The Batman/Superman Movie: World's Finest (1998)

the audience applauded

Let's be realistic.

hyped garbage

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

First i want to say this is one of the earliest movies i can remember that i first watched as a kid, so not only is the nostalgia really high but i also have memorized every line and action scene, so spoilers. As i said i saw this movie really early in my life, in fact i didn't even know who batman or superman was, my parents never showed me or my siblings a single episode of superman or the batman show before we watched this. That said this movie introduced the characters very well, i instantly knew who everyone was, i learned superman had a weakness for kryptonite, and that batman had awesome gadgets and a butler. Honestly i regret not knowing who batman or superman was before watching this, because my little toddler mind would have been blown away by the first official superhero team up! This movie is Batman v Superman done right! Just the way they first meet and interact is perfect. Batman harshly interrogating a criminal, superman intervenes, batman tosses superman, and superman tackles him and learns batman's secret identity, only for batman to discover superman's identity in return, they eventually decide to put away their differences and team up to stop the villain team up, and become fire forged friends along the way. This is what B V S should have been about, nobody actually wanted to see the 2 fight to the death for no reason, they wanted to see their ideals clash, have them argue, but gain respect for one another and help save the world together. A real fun part of this movie is that batman acts like a dude here, hes not only constantly flirting with Lois lane but he makes wisecracks throughout, the love triangle is actually very engaging. Now for the best part, as great as the interactions between superman and batman are, jokers and lex luthors are hilarious, joker being completely wacky throughout, and lex being stone cold straight man. Also Harley Quinn and Mercys hate for each other is equally hilarious. As wacky as the joker is, your constantly reminded how dangerous he is throughout the film, he gases people left and right, hes got those damn grenade marbles, and he even gets a kryptonite dragon statue to kill superman for 1 billion. when he finally confronts superman, i still always expect superman to knock him out with just a stare, with the protection of a lead suit, the jokers kryptonite is useless against him, but then, my favorite scene in the whole movie and the best joker line happens ( Silly me i forgot the ACID!), he sprays acid on superman's suit, uses the krptonite, and proceeds to dance around and electrocute superman to death, im pretty sure if batman didn't show up, he would have killed superman. When the attempt on superman's life fails, joker tries to kill batman using one of lex luthors new spider robots, which leads to a terminator like chase sequence, which ends with lois lane discovering batman's identity and superman returning the favor and saving batman's life. These failures lead lex luthor to want to frame and kill the joker, but again joker proves to be the more evil and the better of the 2, he kidnaps lex and steals one of his flying jets, and decides to use all the missiles in it, to destroy everything lex ever built, just out of spite and to create chaos.When joker takes off in the flying smile, i cant help but laugh with him along the way. This lead to an epic final battle, where batman and superman destroy all the spider robots, and try to stop the jokers rampage. Due to joker dropping some of his grenade marbles, the jet begins to explode, i love that batman only tells superman to rescue lex and Harley leaving joker to die aboard, ( A similar moment to, "i wont kill you but i dont have to save you"), as the jet explodes joker is about to jump out with a parachute, but instead starts to laugh maniacally as the jet explodes ( Awesome!), Harley cries out "pudding", Batman's response? "At this point he probably he is"( # Batman is savage). But of course we know the joker survived. After a endearing goodbye from Lois and superman, batman leaves, not realizing all the countless an amazing adventures him and his new friend will share. After all these years this is still one of my favorite movies ever, even though technically its just a 3 part episode from the superman cartoon, the animation sometimes looks cheap, like everyone has box faces and the joker looks like a character from Doug, the action animation is probably the best, sometimes it looks almost theatrical, i certainly always thought this was an actual movie. However i cannot believe how mature this cartoon was, there's a batman fight scene in an club with girls in cages, Lois lane in super short skirts and lingerie, and the joker constantly saying he will kill superman and almost shockingly does.The voice acting is top notch as always from everyone, but Mark Hamill is just incredible. When ever i think of batman and superman, i always think about this movie, how they were rivals turned best friend's, how together they were stronger, and it marked the beginning of the glorious justice league era, this will still remain in my top 10 animated films list. If you haven't watched this before, do it now please, i guarantee, it is the B V S movie you always wanted.

Both Batman and Superman are comic icons, having fans that span many generations. The producers of this film are aware of the age differences and have crafted a movie that honors the characters and the people that have kept up with their exploits for decades."World's Finest" is an appropriate title, owing itself to the comic book as well as the place that both Batman and Superman hold in the world of comics.The storyline puts the two forming an uneasy partnership as the "devilish duo" of longtime enemies Lex Luthor and The Joker join forces to do away with Superman, with the aid of some decades old Kryptonite. Of course, the two villains have singular plans, unbeknownst to the other but that's the way of "bad guys".The animation is first-rate for a television production and the well-written script allows for some witty repartee between all the characters.The voice-over talent is on the money, with Tim Daly fine as "Superman/Clark Kent" and Kevin Conroy superb after voicing "Batman/Bruce Wayne" for over a decade in various animated incarnation. Additional kudos have to be given to Mark Hamill as "The Joker," Clancy Brown as "Lex Luthor," and Arlene Sorkin, brilliant, as The Joker's loony sidekick, "Harley Quinn."

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS*** Before I viewed this movie in 1999, I was really looking forward to seeing two of the best superheroes of all time teaming up. I am pleased to say that it exceeded my expectations and I enjoyed it just as much when I recently viewed it.In various comic books, Superman and Batman teamed up on many occasions. They even had their own regular team up comic called World's Finest. They were always good buddies in the comics. Then in 1986, Superman was relaunched and had a new mini-series called Superman:The Man Of Steel. In one issue, Batman was in Metropolis investigating a crime but Superman didn't approve of his methods and was concerned only with hauling him into the nearest police station. Batman became a darker and darker character from the late 70's onwards and it would be wrong to describe him and Superman as friends.You're probably wondering why I am spouting all this comic book history out. The reason is, because I was pleased to see this movie feature Batman and Superman as reluctant allies as opposed to good buddies.Bruce Wayne is in Metropolis about to do business with Lex Luthor. The Joker also happens to be in town and soon ends up teaming with Luthor to combat Superman and Batman.There are some nice touches to this movie. Bruce Wayne is an arrogant millionaire in this movie who is interested only in dating the beautiful Lois Lane. Wayne ignores Clark Kent throughout the film and acts really condescending towards him at times, almost regarding him as inferior. Kent is jealous throughout the film at the interest Bruce shows towards Lois.Batman and Superman are reluctant allies in this film. Superman clearly does not approve of Batman's methods and Batman has no time for Superman although clearly underneath there is a deep mutual respect. In this film, Superman and Batman discover each other's identities and that leads to some interesting scenes.The Joker (and Harley Quinn) and Lex Luthor are also reluctant allies teaming out of necessity only. The interaction between the two villains is great and Lex clearly regards the Joker as a lunatic. There are some great scenes throughout including one where the Joker gets the better of Superman and Batman throws Superman onto a table (believe it, it's true).Of course, it would have been nice to have Robin in this film but the movie was so great I soon forgot a minor fact like that.All in all, a fantastic film. Rather than taking the easy way out and having Superman and Batman as good buddies punching their way through the bad guys, the makers of this film came up with something very imaginative and totally original. Highly recommended.

Being a fan of both Batman & Superman, I really wanted to see how they could possibly come up with a good, interesting, and exciting story between these two superheroes. Well, the writers were able to do just that. With two of the most famous superheroes joined together vs. two of the most infamous villains joined together. Batman & Superman vs. Lex Luthor & the Joker. The action and story are great, but one thing I really enjoyed in this movie that the writers did was that they really displayed the personalities of the characters very nicely and uniquely. Batman's way of fighting crime goes against the way Superman believes in upholding justice, while the Joker's crazy ways of breaking the law doesn't mixes well with the way Lex Luthor handles his illegal businesses. So this is more than an action movie, but a well written screenplay, bringing out the colorfulness and the fun into these classic characters as we get to see them finally interact with each other. This is a much better movie than what Hollywood has produced in the recent years. A must see for all Batman & Superman fans out there.