Marval Movie

Everyone knows who they are, they are the two greatest heroes in the world. One is the big-blue-boy-scout, he wears bright colors goes out at day and has the powers of a god. The other is the Dark Knight, he wears dark colors, has no powers and has to rely on his wits and gadgets. How could these two ever work together?

When you have two of the greatest superheroes working together you've got to have a threat that's big enough that calls for both of them to be together. Lex Luthor is a good start, how about Luthor as president? When the movie starts we see the nation in a state of panic because of some kind of financial inflation, and Luthor in the middle of this carnage steps up and gets elected as president.

Later we see Superman easily handling a car chase, and meeting up with a few heroes who are now under Luthor's employ as government agents, they talk about Luthor's apparent reform but of course Superman say "I'll never trust him, he's a sick man" to which Major Force funnily reply's "He's not the only one to sit in the oval office." Meanwhile there is a huge meteor heading for earth, this could be easily handled except that the meteor is made of solid Kryptonite, so along with the Luthor trouble Superman goes to Batman for strategic help.

The man of steel is played by Tim Daly, who is reprising his role from Superman: The Animated Series. He hasn't played the character since 2000 and he slips back into the role with great ease, he was always one of my favorite Superman's, he is strong and commanding but you can tell he is gentle by nature. Batman is played by Kevin Conroy who hasn't been far from the role since 1992 with Batman: The Animated Series, he may be my absolute favorite Batman, he's dark, direct, no nonsense and always carrying the emotional weight of being Batman. Clancy Brown also reprises his role as Lex Luthor, he too has also been one of my favorites he encompasses the slimy businessman side of Lex as well as the egotistical mad scientist.

The drawing style is very much focused on the strong man idea of superheroes. All the heroes here have very tight outfits and look as if they have been taking steroids with their cereal.

The real strength of the movie comes with the interaction with Superman and Batman and how different they are. There's a scene where the two need to break into a lab, they are spotted Superman says "Now I really do look like a criminal" to which Batman responds "It's done wonders for me." They have had different experiences, go about their duties in different ways but they are on the same side even if their personality's don't match up all the time.

The two best scenes are when a battered Batman and an injured Superman have to get to the bat-cave, none of them are in good condition to fight or even walk straight. Each one leans on the other and together they slowly work their way to their goal. The other really good scene in the movie comes later when Batman steers a giant ship to destroy the meteor, Superman punches Luthor and says "That was my best friend, and you just murdered him." This is a great scene because it shows how close the two have grown beneath all the jokes and differences and probably if you've saved the world and had your life saved by a certain person, you would consider them a friend despite all differences.

Public Enemies is a high flying adventure that does not rely on the gimmick of having these two icons together, it relays on the strength of the two characters, playing to their strengths and their weaknesses.

Rating 3 stars out of 4