Superman/Batman: Public Enemies [Blu-ray]

Based on the six-issue comic-book arc by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness, Superman/Batman Public Enemies finds DC's stalwart heroes on the wrong side of the law. It's not too surprising, considering Lex Luthor has been elected President of the United States, and he sets up an elaborate scheme to frame his archenemy for murdering his henchman, Metallo. That puts a bounty on their heads that a horde of supervillains is determined to collect, and a good part of the movie is dedicated to all-out action against Gorilla Grodd, Captain Cold, and many, many others. And when it's not supervillains, Superman and Batman have to face off against heroes that Luthor has recruited to his administration, including Captain Atom, Power Girl, Katana, and Starfire. The movie is very faithful to its source material, reusing many of the dialogue lines, though without the internal monologues, and some of the situations toward the end of the book are missing.

At 69 minutes, Public Enemies is fairly short for a DC Universe animated movie and perhaps because the original story is part of an ongoing series, it feels more like a string of episodes from one of executive producer Bruce Timm's TV series rather than an event like Wonder Woman or The New Frontier. But it's entertaining to watch, and highlighted by the return of familiar voices Tim Daly (Superman), Kevin Conroy (Batman), and Clancy Brown (Luthor). Inside joke: Smallville's Allison Mack voices Power Girl. --David Horiuchi