Batman Beyond: The Movie

I don't know about you, but I like my superheroes to be a bit dark, and my animated programs to be more than kiddie fare. This 2-part intro to the Batman Beyond series excels on both counts.

The animation won't win any awards, but it is consistently stylish and interesting. There is plenty of action and humour. But what really makes the show great is the real human drama it portrays. The show introduces us to Terry McGinnis, the new Batman, a headstrong teenager of the near future who takes up the cowl after a personal tragedy.

But the real focus of this episode is the original Batman, Bruce Wayne, now a lonely old man. For those of us who are fans of the Batman (especially those of us who loved The Dark Knight Returns, which should be animated into a nifty movie), this makes beautiful sense. The characters are well realised and, even better, well acted.

If you're afraid of anything that isn't classic Batman, I still urge you to check out this show. It has an engaging story, believable characters, and enough face-kicking to keep everybody happy.

I didn't watch Batman Beyond when it aired on kids WB on Saturday morning years back as I thought, frankly, I'd grown out of Saturday morning cartoons. As it turns out, my suspicion was partially correct: this is much more of a 'kid-friendly' series than the original Batman animated series (if not by much, though it's slightly more serious-minded than The Batman series of the past few years). These first several episodes do demonstrate the promise of the series, if also certain liabilities. It's also curious that this 'movie' isn't exactly linear; episodes that don't have a lot to do with the running current between Terry McGinnis (the new Batman and apprentice to old curmudgeon Bruce Wayne) and the dastardly villainous CEO of Wayne/Powers inc, Derek Powers, tend to be hit or miss, while the central storyline involving Powers is much stronger.

As it turns out McGinnis becomes Batman by slightly similar circumstances, as it's out of revenge for the death of his closest (his father). Also McGinnis is tough and out for blood, while continuing his life as a regular teen, but following the tenets of the Batman code: don't kill anyone, but do your best to stop the bad guys. In this case, McGinnis is up against Powers, who becomes a radioactive man after an incident involving his planned noxious chemical deal, a squadron of thieving card-player-disguised bandits (one of whom McGinnis starts to date unbeknownst to him), Mr. Freeze (yes, he's back by a stroke of genius contrivance), and Bane's legacy of Venom. This last one actually brings the series down to the level of an after-school special- it's a surprise Bane doesn't pop up at the end saying 'this is what happens when you take ster-I mean Venom'- though it isn't as conventional as the Nerd & Robot Golum' vs. the school bullies.

So, as you can imagine, it is a little more geared to the younger crows, and it also features a repetitive, mediocre heavy-metal score. But aside from these faults, it still is an exciting program, and works very well for kids by having the "message" element mixed with a cool character like McGinnis and an aged Bruce Wayne (still, very thankfully, voiced by the master Kevin Conroy). There's even some inventiveness with the animation, mixing with futuristic elements with the Batman world we all know and love from the previous series. If it's not as brilliant as the former, it still presents itself as a pretty good 'next generation' saga.

It's 30 years in the future, Bruce Wayne is in his mid seventies, and realizes he can't continue as Batman anymore, enter 16 year old Terry Mcginnis, a troubled youth who seems to have no fear of anything and always seems to have a nack for adventure. Batman got an upgrade. Great animation, and a great story line, cool action, and a great soundtrack. Kevin Conroy is great has the voice of Bruce Wayne. Will Friedle(best known from Boy Meets World) is also great has the voice of Terry Mcginnis. I hope they make a live action Batman Beyond movie.

In the past, Bruce Wayne, as Batman, attempts to stop a gang who is holding a woman for ransom, but after suffering heart issues during the fight, which nearly leads him to use a gun, one of the things he swore against using, Bruce hangs up the new Batsuit he wore, swearing never again to wear it. 20 years later, Gotham City is now a futuristic city, with one Derek Powers running it, as the GCPD (with Barbara Gordon, who was once Batgirl, as commissioner) are in his pocket while criminal gangs like The Jokerz run free to terrorize innocents. Terry McGinnis, a troubled teenager, meets Bruce after having an argument with his father, and kicked out when he discovers the Batcave, he returns home to discover his father was killed by what looked like The Jokerz. After failing to get Bruce to help, and the disc he found at the scene of the crime being sought out of Derek Powers himself, as it has info revealing he is making illegal chemical weapons, Terry steals the Batsuit Bruce last wore to exact justice.

This movie combines the two part series premiere "Rebirth" into a almost hour-long film, this is a good start. Right off the bat, the series does not waste time getting into dark territory, as this future Gotham still has the crime problem (and even goes as far as to have characters killed), which continues the trend of Batman: The Animated Series (and its sequel series, The New Batman Adventures). As Kids' WB was less strict than Fox Kids was, this cartoon was allowed to do certain things its predecessor was never allowed to. Kevin Conroy reprises his role as Bruce Wayne, while the series introduces new characters like Terry (voiced by Will Friedle), The Jokerz (who appear throughout the series), and Derek Powers (voiced by Sherman Howard), who would become Terry's archnemesis. This is a good start to a sequel series that, despite being flawed, has gained a cult following, with the characters even appearing in other DCAU shows like Static Shock and Justice League.

The series is good so the first few episodes are good too. What else would you expect. This film is simply the first two episodes of the series and has a run time of ~50 minutes. It is often erroneously listed as a 2 hour film because the typical dvd bundle includes a few additional episodes. The other episodes are fine too but it is not a complete story.