The Superman Batman Movie

Review by Jason Gaston

 

Hot on the heels of the ultra successful Batman: The Animated Series, the creators behind Batman's rebirth decided to rejuvenate another superhero icon tarnished by bad movies. Thus, Superman: The Animated Series debuted on WB and it was only a matter of time before fans were wondering when Supes and Bats would finally team up in The Superman Batman Movie, a title that took three... maybe four seconds to come up with, tops.

Lex Luthor and the Joker have teamed up to eliminate Metropolis' favorite son, so Batman comes to town keep Superman alive and kicking.

The Batman Superman Movie works well blending the Bat universe with the Superman universe and celebrating not only everything that makes Superman and Batman the same, but also everything that makes them different and basically incompatible.

Rather than making Superman and Batman buddy, buddy like everyone expects them to be, the two superheroes are put at immediate odds with each other so much so that it almost seems like they're going to come to blows.

Likewise, the villains... Joker and Lex Luthor are also contrasted in a similar manner. The humorless Luthor and the Joker are quiet the team up. Even lesser characters like Luthor's bodyguard, Mercy Graves and the Joker's girlfriend, Harley Quinn, are as different as night and day (though, in their case, they actually do come to blows in one of the movie's funnier moments).

It's another winner for the animated team who, by this time, has left the live action team in the dust on a hospital stretcher. It's the weakest of the animated fare to be sure, but it's still a welcome addition to the Batman pantheon.