Batman Beyond: The Movie

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.