Bats and Supes doing battle against other superheroes…. President Lex Luthor… a kryptonite meteor on its way to Earth.  These are just three of the major plots in the new animated PG-13 rated movie from the D.C. Universe: Batman/Superman: Public Enemies. And as far as I am concerned, the best so far.

Following a country-wide economic collapse, the megalomaniac, billionaire is elected leader of the United States, apparently he was in the right place at the right time and promised prosperity for all (HEHE).  The movie, nor the comic stated such, but I have a feeling ol’ Lexy was more of the problem surrounding the collapse then the recovery.  After taking over the Oval Office, some of the Justice Leagufor some reason came to join Luthor to make the country “safe.”

In a scheme to lure Superman into a trap, the president asks to meet to discuss working together to destroy the approaching meteor.  Instead, he has the cybernetic, kryptonite-hearted Metallo lying in wait.  During the battle with assistance from Batman, Metallo is “murdered” and a billion dollar bounty is placed on the Man of Steel.  This draws out almost every greedy minor villain conceivable.  Not only the supervillains, but also those heroes who are somehow blinded by Luthor’s machinations.

There is non-stop action throughout the movie which was really cool… definitely more suited for an animated feature.  My one complaint: where are all the major villains besides Luthor (no Joker, Catwoman, Bizarro)?  Instead, we get cameos by Gorilla Grodd, Solomon Grundy, and a bunch of others I barely recognized.  But that is only a minor quibble.  I also liked the return of Luthor’s battle suit.

So… I highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys the animated world of D.C. Comics.  I read the graphic novel a few years ago and still greatly enjoyed the movie!  Plus, Allison Mack joined the list of Smallville cast members to voice another animated D.C. character.

Over the past year or so, Warner Brother’s Animation and DC Comics have released a series of direct to DVD movies starring some of their mainstay superheros.  Starting with Superman: Doomsday then with Justice League – The New Frontier) onto Batman Gotham Knight and, most recently to an adventure featuring the Amazon Princess herself, Wonder Woman .  In the coming months, we will have a Green Lantern movie.  Then a Batman/Superman team up entitled Public Enemies which is taken from the first six issues of the team up comic series.

United States President Lex Luthor uses the oncoming trajectory of a kryptonite asteroid to frame Superman and declare a $1 billion bounty on the heads of the Man of Steel and his “partner in crime” Batman. Super heroes and super villains alike launch a relentless pursuit of Superman and Batman, who must unite – and recruit super help – to stave off the action-packed onslaught, stop the asteroid, and uncover Luthor’s devious plot to take command of far more than North America.

Hopefully, this will eventually lead to the development of a live-action Justice League feature that has been in creative limbo for several years.  However, I forsee rival company Marvel unveiling their Avengers movie before this happens.