Rating:  -
I only rented this movie because everywhere I looked, people where telling me that my fav. actress, Rachael Leigh Cook, was the voice of Chelsea. I don't know if this will help anyone out there but, she is not the voice of Chelsea. So if that's the only reason you want to watch it, you're not missing much. Not a great movie.
Rating:  -
I enjoyed this alot, purists who like their Batman to be broody, mysterious.. and well, not a teenager with teenage problems... you may not enjoy this. The Batman Beyond Return of the Joker movie is a film which is simply brilliant, far outshining this one in animation and story.. if you are contemplating one or the other, take that movie instead!
Rating: -
With FIVE new Batman DVD's being released on April 23, 2002 (including Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker: The Original Cut!) and Justice League quickly becoming the biggest show on Cartoon Network, I thought now would be a fine time to revisit Batman Beyond: The Movie.
I remember the night when 'Rebirth' (aka BB: The Movie)premired. I had a history project due the next day, but I made sure to block out an hour to watch the new series. I was definitely NOT disappointed. Unfortunately, the series didn't always live up to the high quality of that first night, or the quality of the shows before it. Fans who have watched all three seasons of Batman Beyond know that while the episodes have been good, only a third of them really harkened back to the spirit of the original series. Most of season 2, for example, was wasted with teen angst plots (a tough love boarding school, a psychotic robotic girlfriend) underdeveloped villains (a father is laid off, builds a power suit and turns to crime, a terrorist organization with a new ripped from GI Joe), and the character Max, the annoying sidekick who more often than not robbed Terry of character development by doing things for him. Granted, the episodes were always fun to watch, but they never really had the emotional and intellectual impact Batman: TAS was famous for. On the plus side of things, most of the episodes in the 1st season were excellent, and this DVD manages to deliver six of those.
BB: The Movie starts out with an intro that manages to develop the original Batman (Bruce Wayne), and set up why he gave up the cowl. It's a breathtaking opening, and features the new Batsuit in a not-quite futuristic world. The story then moves on to introduce Terry, the new Batman, his chance meeting with Wayne, and his motivations for donning the suit. There are lots of classic moments in this two-parter: Bruce beats off a gang of Jokerz, smirking at their attempts to imitate the original clown prince of crime; Terry banging on the gates to Wayne Manor, demanding for Bruce to let him in because he has vital info concerning a viral plague; Bruce and Terry talking about the death of Bruce's parents and how Terry's situation is similiar. All in all, a nice self-contained movie that sets up the characters and villains well.
The other four bonus episodes on this disc are just as great. One episode is a teen angst episode about a boy and his robot, but it's well done in the way that it focuses more on the boy than Batman, which is how the majority of the villains in the original series were introduced. Another episode has the return of Mr. Freeze (need I say more?). The third episode features a romance similiar to the Batman/Catwoman relationship of the past, and, though melodramatic at times, is fun to watch. The weakest episode is The Winning Edge, which features someone selling Bane's venom formula to kids on the street. The 'say no to drugs message' becomes overly obvious, and the surprise villain isn't really that great. However, six episodes still means two hours of entertainment, which makes it just as long as any feature length film.
I'd give this disc a solid recommendation except for one problem: One of the episodes, Black Out, is missing. Not only was this a fantastic episode, it also ruins the chronological order of the episodes on this DVD (all the episodes are in order, with the omission of Black Out). Because of the new DVD's, petitions have been created to release all Batman Beyond episodes on DVD. This might mean if you buy this disc now, another edition might come out later with the missing episode on it. This is nowhere near definite, but it's something to consider.
Based solely on this disc, not on what special editions the future might bring, I recommend Batman Beyond: The Movie. Great animation, music, and acting make this a must-have.
Rating:  -
My friend from England once said: Adventure is a TIME not a place. And this aftermath of the phenomenal Batman series of the early 90s is proof. If you're not a fan of the early 90s Batman series, you may like this. But if like me you were a fan of the early 90s Batman series, chances are you are going to be REALLY disappointed by this. I will not simply say: "Bruce Wayne is Batman." But here are the problems. Any original Batman fan knows that while Bruce Wayne was ALIVE, he NEVER would have hung up his Batcape while crime was out there. Second, what made the early 90s episodes were the villains like the Joker, the Penguin, the Madhatter, the Scarecrow, and the Riddler. The people who imitate the Joker are quite close to laughable. I am not saying we can not reuse old ideas, and that we can't expand a little on the past. But throwing name on a wonderful old series proves the saying: "Adventure Is A Time. Not a place." With the exception of the one good scene where the real Batman saves Terry from a bunch of Joker wannabees, (the only good scene in the moive) Batman is really not given any justice....But what kind of reviewer praises everything he reviews?
Rating: -
It's certainty been quite a lackluster decade for the Dark Knight of Gotham City with such massively disheartening creative travesties such as the departure of Tim Burton from creative helm ship over the film series, Joel Schumacher's (Batman Forever, Batman and Robin) misfortunately offensive one-dimensional cheapening of the entire Batman film franchise, the shamefully overly embellished stereotypical performances of Uma Thurman (holy horny Chlorophyll Batman), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Oozing with frozen ham in every bite!), Tommy Lee Jones (Golden Raspberry quality for both performances), and Jim Carrey (Please give him some Valium!), Batman having been contradictory played by a different person in virtually every sequel (Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney), the notable absence of a Knightfall film adaptation, and Kurt Russell being recommended as the next Batman might have suggested that Batman had finally been dealt a destructive fatal blow by an uncreative excessively formulistic Hollywood machine.
Thankfully however, Batman only required a timely and compelling revitalization of the Caped Crusader's mythos, atmospheric landscape, criminal adversaries, psychological complexities, and thematic significance as a crime fighter. All of which and substantially more were provided amply in Warner's Brother's new animated motion picture Batman Beyond: The Movie. Bitingly refreshing in its sheer story-telling audacity, Batman Beyond: The Movie chronicles the untimely retirement of Bruce Wayne as Batman after Wayne's physical prowess seriously fails him for the first time in his illustrious career after a botched kidnapping rescue attempt forces the once physically immaculate crime fighter to threaten a condescending hoodlum at gunpoint. Twenty years later, Gotham City had become profusely submerged into a searing plague of rampant youth crime, beleaguered by widespread fraudulent corporate treachery, and ultimately had deteriorated into a grotesquely dynamic breeding hotbed for countless hordes of technology competent super villains and physically aggressive social outcasts.
Purposely isolated and outlandishly secluded from the world he previously protected, Bruce Wayne steadfastly monitors world events in his lavishly dilapidated mansion ominously overlooking the Fritz Lang-eque metropolis below. Until one day, when a young impetuously irresponsible young man, Terry McGinnis, toting a similarly tragic past unintentionally unearths the nocturnal skeletons in Wayne's rather substantial closet. After numerous innovative progressive narrative twists, Terry assumes the Batman mantle and endeavors to bring law and order back upon Gotham once again.
Displaying a dash of Orwell's 1984, a minuscule aroma of Terry Gilliam's Brazil, and some of the visual bravado from Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, Batman Beyond: The Movie represents quite a considerable narrative evolution for the animated motion picture. Enveloping the viewer with a massively intoxicating animated parable of Paradise Lost translated to comic book proportions, Batman Beyond: The Movie remains a vigorously gripping comic caper inordinately graced with uncommonly diverse characterizations, keenly perceptive sociological insights, profusely diabolical plot twists, and an inordinately gripping comprehension of it's source materials. I for one was extensively flabbergasted by the film's deft integration of the classic Batman motifs immersed with the sci-fi based innovations of the Batman Beyond's present storyline. Though hindered slightly by the pitfalls of having a teenage protagonist storyline crossbreed with the gargantuan Batman canvas, Batman Beyond atypically represents the definite potential of sharply conceived and breathlessly executed action animation. A sheer pleasure for anyone who likens themselves a Batman fan.
As for the film's DVD features, Batman Beyond: The Movies also contains four other Batman Beyond episodes and the film's theatrical trailer for your viewing pleasure. A Definitive Must for any fan highly sophisticated animation.
P.S. Substantial kudos should go to the Warner Brothers Animation Department for single-handedly reaffirming and redeeming the Batman legend for an entire new generation of prospective fans everywhere.
|
