Review of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009) by Kevin M — 16 Apr 2016

Clancy Brown adds a great, scheme-tastic Lex Luthor to his resume of baddies. He falls between Hackman Luthor and Spacey Luthor; more believably dangerous (on a large scale) than Hackman, and more dynamic and charismatic than Spacey. His mental degeneration from repentant and respected politician to flat-out psycho is quite subtly handled as well, especially considering the fact that the film only lasts just over an hour, though the Kryptonite steroids bit does come a little too out of nowhere for my taste.

As well as all the fun and interesting character moments, Public Enemies is stuffed with quality fights. There is one particular Battle Royal about half way through after Luthor has put a billion-dollar bounty on the heads of our heroes. Just about every DC supervillain I know (and about a hundred more that I donâ??t, including a telepathic gorilla!) show up to try to collect. It is scenes like this where the animated features will always outstrip live-action. It is good for the drama to see Superman taking a beating every now and then â?? something the films have often struggled to bring to the screen.