Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

[ZariusTwo]

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2930704921/

They pick the oddest storylines to adapt for movies....Jeph Loeb's all sound, no story s*itfest over Geoff Jones and Richard Donner's "Last Son"? SRSLY?

[Brodie]

It may be odd, but Ed McGuinness' art style is so cool looking animated.

[Voltron]

I remember reading this and thinking: "Oh, this seems pretty cool."

Then I read the ending and thought: "Oh, this is super ****ing retarded."

Jeph Loeb couldn't write his way out of a paper bag.

[ZariusTwo]

Downloaded a leaked version

It's pretty much just Batman and Superman making everyone out for the bounty look like morons and Captain Atom's group play even LESS of a role. Why were they even there? Lex was sorely underplayed, but there's quite a dose of dark comedy around his character. The scenes where he hugs, then later kisses Amanda Waller...

The precious few doses of interior continuity Loeb uses arent here, and other things inherant to the story itself arent here either...as such, Atom and Power Girl's character arcs go nowhere and they end up in the role of belated sidekicks despite very promising build-up. Atom was one of the best things about the real story, and they even took his moment of sacrifice away from him here..not only does Bruce succeed in destroying the Asteroid, he survives the explosion because the main control module is detatched from the robot and drifts in space until Supes picks it up. Everyone survives.

Lexcorp Tower isnt destroyed, it doesnt even show up.

The Superman/Batman robot, the worst part of Loeb's story, remained intact...the kid who designed it looked a little to stereotypically anime-like.

Aside from that, it's all there the Metallo murder, the Batman/Superman chatter. Amanda Waller got a large part too. A very DCAU-friendly movie...but like the Loeb version, it's basicly just Batman and Superman cleaning house and nobody else is intended to look capable of sharing their spotlight.

Lex comes into power during the recession, and he makes his first speech Obama-style...hmm...looks like we got a reason for Lex not being black here.

These DCAU movies are consistently overhyped. I thought the animation was second-to-none, Ed's work really does look dynamite on-screen, and, for once, it was nice to see one of the least angsty D.C stories adapted (certaingly the least depressing Loeb would stoop to) as there's far too many series and comics where good doesnt often overcome evil in the way it does here.

Very much a "bad guys suck" movie, but like a lot of these overhyped moves, download it, don't buy it.

[Raph's Girl]

I liked it a bit but I felt that PowerGirl seemed too young and innocent. She was mostly SuperGirl with big boobs. And the Toy Man used has never really been my fave one....he was such a little pervert. :lol: Whoever designed Amanda Waller should be fired. She looked more like one of Jabba the Hutt's arms. I totally gagged when Lex kissed her. Ugh! But yeah I did notice ALOT of similarities between what's going on in the real world and the film.

[Leo656]

Still looking forward to it, still gonna buy it. Actually liked the comic version. Superman and Batman kicking ass in "summer action movie" style? What else does one need?

I'm as big a fan of introspective plots and character development as much as the next guy, but seriously... there's a reason why Morrison's JLA book was much more welcomed and is much more fondly remembered than the current Justice League of America: Morrison had Superman and Batman vs Luthor and the Joker, Meltzer gave us insightful, emotional character arcs about... Red Tornado and Vixen. Mmmmkay.

There's a time for insightful storytelling, and there's a time to do a popcorn movie. Superman and Batman vs. a gazillion villains and misguided good guys simply does not need the baggage of other characters' growing and sharing over the course of 90 minutes.

As said above, it's Superman and Batman punching people out. Do we really need more than that to be happy? How jaded are we?

[Brodie]

I'm gonna watch it, i might buy it in a little bit, or suggest it for a Christmas present.

[ZariusTwo]

I have not read a JLA comic since "Tower of Babel" and it's aftermath (Issue 50). Not a whole lot of credibility there when you essentially reveal Batman can kick anyone's ass anytime before you even start being one.

Ever read Public Enemies Redux? (http://www.ys3.org/?page_id=5)

[Leo656]

Picked this up the day it came out, thought it was great. Wasn't perfect, still could'a done without the giant robot but I guess they were trying to keep SOME of it true to the book. Animation and dialog were excellent. I wouldn't cry if all future Superman animated movies were done with McGuinness's art style.

Can see what people would not like, but still find it nitpicky. It was well-done and it was fun; Captain Atom etc. can wait for their own movie to feel important. I can see it now: "Captain Atom: I'm Monarch! Wait, No I'm Not! Is Armageddon 2001 Still Canon?" :lol:

[ZariusTwo]

Thanks for bringing up "Armageddon 2001". "Executive Action!" is still in my personal canon as the conclusion of the John Byrne era.:)

[Leo656]

I must be in the minority, but I kinda dug Armageddon 2001... but then again I love Dan Jurgens. I just remember how I was going nuts that summer as a kid buying all the Annuals to see all the characters' possible futures. Great concept with a lackluster ending. The Superman Annuals were awesome, though.

Countdown kinda tried to 'fix' it by making Cap into Monarch once and for all but looks like that bit got changed too and he's just Captain Atom again... or was that an alternate Earth Cap in Countdown? I'm confused about that...

On-topic of DCU Animated, Crisis On Two Earths looks pretty sweet from the DVD preview but I wish they'd do a Flash solo one already. And did anyone else think "Crisis On Two Earths" looks like an almost exact rip of Morrison's "JLA: Earth 2"? They didn't come out and say so, but I swear it's the exact same thing...