The Batman Superman Movie: World's Finest (1997) / Animation-Action

MPAA Rated: Not rated, but probably PG for violence and some suggestive content
Running Time: 64 min.

Cast (voices): Tim Daly, Dana Delany, Kevin Conroy, Clancy Brown, Mark Hamill
Director: Toshihiko Masuda
Screenplay: Stan Berkowitz, Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Rich Fogel, Steve Gerber
Review published October 4, 1997

The Joker (voiced by Mark Hamill, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm) is hard up for money so he buys a kryptonite statue and travels to Metropolis, where he concocts a scheme to kill Superman (Daly, The Associate) for Lex Luthor (Brown, The Shawshank Redemption) for the amount of a billion dollars. Batman (Conroy, Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero) travels to Metropolis to see what Joker is up to, and his alter ego Bruce Wayne meets Superman's alter ego, Clark Kent. Lois Lane (Delany, Tombstone) falls for Bruce and they become an item, while the two superheroes find out each other's secret identities.

You're probably not likely to see a team-up of these two pop comic icons on the big screen anytime soon, so this animated feature (which is actually three TV episodes spliced end to end) is about as good as you can hope for. The fact that it's relatively enjoyable is quite a feat, with lots of humor and action thrown in. The movie does assume you are intimately familiar with the characters, so it is strictly for fans of the characters. Good animation, nice voice-work and Lois Lane in sexy outfits add up to entertainment that kids and adults will appreciate.

Qwipster's rating:

©1997 Vince Leo