Harsh Times, Resilient Heroes
The opening minutes of Public Enemies informs us that a poor economy has engulfed the nation and the citizens are desperate for relief. Using these desperate times as a springboard, Lex Luthor becomes the President. Of course, we all know Lex to be of the conniving type, so this apparent kind gesture to the nation couldn’t be without some other ulterior motive. That is indeed the case, as Lex uses his leverage in office to create a scandal against Superman.
Meanwhile, a meteor laced with kryptonite is headed towards Earth. Luthor appears to be planning to destroy it with nuclear warheads, but this too is more of a diversion than a sincere effort. Batman and Superman know he’s up to no good, but the Justice League is convinced by Luthor that it’s Batman and Superman who are the bad guys. This scenario makes for an action-heavy movie instead of one that focuses much on character development. The result are some great fighting scenes pitting the duo against waves of superhero attack.
With the powers of Luthor and the Justice League against them, Superman’s brawn and Batman’s brains will have to work together to overcome these intimidating odds in order to rid Luthor of power and stop the meteor. For a sixty-seven minute movie, it’s a lot to tackle and the pacing of the film is accordingly swift.
That’s not to say the movie isn’t enjoyable or doesn’t present itself very well. Public Enemies uses a great combination of 2D and 3D animation to create a really impressive visual experience. I thought the animations, colors, and techniques were all excellent. The soundtrack includes music from the Batman and Superman Animated Series’. Better still is that the voice cast includes Kevin Conroy as Batman, Tim Daly as Superman, and Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor. Having these original voice actors reprise their roles from the animated shows was the obvious decision, and it adds a lot to the film’s merit.
Single Disc Edition DVD Release
When released next week, Public Enemies will be available in three or four different SKUs. For review, we received the single disc DVD edition, which includes a standard snap keepcase and a lone disc. On the disc is the film and several extra features. These features include:
-Blackest Night: Inside DC Comics Event – Lasting about nine minutes, this is an interesting interview/making of feature about the DC comics story arc known as The Blackest Night. Geoff Johns (writer for Green Lantern), Dan Didio (Executive Editor at DC), and Peter Tomasi (Green Lantern Corps writer) all talk about the Blackest Night run of comics that started this July. Lots of still images related to the comics are shown as these fellas talk about the significance of the comics.
-Wonder Woman: The Amazon Princess – A ten and a half minute feature on Wonder Woman. Dan Didio and several other DC folks, along with some of the voice actors for the Wonder Woman animated film that was released back in March discuss the importance and origin of Wonder Woman, with lots of still images to compliment the discussion.
-Batman Gotham Knight: An Anime Revolution – Gregory Noveck (Senior VP Creative Affairs for DC), Bruce Timm (DC Producer, Animator), and Dan Didio, as well as several others, talk about Batman in anime. Lots of animation and still images are shown from various Japanese anime perspectives of Batman — cool stuff. This feature also runs about ten minutes.
-From Graphic Novel To New Original Movie: Justice League: The New Frontier – Paul Levitz (DC President), Sander Schwartz (Executive Producer of Frontier) and Darwyn Cooke (Writer and Artist for Frontier) talk about Justice League: The New Frontier that came out last year. Once again, lots of still images from the production are included.
-Green Lantern: First Flight Sneak Peek – A ten minute look at the Green Lantern animated film which I watched about two weeks ago. Great movie; you’ll hear more folks from DC talk and see more images and clips from the film in this ten minute extra.
-Trailers – Trailers for Green Lantern: First Flight, Fringe, and Batman: Arkham Asylum are included.
Let’s get to the summary…