major Force's betrayal, and Batman's sacrifice is basically nonexistent.
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is a film that essentially
functions as an excuse to show the titular characters duking it out with
various other DC heroes and villains from Metallo to Power Girl to
Banshee to Captain Marvel. As such you would think the plot would be
fairly straight forward but it's not, it's confusing, convoluted and
ultimately makes no sense. This wouldn't really be a problem if so much
screen time wasn't devoted to the plot machinations.
Public Enemies is not without it merits. The action scenes are pretty well done, though many of them are rushed and lack satisfying conclusions. Batman and Superman have a lot of chemistry and it's always fun watching them play off of each other. The cast is great, especially Kevin Conroy and Tim Daly (reprising their roles from the
Batman and
Superman animated series respectively). The animation is pretty decent although, as a matter of personal preference, I'm not a huge fan of Ed McGuinness blocky art-style and this streamlined version of it it even less appealing.
In the end
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies can't decide if it wants to be as a simple excuse for superhero action or a functioning narrative story. As a result it doesn't end up succeeding at either.
Score: 6/10
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