Superman/Batman Public Enemies Review

(I am not a comic otaku, but I will do my best to reflect the connections of the adaptation to the comics, as I do for any other film based on a comic or literature.)

The premise of this film confuses me a bit and sifting through it at a random point in the film does make the pairing a bit odd, though Batman and Superman are decent friends. The difficulty is that they are somewhat on opposite sides of at least one fence: the issue of how to advance justice. Batman’s much more of a vigilante, while Superman follows the law to the letter, not killing and especially not using dirty tactics (as he would accuse Batman of doing). But only a minute into the film and I can see why the two would eventually ally with each other: Lex Luthor has become president. So onto plot synopsis.

We’re introduced to a series of scenes with news commentary in the background showing the world spiraling into chaos with economic depression as a major cause. Lex Luthor is running for president on a third party campaign and people are understandably skeptical, not to mention suggesting he’s buying the election. Lex suggests otherwise on what appears to be the Larry King Show and insists he’s the best man for the job. He makes defending America from aliens and vigilante superheroes the main thrust of his campaign. He recruits Captain Atom, Black Lightning, Power Girl, Katana and Major Force (the last one’s esp. ironic, since Major Force is Captain Atom’s nemesis in the comics, so their teaming up makes me think he’s gonna change sides eventually) for the side of America, against Superman and such, it seems. Superman stops a guy from causing a major traffic accident, reprimanded by Luthor’s goons (the two nuclear men and Power Girl) that he’s not doing the best he could, Superman replying that he helps where he’s needed. But his former “friends” insist that he should admit that Luthor is actually in the right for trying to get metahumans on the side of the government. Not to mention Power Girl observing that the world is actually stable for once. Superman doesn’t buy it though, but Captain Atom insists that at this point Superman’s just jealous that Lex is putting his intellect to work helping people, while Superman can only throw around his power. Superman refuses their offer a second time and flies away, Captain Atom suggesting Superman is being selfish. Elsewhere, Lex finds out through his scientists that a meteor of pure kryptonite is due to hit earth in 7 days. Lex replies that there won’t be an impact, Amanda Waller (fat blob of lard she’s depicted as here) asking what he means. Lex suggests missiles, Amanda a bit skeptical, mentioning that he could use the superhumans under his influence, but Lex denies this plan, thinking it needs to be done by him, not “freaks and monsters”. Superman and Batman convene as Lex requests to meet with Superman about the meteor, Batman saying that even if Superman went up with a lead suit he couldn’t smash it without destroying the suit. Batman has a plan of his own he’s working on, but it’s pushed to the side as the two part ways and say that they won’t help each other or expect help if things go bad. Superman meets with Lex, who provokes him by suggesting that his backup plan is to use Superman as his soldier, the representative of the country that Superman has sworn to protect. It is then revealed that Lex has Metallo as a failsafe to stop Superman. Lex escapes while Superman and Metallo fight, the balance shifting back and forth for a while until Batman manages to save Superman, but nearly gets killed himself. Metallo takes a shard of the kryptonite in his chest and shoots it at Superman. Batman disrupts Metallo’s constitution again and tries to help Superman with the kryptonite bullet. Metallo buries them, but Batman has a plan of escape, getting into the sewers under the graveyard. The two exchange friendly banter as they retreat to the Batcave, where Alfred fixes up Superman and the pair finds that Lex has now accused Superman of murdering Metallo (which would be impossible, since there’s one suspect that could’ve killed him that we saw in the background). Lex supplants his accusation with the hypothesis from his scientists that the Kryptonite meteor is affecting Superman psychologically, making everyone more paranoid of him than they were before, not to mention he puts a bounty of a billion dollars on Superman’s head. Power Girl argues with Lex that Superman didn’t murder Metallo, but Lex twists her mind with the idea of Superman and him not being so different in being able to change drastically. At S.T.A.R. Labs, Batman is breaking in, Superman coming back from a fight with Lois (I guess). Superman smells something odd as Batman is hacking the computers, and they discover Metallo’s corpse. They are forced to escape, but are separated by Silver Banshee. Superman fights against her, while Batman is confronted by Captain Cold, Icicle, Killer Frost and Mr. Freeze. Superman takes out Silver Banshee and then the other ice themed villains, Batman disabling Banshee for the moment as they continue to be pursued. Superman fights off Mongul, while Batman is nearly drowned by a surprisingly talkative Solomon Grundy, but takes him out with gas from his mask. But Batman is suddenly assaulted by Lady Shiva of all people. He beats her off, as Superman does Mongul and Nightshade attacks them, but then it turns out that Gorilla Grodd has been controlling all three and they subsequently kick his butt. But then an even larger group of villains out for the bounty attack, the battle stopped by Captain Atom’s group (plus Starfire) blasting into the center. Elsewhere on a helicopter, Lex seems to be having a migraine, but he gets over it as he is eager to put his plan into action. Captain Atom directs a tirade against Superman, saying he doesn’t have a choice, that he’s just doing his job as a soldier. Batman and Superman fend off the group, Superman summoning a huge tornado with his speed and escaping with Power Girl who he senses is on their side. Lex is decidedly frustrated and Captain Atom responds to Major Force’s suggestion that they kill them that the military doesn’t kill (without need), which Major Force laughs at. Superman talks with Power Girl about trusting her instincts about Lex when Captain Atom’s group finds them again. Batman, fighting off Major Force, inquires whether Metallo was surprised, indicating he knows Major Force killed him. He insists he was doing what was right for his country, Batman responding that he was just looking for an excuse to kill. Power Girl punches Major Force so hard his containment suit starts to leak and Captain Atom manages to seal it, likely absorbing all of Major Force’s power in the process, killing the nuclear counterpart and knocking him out. Lex’s missile plan fails, as the radiation detonated the warheads before they impacted. Superman and Batman try to sneak into the facility nearby, thwarted by Hawkman and Captain Marvel, who they beat back by eventually switching enemies, but are thwarted by tricks pulled on both of them. Lex is predictably unpopular with the failure of his supposed research plan (that’s the line he gives on the big screen anyway).But it’s revealed he’s been taking steroid cocktails and liquid Kryptonite injections and doesn’t care if the meteorite hits, since he plans to use the chaos of the aftermath to take over the remaining population. Superman and Batman appear disguised as Captain Marvel and Hawkman and force Lex to give them the data they need, but he deletes all the files. Amanda Waller expectedly switches sides and gives them the info they need. Lex runs away from the government attempting to arrest him, gets into a huge power-suit and kicks the army’s ass. Elsewhere in Japan, a different version of Toyman is pissing off Powergirl with X-ray goggles and reveals he has made a huge mecha of Superman and Batman fused together. Lex attacks the facility and eventually Batman is forced to pilot the mecha himself, since Toyman’s calculations weren’t quite finished when Lex smashed his computer. Superman and Lex continue fighting with Lex at a significant advantage for a while, but after Batman leaves, Superman gets serious, convinced Batman will die piloting the ship to the meteorite. Batman is nearly to the Krypto-meteor, while Lex is chased by Superman across the world (practically) and Superman finally hands Lex his ass, while Batman impacts the mecha. Superman imagines Batman is dead and even with Lex’s threat that he’s the president, Superman knocks his lights out. Superman is told that Batman might have survived, flying into space while Lex’s previous servants now proceed to beat him up more off screen (I imagine). Superman saves Batman, Lex still raving on about being the president in his less than sane state after all those injections. Batman leaves Superman for the Batcave and Clark hugs Lois as the film concludes, the world saved for another day.

Superman and Batman, the most important characters, are depicted well. Superman has the characteristic individuality without being as rebellious as Batman, but he also fights for what’s right alongside his pointy eared partner. His appearance seems more youthful than usual, not to mention his demonstrably ripped physique, usually suppressed. Batman is the no nonsense and reasonable side of the team, dependent on his wits and his technology, unlike Superman with his raw power. Lex Luthor is portrayed well, a charismatic but egomaniacal person who insists that his genius intellect gives him the right to do whatever he feels is necessary to advance whatever agenda he has. His descent into madness is classic of many plots in the DC animated universe involving him (Justice League Unlimited had about 3 I think) and in this case, the use of liquid Kryptonite and steroids was a nice touch. Amanda Waller is a key foil for Luthor, but her depiction would have made me spit take if I was drinking anything. She looks like a freaking toad bulging out of a suit. Her Justice League Unlimited counterpart was heavyset, but the animation style was more gracious to her, whereas this version is just ugly on purpose. Her contrast with Luthor is only evident as he is driven mad by his lust for power and she takes a more practical approach to save America. Power Girl, Captain Atom, Black Lightning, Katana and Major Force are all somewhat critical to the conflict between Lex and Superman as well as that between the previous friends of the Man of Steel against him by duty to America (though Black Lightning and Katana are minor players). Major Force is predictably a wolf in sheep’s clothing and Power Girl is one of the only women in the film to play an important role (though I question how she’s to be taken seriously when her cleavage is out there for all to see). Captain Atom is a neutral party for a time until Lex is revealed to be truly evil.

The primary theme is emphasized with the conflicts of the two groups of superheroes, Power Girl changing sides as well. On the one hand there are those that don’t trust someone like Lex Luthor, however much he may insist he has changed. And there are those that think that a sacrifice of values, such as serving under Lex Luthor as President, is for the betterment of the United States, while realizing eventually that they’re being manipulated to serve the ends of his egomania. The conflict between Batman and Superman is resolved rather quickly since they both see where they agree even if Batman is not so much a people person and prefers the dark and less than legal methods sometimes, whereas Superman is very much a social hero and tries to follow the law, not killing anyone or threatening them. In short, the themes are better reduced to character relationships more than abstract ideas represented by the characters.

In conclusion, this film is excellent, adapting the first part of the Superman/Batman comic series well and not confusing one too much. The length is only several minutes over an hour, shortest I’ve watched so far and the plot progresses well enough without excessive distractions from the main narrative. The fights between heroes as well as the unexpected involvement of various villains seeking out Superman’s bounty keep one’s eyes glued on the action. I rate this film a definite 5 out of 5, with a 60% recommendation due to issues of animation style for Amanda Waller especially, not to mention the sexualized issue surrounding Power Girl. Until next time, Namaste and Aloha.

Superman: Doomsday Review

(I am not a comic otaku, I’m a manga otaku. But to appease the fans, I will try to reflect on the movie’s connection to the comic canon itself so as to demonstrate I do appreciate how it began. And there will be spoilers, since this is Direct to DVD anyway)

I’ve recently been interested in the DC Direct to DVD animated films, my first being the Wonder Woman film indicated in the Gotham Knight special features. I watched that, but that review will be next. For the moment, I thought I’d get the Superman: Doomsday review out of my hair, since Superman is not my favorite superhero in DC. Doomsday, on the other hand, is always an interesting villain, even in passing, along with Lex Luthor (because bald is sexy to women apparently). So without further ado, here we go.

The plot is not the most believable and not exactly what you’d expect with Doomsday in the title. Less than 30 minutes into the film, Doomsday’s gone and we never hear from him again. This contrasts with Justice League Unlimited where he was lobotomized by Justice Lord Superman and then came back to fight again even stronger. His primary power, among others, is regeneration, albeit in this case he had to regrow his frontal lobe. In this film, the primary antagonists are Lex Luthor, (which is okay) and a conglomeration of three of the 4 Superman following in the Man of Steel’s footsteps after his untimely death fighting Doomsday in the comics. These are Superboy (since the bad guy is a clone), Eradicator (since he kills people) and Cyborg Superman (since he tried to make people think he was the real thing come back to life). There is the involvement of Toyman from the comics, but he’s been modernized. Not that it’s a problem; it just becomes awkward when he’s abruptly removed from the plot after being dropped from 100 stories in the air onto a car. The fight between Superman and Doomsday is not even the big event of the film which has both their names in it. Our story begins with Lex Luthor, who is involved with a tunneling project that unearths Doomsday sealed in what I assume is his Calatonian prison ship (a comic storyline thing that’s not really investigated at all). He then escapes and wreaks havoc, and Superman stops him, but at the cost of his own life. It’s certainly an epic finish to the battle when Superman flies himself and Doomsday into space and then slams them down into Metropolis, leaving a huge crater in the aftermath. Afterwards, everyone’s sad; people start changing personality and jobs and otherwise get depressed. But then, Superman returns. Or does he? Turns out it’s a clone and Lex Luthor is behind it. He’s trying to make an army of them, but of course fails. Eventually the real Superman (who never really died, since the yellow sun radiation revived him like Jesus) fights the clone and then saves the day. Overall, it’s good, but I will say it makes for an unnecessarily complex idea when we start confusing between two Supermen in the final fight, not to mention the disappointment on my part when I find that the main focus of the film is not the fight between Doomsday, but the aftermath. And it would’ve been especially cool to make a reference to Doomsday’s appearance in the comics, which involves, among other things, Doomsday beating off the entire Justice League (with one hand tied behind his back no less).

The characterizations are excellent, making the jump to modernize the characters to new fans of Superman. Doomsday isn’t changed drastically, but he does seem to be more like an android with his Terminator display screen. And he has no speaking lines, which disappoints me in contrast to Doomsday’s appearance in JLU. He’s not as much of an organic entity as you’d think, but they don’t really get into that, so his character suffers anyway. Superman has a distinctly chiseled square face, but he’s certainly recognizable in any depiction throughout the film (red and blue, black, Clark Kent, etc). Lois Lane takes on a new image as well, with her hair framing her face differently, but the wit and the feminine appeal come through. And you don’t feel like she’s been completely destroyed; though I would accuse her of being a Lana Lang clone in some regards. There’s not much to say on Jimmy Olsen or Perry White; they keep their characters pretty well as the impressionable young adult and stubborn old man. Mercy Graves is a short lived character who isn’t nearly as cool as she was in Superman: The Animated Series. Not to mention she gets shot in the face not 5 minutes after the Superman Doomsday fight. Lex Luthor is probably the most changed, at least in appearances. He’s slimmer and generally more of a coward than any other version in the animated series. He hardly confronts Superman just as he is, he always needs his technology and gadgets and such. Even Batman can talk on an even ground with Superman in virtually every depiction, but this Lex Luthor is a freaking pussy half the time, even if the film does a good job of making him Superman’s true nemesis, as opposed to Doomsday or the Superman Clone. But I really would’ve liked the film to have Doomsday and Lex team up in some twisted fashion, even if it involved Lex turning him into some sort of slave. It would’ve worked better in some respect. Though it also would’ve taken away from the connection you can make to the Death of Superman arc, where people need a new Superman, and yet they’re shocked when the new Superman is not what they expected, which is what the film excels at in the plot. They did, however, make the Superman Doomsday fight rushed and seemed to use Doomsday as an excuse to make more sales for the film. I guess it would’ve been boring to call it something like “Superman: Identity Crisis” which could’ve worked, but that idea wasn’t evident until at least 40 minutes into the film.

The most interesting of the themes throughout the film is the investigation of Superman’s god- complex that might occur when he takes the law into his own hands. This is not unlike the Justice Lords storyline in Justice League Unlimited, though that extended to the entire Justice League. There’s also the involvement of the Lois/Superman/Clark Kent relationship and how Lois knows Superman is Clark Kent, but she wants Superman to admit it, which I don’t get (female thing that I don’t understand well). And there’s Lex Luthor’s general love-hate relationship with Superman. This comes in the form of a scene that takes the movie down to a maximum of 4. He has gloves with Kryptonite crystals on the knuckles and a red sun radiation room that weakens Superman as he walks in. Lex proceeds to note that they are Christmas colors and that Superman has been a naughty boy. I’m not kidding, he says that, and pummels Superman’s lights out in the process. But the overall narrative works, even if they spread out the antagonists a bit too thin and don’t really confront Doomsday’s potential resurrection and Superman fighting him a second time with reduced powers. The themes are there, but the method of bringing them out leaves much to be improved, not to mention the general Superman feel isn’t there, since it suffers from Spiderman 3 syndrome in having more than 2 villains in the same film, which inevitably makes for a convoluted and confusing film.

Overall, I’d have to give the film a 4, but a low 4, at 40-50% recommendation. There’s a lot of awkwardness and general confusion that ruins your expectations, even if they’re admittedly naïve to begin with. But it does present a compelling Superman story to look into his psyche and his relationship with Lois Lane, as well as showing his determination to protect the people even in a situation where he’d otherwise lose. So I’d recommend it, but probably just as a rental. Until next time, Namaste and aloha.