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Batman (1989, Tim Burton)
Batman‘s an odd success. It has almost constant problems–Kim Basinger’s bad, Jack Nicholson’s phoning it in (but never contemptuous of the material, which makes it a peculiar performance) and the movie...
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Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009, Sam Liu)
I’m sure there are some hardcore gay comics less homoerotic than Jeph Loeb’s Superman/Batman, so the prospect of seeing it as a cartoon was irresistible. While Warner Premiere ostensibly intends their...
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Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010, Brandon Vietti)
Apparently, given the chance, comic book writers write screenplays just like comic books. Sitting through Under the Red Hood is not an unpleasant experience–Bruce Greenwood, voice alone, is the best...
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Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010, Lauren Montgomery)
Kevin Conroy has been doing the Batman voice for, off and on, almost twenty years. If his work in Apocalypse is any indication, he’s gotten a little tired of it. At least there’s only one aspect of a...
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Batman: Year One (2011, Sam Liu and Lauren Montgomery)
Batman: Year One should be much, much better. As it stands, as animated adaptation of Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s comic books, it’s a fantastic proof of concept. It’s no surprise, given much...
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Catwoman (2011, Lauren Montgomery)
So in the mind of writer Paul Dini, human traffickers take women from the United States and ship them overseas. I really hope he’s not heading a commission for the U.N., because that situation isn’t...
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Batgirl (1967)
I’m not sure the actual story, but I’ll just assume at the height of the “Batman” show’s popularity, the producers thought about doing a “Batgirl” series. The pilot, if it’s any indication of the...
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Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 (2012, Jay Oliva)
It’s interesting to hear Peter Weller voice Batman in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 (is that title long enough?) since Dark Knight Returns, the comic, always felt like Batman meets Robocop....
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Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 (2013, Jay Oliva)
The strong parts of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 make the weak ones often easy to ignore. But nothing’s strong enough to overcome the weakest spots. First is the misogyny. I assume it’s...
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Batman Returns (1992, Tim Burton)
Batman Returns is one of those films I always hope will end a little differently. Tim Burton gets such wonderful performances out of Michael Keaton and Michelle Pfeiffer, their penultimate scene always...
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Batman: Year One (2011, Sam Liu and Lauren Montgomery)
Batman: Year One should be much, much better. As it stands, as animated adaptation of Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s comic books, it’s a fantastic proof of concept. It’s no surprise, given much...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Catwoman (2011, Lauren Montgomery)
So in the mind of writer Paul Dini, human traffickers take women from the United States and ship them overseas. I really hope he’s not heading a commission for the U.N., because that situation isn’t...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Batgirl (1967)
I’m not sure the actual story, but I’ll just assume at the height of the “Batman” show’s popularity, the producers thought about doing a “Batgirl” series. The pilot, if it’s any indication of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993, Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm)
There are a lot of excellent things in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, but maybe my favorite thing is the end credits music. It’s smooth jazz. It’s this smooth jazz love song over the cast and when you...
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Batman: The Killing Joke (2016, Sam Liu)
There’s a lot to be said about Batman: The Killing Joke, both the comic book and its animated adaptation. It’s another of Alan Moore’s unintentional curses on mainstream comics; listening to his...
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Batman: The Movie (1966, Leslie H. Martinson)
Burt Ward is really bad in Batman: The Movie. Sure, he’s just around to parrot Adam West, who’s a horny, kind of dumb, know-it-all. The problem is it doesn’t seem like anyone else is in on the joke...
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Batman (1943, Lambert Hillyer), Chapter 7: The Phoney Doctor
The best part of The Phoney Doctor is Charles Middleton. He’s the rough and tumble prospector, albeit one who falls for a phoney doctor, but he’s got personality and presence. He’s unexpected....
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Batman (1943, Lambert Hillyer), Chapter 8: Lured by Radium
Lured by Radium actually does refer to the content of the chapter. It’s almost getting to be a habit for Batman. Unfortunately, all the serial’s other bad habits are in play here. The recap and...
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Batman (1943, Lambert Hillyer), Chapter 9: The Sign of the Sphinx
Incredibly, Douglas Croft’s Robin doesn’t get beat up this chapter. Sure, Lewis Wilson still manages to get pummeled, but Croft makes it through without being incapacitated once. Well, except in the...
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Batman (1943, Lambert Hillyer), Chapter 10: Flying Spies
And now Batman is back to the misleading chapter titles. There aren’t spies in Flying Spies, there’s only one spy on the plane. After the laziest cliffhanger resolution in the series so far–and there...
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