Fans of Bruce Timm’s take on the DC Universe might show up hoping for a fresh look at the interplay between these two iconic characters. Look elsewhere. Public Enemies is yet another disappointing direct-to-DVD Feature out of the house that Timm built. At its inception, Public Enemies is disadvantaged, based as it is on a hard-to-swallow story of Lex-Luthor as president and both Batman and Superman as persona non grata. Despite the high-flying premise, Public Enemies takes barely a moment to explore (or even explain) its world. Instead, it rushes from action scene to action scene before ending abruptly. Not recommended.
Posts Tagged Timm
Wonder Woman
Jan 1
New entries in Bruce Timm’s take on the DC Comics Universe keep coming at a regular clip, even if their quality is a bit spotty. Wonder Woman retells the origin story of its eponymous star-spangled amazon with respectable results. WW is beautifully animated and the action retains the impact to which Timm fans have become accustomed. As with most DC direct-to-video, Wonder Woman wrestles with a claustrophobic run-time, leaving precious little time for characterization and a bit too much time for punches and kicks. Once again, see it if you’re a fan, but it will not convert you otherwise.
I have been underwhelmed with DC Universe direct-to-video features since the end of Bruce Timm’s Justice League series. Green Lantern: First Flight is a return to form. GLFF retells the origin story of Hal Jordan, the first Green Lantern (not John Stewart, who took up the Green Lantern mantel in Justice League). The animation, action and acting are each top-notch and the story is surprisingly nuanced. GLFF is not a crossover movie–it won’t change the minds of anyone uninterested in watching animated superhero movies. For the rest of us, I highly recommend it.
Batman: Gotham Knight
Jul 23
Much like the Animatrix, Gotham Knight offers a direct-to-video series of animated shorts about Batman. Each of the vignettes is presented by a different notable Japanese Animation director and the animation shows it ranging from whimsical to highly sophisticated and flashy. Gotham Knight also follows in the footsteps of the Animatrix by being highly uneven. Some of the stories play with interesting concepts, while others are completely boring. None are great. Also, while several of the shorts in the Animatrix tie in closely to the plot of the Matrix sequels, all of the Gotham Knight stories exist in a vaccuum. Simply put, unless you are a truly hardcore Batman fan, there is no reason for you to pursue this movie.