areaseven Posted September 12, 2004 Posted September 12, 2004 (edited) The Batman ( ザ・バットマン ) Kids' WB!/Warner Bros., 2004- Directed by Seung Kim, Sam Liu (Heavy Gear, Roughnecks) and Brandon Vietti (Spider-Man: The New Animated Series) Rated TV-Y7 for violence and mature situations. Based on characters created by Bob Kane and DC Comics. Three years have passed since billionaire Bruce Wayne donned the cape and cowl to become the Batman, the lone vigilante who puts fear on Gotham City's most wanted. With Batman seen as an obstruction of justice by Chief Angel Rojas, Detective Ethan Bennett is partnered with ex-Metropolis Detective Ellen Yin and assigned to seek out and capture the Caped Crusader. But just when the crime rate in Gotham City is at an all-time low, new criminals like the Joker, the Penguin and Catwoman appear to wreak havoc on the city. And only the Dark Knight can stop them. Story: B It's been more than 10 years since WB produced Batman: The Animated Series. That show brought the best out of the Dark Knight with its excellent storytelling and remarkable animation. Well, this new alternate prequel, which coincides with next year's Batman Begins film, may have some big shoes to fill. The Batman probably won't excel in terms of story development, but it appears to be more action-packed (and probably more violent) than its predecessor. For example, we have the Joker. Unlike other incarnations, this one can actually fight Batman in hand-to-hand combat. I don't know how the next set of villains will be presented, but I'll definitely look forward to further episodes. Animation: B+ For one thing, The Batman isn't as stylish as Batman TAS. However, the animation and artwork look better than Batman Beyond. Many viewers expecting a retro-style cartoon will be disappointed, as The Batman boasts anime-style artwork with a little cel-shaded CG for the Batmobile. As a matter of fact, it looks more anime-like than Teen Titans. Soundtrack: B- Despite having some music by U2's The Edge, Thomas Chase's (The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory) musical score for The Batman will need some getting used to, compared to Shirley Walker's compositions for Batman TAS. Cast The Batman features Rino Romano (Johnny Rico in Roughnecks, Tuxedo Mask in Sailor Moon) as Bruce Wayne, Alastair Duncan as Alfred, Kevin Michael Richardson (Thadeus in The Animatrix: Final Flight of the Osiris, Glorft Commander in MEGAS XLR) as the Joker, Steve Harris (Jad in Minority Report) as Ethan, Ming-Na (you should know who she is by now) as Ellen, Clancy Brown (The Kurrgan in Highlander, Gorrath in MEGAS XLR) as Mr. Freeze, Robert Englund (Freddy Kruger himself) as the Riddler, Gina Gershon (Cristal in Showgirls) as Catwoman, Tom Kenny (SpongeBob Squarepants, Mayor in The Powerpuff Girls) as the Penguin, Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Slade in Teen Titans) as Killer Croc, Dan Castellaneta (Homer in The Simpsons) as Scarface, Frank Gorshin as Hugo Strange, Edward James Olmos (Castillo in Miami Vice, Adama in the new Battlestar Galactica) as Chief Rojas, and Adam West (the original Batman himself) as Mayor Grange. The Bottom Line The Batman may not be as good as its predecessor (but then again, nothing is), but it's still worth watching and it may give us a glimpse of what to look for in Batman Begins. Links Kids' WB!'s Official The Batman Homepage Reference The Internet Movie Database Edited February 19, 2005 by areaseven Quote
BoBe-Patt Posted September 12, 2004 Posted September 12, 2004 ooo, nice. I wanted to check this one out. Batman looks asian now. hehe. When does this come on? Quote
terry the lone wolf Posted September 12, 2004 Posted September 12, 2004 ooo, nice. I wanted to check this one out. Batman looks asian now. hehe. When does this come on? It comes on every Saturday on Kid's WB at 10:30a.m. eastern time and will have encore performances on Fridays. Yes, the show lacks the stylism of Batman TAS but it is very action pack. The new Joker takes some getting use to but Kevin Micheal Richardson's rendition is just as creepy or maybe more so to Mark Hammil's. I enjoyed it and can't wait for the next episode. Quote
areaseven Posted September 13, 2004 Author Posted September 13, 2004 The new Joker takes some getting use to but Kevin Michael Richardson's rendition is just as creepy or maybe more so to Mark Hamill's. Yeah, I'll need to see more of this new Joker. At first, he didn't look or act like the Joker we all know. Besides, Mark Hamill as Joker is a completely hard act to follow. Let's see how Kevin Michael Richardson pulls it off later throughout the series. Quote
Chuey Posted September 13, 2004 Posted September 13, 2004 The characters designs really don't gel with me and with Conroy still playing Batman on Justice League Limited, I'm going to stick with that. Quote
Mellow Yellow Posted September 13, 2004 Posted September 13, 2004 (edited) The characters designs really don't gel with me and with Conroy still playing Batman on Justice League Limited, I'm going to stick with that. Don't you mean Unlimited? Speaking of which, I just saw the latest JLU and it was goddam hilarious Edited September 13, 2004 by Mellow Yellow Quote
areaseven Posted June 17, 2005 Author Posted June 17, 2005 I've been away from TV for a while. Is this show still on? Quote
zeo-mare Posted June 17, 2005 Posted June 17, 2005 it comes on the cartoon network on saturdays after the teen titans if i recall. chris Quote
Hoptimus Posted June 17, 2005 Posted June 17, 2005 I do not like this show. Maybe if I had never seen Bruce Timm and Co's Batman and New Adventures of Batman and Robin I might have. The Joker is lame in this series. Actually the whole thing is lame. I will just have to live off of Batmans few appearances in JLU. At least now I can get the Batman Animated series on DVD. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.