As serial addicts know, chapter plays are driven by a logic all their own, a logic which often ignores plausibility. Viewers should always check their common sense in the lobby to enjoy these old cliffhangers. "Batman" is no exception and contains some especially enjoyable lapses of credulity.
My favorite "Batman" moment involves the message that the captain of a Japanese submarine wants to impart to spymaster Daka. Although he speaks to him on short wave radio, he does not give him the message directly but tells him to follow "Plan 92," a labarynthian scheme which involves sending his henchmen to Smuggler's Cove to pick up a coffin that is only be accessible at low tide. Why the message was not communicated while they were speaking to each other directly is not explained.
Instead of using a more discreet truck or van to transport the coffin, Daka orders his men to contact a third-party local funeral parlor to transport the coffin back to the ring's headquarters. The audience can only surmise what the henchmen could possibly say to the undertakers to explain why a coffin would be on partially submerged rocks near a beach that wouldn't arouse suspicion. When the coffin does arrive, it shows no sign of having been underwater and contains the body of a uniformed Japanese soldier. Daka explains that he is in a state of "animated suspension" and revives him with smoke-filled electrical charges directed a la Dr. Frankenstein into his wrists.
Although the soldier will only be conscious for "a few moments" before dying with finality, Daka wastes time by first welcoming him to the country that will soon become "a colony of Japan's expanding empire." The soldier sits up with difficulty, delivers the Banzai greeting and conveys the message that the henchmen should steal the Lockwood plane, (one of the film's MacGuffins), and rendezvous with the submarine at Pelican Island. Before he dies, the soldier rips a button off his uniform, gives it to Daka, and tells him it contains more information. Why the information is formatted this way is also unexplained. He then dies with finality, only too happy to have given his life for the Emperor.
The rationale which required the death of a soldier and the coffin to convey a byzantine message that could have been communicated directly by radio is left a mystery. Serials usually omit logical explanation.
In another delightful scene, Daka orders Batman brought into headquarters inside a coffin so that he can feed him to his pet crocodiles. Actor J. Carroll Naish obviously relished playing the sadistic Zaca, and his scenes involving him feeding the crocodiles roasted chickens from a zombie's picnic basket are among the film's most enjoyable.
When the coffin carrying Batman arrives, Zaca doesn't seem to want to open the coffin in order to confirm that the Caped Crusader is indeed inside it and summarily orders the six foot pine box thrown into the narrow, constricted crocodile pit. It obviously hits at least one of his beloved pet crocs on the head, and, even if the heavy wooden box didn't injure him, it would have severely restricted further movements of the reptiles in the narrow confines of their habitat. Why not simply take the body out of the coffin first? Any serial lover will know the answer. The body is one of Daka's henchmen, not the Dark Avenger, inside the pine box. Later on, when the crocodile pit is shown, the pine coffin has mysteriously vanished. So much for logic and continuity!
My favorite "Batman" moment involves the message that the captain of a Japanese submarine wants to impart to spymaster Daka. Although he speaks to him on short wave radio, he does not give him the message directly but tells him to follow "Plan 92," a labarynthian scheme which involves sending his henchmen to Smuggler's Cove to pick up a coffin that is only be accessible at low tide. Why the message was not communicated while they were speaking to each other directly is not explained.
Instead of using a more discreet truck or van to transport the coffin, Daka orders his men to contact a third-party local funeral parlor to transport the coffin back to the ring's headquarters. The audience can only surmise what the henchmen could possibly say to the undertakers to explain why a coffin would be on partially submerged rocks near a beach that wouldn't arouse suspicion. When the coffin does arrive, it shows no sign of having been underwater and contains the body of a uniformed Japanese soldier. Daka explains that he is in a state of "animated suspension" and revives him with smoke-filled electrical charges directed a la Dr. Frankenstein into his wrists.
Although the soldier will only be conscious for "a few moments" before dying with finality, Daka wastes time by first welcoming him to the country that will soon become "a colony of Japan's expanding empire." The soldier sits up with difficulty, delivers the Banzai greeting and conveys the message that the henchmen should steal the Lockwood plane, (one of the film's MacGuffins), and rendezvous with the submarine at Pelican Island. Before he dies, the soldier rips a button off his uniform, gives it to Daka, and tells him it contains more information. Why the information is formatted this way is also unexplained. He then dies with finality, only too happy to have given his life for the Emperor.
The rationale which required the death of a soldier and the coffin to convey a byzantine message that could have been communicated directly by radio is left a mystery. Serials usually omit logical explanation.
In another delightful scene, Daka orders Batman brought into headquarters inside a coffin so that he can feed him to his pet crocodiles. Actor J. Carroll Naish obviously relished playing the sadistic Zaca, and his scenes involving him feeding the crocodiles roasted chickens from a zombie's picnic basket are among the film's most enjoyable.
When the coffin carrying Batman arrives, Zaca doesn't seem to want to open the coffin in order to confirm that the Caped Crusader is indeed inside it and summarily orders the six foot pine box thrown into the narrow, constricted crocodile pit. It obviously hits at least one of his beloved pet crocs on the head, and, even if the heavy wooden box didn't injure him, it would have severely restricted further movements of the reptiles in the narrow confines of their habitat. Why not simply take the body out of the coffin first? Any serial lover will know the answer. The body is one of Daka's henchmen, not the Dark Avenger, inside the pine box. Later on, when the crocodile pit is shown, the pine coffin has mysteriously vanished. So much for logic and continuity!