Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders

In a climate where it feels like Batman is always trying to be grim, dark, brooding and epic; it feels like a breath of fresh air when someone says "Hey remember the 60's Batman? Wasn't that fun! Let's do something like that!" I watched that old 60's movie all the time when I was a kid and I still get a kick out of it. While I haven't watched a lot of the old series, from what I have gathered this movie mimics it perfectly. The crazy gadgets, the silly alliterations, the kooky villains, and even the fact that they add the word "bat" to everything Batman creates. However, it does have a few dull spots for me and it feels like some of the ahem "action" sequences go on a bit too long. However, I think we need to measure a film by what it's trying to do and how well it executes it despite how it makes you feel. And since this movie is obviously trying to homage the old show as well as be it's own thing, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders does a great job! It has an interesting story, fun characters and some great dialogue. If you wanna see a new spin on the classic Adam West Batman, then look no further!

A cartoon version of the 1966 Adam West Batman series.

Many others have said they struggled with Adam West sounding so old, but that was not so much an issue with me.

This is a wonderful tribute to a 50 year old TV series. I could have done without a few minor changes to the old show (since when is space travel apart of 1966 Batman?) but all things considered, well worth watching.

Another film followed in 2017 after but this 2016 one keeps to the 1966 style better than the next one. Despite having the voice talents of William Shatner, the next one has a grim tone that seems out of place here.

It is too bad these animated movies were not made all the time (beginning in about 2006) but copyright issues prevented such a thing from happening.

A 90 minute animated super-hero action/comedy film.

Gotham City is filled with diabolical villains whose master plans include locking up a stage band in a closet and gate crashing everyone's favourite TV program. They play musical instruments really badly and reveal their dastardly plot via confounded puzzles that only a genius of dubious reasoning could solve. Thank goodness for Batman is here.

Everything that made the 1960s Batman and Robin so charming and funny is here with spades on. Sorry… that should be, 'with bat-spades on.' Those inducted into Batman lore will note lots of references to other movies. For the rest just enjoy the fun.

The animation is very well done. The 2D and 3D elements are well crafted together. I particularly appreciated the camera panning homage around the bat mobile.

Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar returned to voice their roles from the classic Batman TV shows of the 1960s. There were other Batman adaptations for the movies before him (Lewis Wilson anyone?) but Adam West is the one we all remember.

Julie Newmar got her deserved place back in this movie. She played Catwoman in the original TV series but was replaced by Lee Meriwether in the 1966 Batman movie. Lee might have been prettier but that's not all you look for in Catwoman. When it comes to filling out a cat suit to the correct proportions there was none finer than Julie.

Batman, Return of the Caped Crusader was expected to go straight-to-DVD but it did get a short cinema release. One showing in the Vue was all there was in Blackpool. Our group was the first to arrive and my imagination of a horde of boisterous youths throwing popcorn at the screen did not occur. We all sat in a polite little block in the centre seats and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The pre and post film extras were fun; I hope and expect they'll find their way onto the DVD too.

I was surprised when I saw the film was PG rather than U. There is nothing in the movie that very young children will find distressing though they will not appreciate all the humour. The range of flash cards; {kpow}, {splat} here included such words as, {fracture} but that hardly counts as an increase in the level of violence.

The types of humour used in this movie include; droll, parody, farce, screwball and slapstick. All delivered with a very straight face. If you enjoy those then sign up.

Who won't enjoy this movie? Batman purists may lift their nose and turn away. The 1960s TV shows were parodies of the comics and don't take the material seriously in any way. This film does the same. If you are a critical comic fan and believe Batman should have a dignified portrayal then you will not like this.

"To the bat-(append your contraption here)."

What a dose of Nostalgia. I heard that the opening credits incorporated many classic comic book covers with some fantastic animation, so I took a look this morning before heading to more important tasks -- but I could not stop watching. Fascinating, funny, festive, friendly, and very alliterative, the actors, writers, and animators knocked this out of the park.

I think I spotted at least 50 sly references, and I'm sure I missed many others. Labels, labels, labels galore. I was thoroughly amused throughout. One thing I've noticed is that nearly everyone is staying spoiler-free, but the twists are like punchlines to good jokes. None of the dozens of punchlines are particularly surprising, but they are all fun, and many of them require the set-up, animation, and acting to be meaningful. For example -- "Begora" is one of these punchlines. Explaining why it's funny wouldn't be funny, so why ruin the joke?

The movie does get a bit dark. In one particular scene, Robin is horrified by a punch that doesn't follow Marquess of Queensberry rules. Robin's reaction to that punch and subsequent actions keep the movie grounded and friendly. I have to give special acclaim for Burt Ward, here -- his exuberance and delivery hasn't changed an iota.

Does the movie get some things wrong? Like the Joker's hidden mustache? Yes and perhaps. There are dozens of things that are not quite like the 60's show, and hundreds of things that are spot-on perfect. I don't recall hearing the Riddler's music cue, but the Batman theme is incorporated well in many places. The producers have already mention that some of the "mistakes" are intentional, such as the colors of Robin's logo being flipped in a throwaway shot, an homage to mistakes in previous animations. I will be watching this many times.

The sequel has already been announced, with William Shatner as Two- Face.

This is the most enjoyable movie I've seen in years. Highly recommended.

I went to a special theater viewing of this movie and found it to be a real treat. I enjoyed it from the very beginning, It did not disappoint. The special effects were quite nice and the music with its jazzy horn sounds and sixties beats had me moving in my seat through some parts of it as well. Adam West as Batman and Julie Newmar as Catwoman were enjoyable to watch. The producers featuring their original voices in the film gave it a special uniqueness that could not be replaced.

I often laughed out loud at certain scenes and also enjoyed the storyline. It had me often wondering what would happen next. I also liked the villains. Classic Joker, Penguin, Riddler, and Catwoman each had their own unique flair that seemed to captivate each scene. Riddler was great with his genius schemes and his trickery. The classic Joker was hilarious with his flamboyant laugh and his menacing actions. Penguin was crafty in his own way with his powerful gadgets, style and swagger. Catwoman was also quite captivating with her tempting seductress demeanor and deadly charms.

I also enjoyed Batman, Robin, and Alfred's characters in this film. The director has a great style of mixing humor with edginess that make the heroes and villains interesting and fun to watch. I laughed out loud at much of Batman and Robin's hilarious dialogue and chemistry. Robin really had me laughing out loud with his hysterical phrases such as "Holy Hydrogen", "Holy Shrapnel" and "Holy Hussy". I did not get bored with the heroes at all in this film and was quite excited to see this version of the characters. The fight scenes even had me laughing out loud; especially when they used the classic sixties phrases such as "Boom!", "Pow!" "Zone!"etc. while the heroes fought the villains. These scenes were funny and did not bore me even for a moment.

This movie was quite amazing and an refreshing escape from the dark undertones of the recent Batman projects. It shows that Batman is a character that can be expressed in a wide array of styles and still be entertaining. I definitely recommend DC Comic fans and Batman fans to try this film out. I am so moved by it that I plan to purchase a DVD copy of this movie and probably even the original 60's Batman show too. I also will try to read some of the Batman 66 comics to get more of this type of entertainment. I hope that the directors may even consider doing a sequel of this real soon. I definitely look forward to seeing more.