Review: Superman/Batman Public Enemies

While Batman and Superman investigate an on-coming meteorite big enough to destroy the world made completely of Kryptonite, Lex Luthor, now President of the United States, devises a plan to frame Superman for murder and puts a 1 billion dollar bounty on his head. As the 2 heroes continue their attempts at stopping the meteorite, they are forced to fight a number or heroes and villains all looking to stop the now criminal duo.

Another in what will be a long line of DC animated movies, Bruce Timm and company continue their fantastic portrayal of the DC Universe in animation form. In tow is the original voices of Lex Luthor, Superman, and Batman from Timm's first television series, Clancy Brown, Tim Daly, and Kevin Conroy respecitvelly. Kevin Conroy especially. He is easily the most recognizable Batman performer, but hearing Tim Daly, who was unavailable to play Superman in the Justice League spin-off of his show. His replacement, George Newbern, went over smoothly, but it was not until this video I realized how great Daly is as Superman. He brings a certain gentle strength needed for the ultimate boyscout with super strength. The cast is surrounded with various other slightly familiar voice actors like John C. McGinley, Levar Burton, and Allison Mack all of which were ultimately underused leaving most of the dialog to the 3 stars. Corey Burton, a long time Timm collaborator, provides the voice for Captain Marvel, but seems very out of place. It is hard to put your finger on it.

The animation was much different than what Timm fans would be used to. The muscle is much more defined, and other little details were also much more apparent as opposed to the tv series. The design overall were mild improvements, but some things dropped the ball. Captain Marvel was given comedically squinty eyes and Amanda Waller was drawn more like Violet from willy Wonka than your everday overweight lady. And even though everyone had ridiculously inflated muscles, Captain Atom's looked the most strange.

The story itself does what Superman/Batman comic series does best. It spotlights the relationship between Superman and Batman. Two heroes from incredibly different backgrounds and powersets getting along like some of the best partners in fictional history a la Butch and Sundance or Han and Chewy, never more so than in the scene where both are injured and helping each other back to the Bat-cave. The two call each other by their real names, and volley quips back and forth with eachother like two co-workers carpooling. But it also balanced the side-story of the obsessive Lex Luthor and his attempts at being both President and super-villain (some would say that is very familiar). The ultimate flaw of this movie is that the large cast, the dual storylines of Superman/Batman and Lex Luthor are crammed into little over an hour. A cynical bunch have claimed foul on 2+ hour movies that have become popular, but usually the time is needed for proper character development and good plot pacing. So many interesting characters are just glossed over.

Superman/Batman is one of the better DC animated movies, but they have yet to make a lot of them so who knows.

8/10

Top 100 Comic Characters Part 2

Part 1


50. Morph
49. Toyman II
48. Captain America II/ Bucky
47. Gambit
46. Human Torch
45. The Question
44. Medusa
43. Hellboy
42. Cannonball
41. Nick Fury
40. Darkhawk
39. Deathstroke
38. Beast
37. Red Devil
36. Star Lord
35. The Thing
34. Cyborg
33. Rorschach
32. Metamorpho
31. Joker
30. Green Arrow
29. Torick Brown
28. Cal MacDonald
27. Spiderman
26. Captain America I
25. Plastic Man
24. Two Face
23. Robin III
22. Thor
21. Wonder Girl
20. Martian Manhunter
19. Emma Frost
18. Bullseye
17. Lobster Johnson
16. Nite-Owl II
15. Nightwing
14. Green Lantern Guy Gardner
13. Nightcrawler
12. Iceman
11. Superman
10. Alfred Pennyworth
9. Red Arrow
8. Firebrand (I don't know why he's so high)
7. The Flash/ Wally West
6. Iron Fist
5. Wolverine
4. Madrox
3. Hitman Tommy Monaghan
2. Batman
1. Deadpool

Casting Call: Superman

Didn't feel like waiting for next Tuesday to so this. In casting Superman, you hear A LOT of terrible suggestions. Once you get passed the wrestlers and bodybuilders that people cannot help but bring up for God knows why, you can find some people who have actually acted before. Except, of course, for Brandon Routh, who although has appeared in movies, I'm not sure I would actually call it acting. Henry Cavil and Michael Trucco are strong suggestions in my opinion. Both have found niche performances that have put them on everybody's ears. If had to pick one of the above I would certainly pick Cavill.


But I have a different idea of who should play Superman

Don't laugh, bare with me.......



RYAN REYNOLDS

manip by MOS86 of Bluetights

Yeah, he's known for a goofball, but he has more than proven that he is capable of actually acting when necessary.

First of he's tall, fit, handsome, and has dark hair (although it would probably need to be made darker).He doesn't look like Brandon Supes-jumped-off-the-page Routh, but he easily outclasses Routh in terms of acting. Not that is a hard thing to do, Routh could easily be substituted with a Superman cardboard cut out and no one would have noticed. I really think people get hung up too much on looks, and his looks are the only reason Routh is even still being seriously considered. It is this hang up that has led most suggestions to be completely debunked by the fanbases because a hair was out of place. There's also sweeping generalities like "his face isn't right" that gets dropped for so many actors

First of all, Clark Kent is a bigger part of the Superman character than I think many realize. He's not just a bumbling fool act Kal-El puts on to avoid suspicion. The private Clark Kent is the groundwork of Superman. He is the blue collar, honest, hard working, and productive member of society that has laid the foundation for the strong, confident, and just superhero, Superman. Ryan Reynolds is naturally a nice guy and there is no doubt in my mind that he could very well already be the private Clark Kent. But the public Clark Kent (the fool) would probably be a stronger performance. Reynolds' experience with comedy and light-hearted characters has granted him the ability to depict funny, endearing, loveable goofballs. No more over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek Kent, where pieces of food stick out of his mouth when he is eating a sandwich (Oh Singer!). It is the one thing I hated about Donner's original flick, and I was incredibly disappointed for Singer to bring it over. Just watching the trailer for The Proposal I feel like I see Clark Kent more naturally than anyone else has been able to perform, albeit more sarcastic.

There is also no doubt in my mind that Reynolds could pull off Superman. He is charismatic. He has great screen presence. And most of all, he has approached just about everyone of his characters with an air of confidence. Now, because the bulk of his more popular movies have been comedies this usually becomes something more of arrogance, but the simple act of being able to command the screen is translatable. I have already seen it. In Foolproof, he plays a one third of a group that likes to create foolproof heist scenarios, confident but as a member of a ensemble he did not command as much as usual. In Finder's Fee, he plays a member of a regular poker game gone wrong mainly because of his jump to action, much more of an introverted character than Superman though. In Smokin' Aces, he plays a junior varsity Fed turned varsity when he takes lead at a hotel to stop a chaotic shootout. In The Nines, he plays 3 different characters with great range, and each were creators in a sense and when it came to asking the difficult questions and fighting for his material, he did so strongly.

To me Reynolds has a good enough look and is more than capable of giving both a great Clark Kent and Superman performance. Most will say he's already associated with superhero movies, he shouldn't do another. Well, his character from Blade is definitely not going anywhere. And I admit, if there was anyone he was BORN to play its certainly Deadpool, but I don't see a problem playing more than one character, especially when they are from two different publishers thus from 2 different shared universe theoretically. Plus he's an actor. That's what they do: play other roles.

Some will say that, if anyone, he should play the Flash. There was a time I wanted him for Flash, but as an actor, he seems to have grown out of that character, and he never seemed as gung ho about Flash as he did Deadpool. When asked about the Flash it was like, "Yeah it would be nice to do," and Deadpool was like," Fuck yea, he's the merc with a mouth. How could I not?"

If there is anything concrete that would say Reynolds as Superman would never happen, its Reynolds himself. From the Blade Trinity Message Boards:

"It´s been brought up a few times. I´ve loved this character my whole life - in the same way that I´d be intimidated to play Superman, the character would require far too much of a responsibility to the fans. I´d be too in my head trying to get it right instead of just letting it flow. Not to mention, it´s been done," said Reynolds.

Which is really too bad, but like I said, he has grown as an actor, proven his mettle in my opinion, and could easily embody the character despite the stubborn fanbase hung up on looks.

If someone actually reads this, I already know that people will have a pretty passionate response, and almost all will be negatively. I'm sure plenty will make up their minds and even comment without even reading too much of the post in general.