Remember Mask of the Phantasm? That was a good movie. Well, this is not that. The plot here is that a new costumed vigilante has shown up in Gotham. She's wearing a costume similar to Batman's and I guess we're calling her Batwoman. So Batman has to figure out who she is. Thankfully we have female suspects coming out of our ears so it shouldn't take long.
There is so much off about this I don't know where to start. First thing, I hate the "New Batman Adventures" animation style and character designs but I could overlook that if it was the only flaw. It's not. The music is terrible. There's a distinct lack of atmosphere throughout. The whole thing is weirdly upbeat, despite the subject matter of revenge against criminals. Bruce Wayne spends a lot of the movie smiling. But why shouldn't he when he's the object of desire for all the jailbait in Gotham? Which brings me to the grossest parts of this movie. First, you have barely legal Batgirl being interested in Batman which is just all kinds of wrong. Then you have another girl whose age is not stated but she is at most early '20s. She becomes the love interest for Bruce. What was the obsession with giving Bruce a hot young girlfriend in this? If they thought they were being progressive by creating these female characters and making them such a big part of the plot, here's a thought: how about romance having nothing to do with it? Was it impossible for them to do this clichéd plot without making it even more clichéd?
The story is weak. I didn't care who Batwoman was as the mystery wasn't that intriguing to begin with but I was able to figure it out pretty quickly. It's so obvious it's insulting. Penguin, quite possibly the lamest of all of Batman's classic villains, is a poor choice to use here. He's so yawnworthy they have to bring Bane into things to try and introduce some actual menace to the plot. The worst part of the movie is that it's terribly dull. If it's not the worst of the animated Batman films, it's near the bottom.
There is so much off about this I don't know where to start. First thing, I hate the "New Batman Adventures" animation style and character designs but I could overlook that if it was the only flaw. It's not. The music is terrible. There's a distinct lack of atmosphere throughout. The whole thing is weirdly upbeat, despite the subject matter of revenge against criminals. Bruce Wayne spends a lot of the movie smiling. But why shouldn't he when he's the object of desire for all the jailbait in Gotham? Which brings me to the grossest parts of this movie. First, you have barely legal Batgirl being interested in Batman which is just all kinds of wrong. Then you have another girl whose age is not stated but she is at most early '20s. She becomes the love interest for Bruce. What was the obsession with giving Bruce a hot young girlfriend in this? If they thought they were being progressive by creating these female characters and making them such a big part of the plot, here's a thought: how about romance having nothing to do with it? Was it impossible for them to do this clichéd plot without making it even more clichéd?
The story is weak. I didn't care who Batwoman was as the mystery wasn't that intriguing to begin with but I was able to figure it out pretty quickly. It's so obvious it's insulting. Penguin, quite possibly the lamest of all of Batman's classic villains, is a poor choice to use here. He's so yawnworthy they have to bring Bane into things to try and introduce some actual menace to the plot. The worst part of the movie is that it's terribly dull. If it's not the worst of the animated Batman films, it's near the bottom.