Batman: Caped Crusader

I'll be honest, I was turned off by the first episode. You walk right into it and see a lot of characters have been changed from their traditional comic appearances to appeal to "modern audiences." Penguin in particular is just bad as some angry convincing mother. BUT the next episode absolutely nailed ClayFace with plenty of homages to the early 30s and 40s Universal Horror movies who the character is based off of that I decided to stick with it. The show as a whole copies the artistic style of the 90s Batman: The Animated Series which is considered by many to be the best Batman show of all time. This show mimics its Noir elements while also ramping up the age rating, giving us more gore, more horror, more "adult" themes, and the occasional swearing. However the show isn't without its flaws, because it's beyond obvious the creators had to make it more diverse so it would appeal to "modern audiences".

When this show misses, it's a strike out. Penguin is hands down the worst change. Bullock is also bad as an accomplish to the corrupt Flash. In the original show, he didn't trust Batman, but at least he was a honest cop. However when the show hits a home run, it's absolutely out of the park. There are so many Easter eggs and call backs to the various comics and what influenced the various Batman characters/arcs I couldn't help but appreciate the show has a hard core fan. For instance, Catwoman's costume is very much a callback to her golden Age outfit while her iconic claw marks scar is a reference to her Year One trademark. Firefly likewise they nail his psychological disturbance with fire (who imo is a very utilized villain) where once he sees a flame, he HAS to make it grow. Harley Quin, yeah they "change" her appearance (cough cough) but they actually do her psychologist profile justice much like her original appearance in the Animated Series, and no she is nothing like the MAX show depiction.

Is the show perfect? No. Am I happy they "updated it for modern audiences?" Also no. However that does not mean you should instantly write it off as a bad show. Skip the 1st episode and you will see the creators at least tried to make it a love letter to the existing Batman Media from across the decades.

It's certainly not the worst Batman show, but there are a lot of things that work against this project. The portrayals of all the characters come off as poor/boring versions especially the villains. All characters lack chemistry with each other as well.

With Batman/Bruce Wayne there's no depth or character development it's just the same bland and tiresome version of this version of the caped crusader.

I would say the biggest issue I have with this show is that it struggles trying to decide if it's for more mature audiences or if it's kid friendly. One second it's showing PG styled phrasing and cookie-cutter action, the next it's showing murder and serious dark topics yet holds back on showing any blood or graphic depictions. At the end of the day just pick a lane and stick to it.

Negatives:

• The Voice Acting
• The Writing
• The Soundtrack
• Modern Politics

Positives:

• The Animation
• The Release date

At the end of the day I would just stick with watching the Batman Year One animated movie. As it does a much better job of representing the origin of Batman becoming a true crime fighter while learning how to navigate through corruption and justice.

While exploring some interesting themes and with some really cool art-deco conceptual artwork, I found the animation itself to be really static and uninteresting. The opening shot of the entire series had a guy tied up in a chair, completely unmoving other than his mouth.

Since this show is being marketed as adult animation, I expected the quality of the animation to be higher. It feels like a kid's show that's peppered with more violence than usual - interesting but lacking the genuine emotion and higher quality animation that I would expect from a more mature show.

I do appreciate the art style, voice acting, and imaginative take on the characters we know and love. The music is also well done - sort of a classic orchestral noir vibe. However in my opinion it could do with less music overall, as well as an approach to the music that was less leading and manipulative.

There is a popular misconception that Bruce W. Timm was the mastermind behind the classic Batman: The Animated Series and the whole of what became known as the DC Animated Universe, which also comprised of Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, The Zeta Project, Gotham Girls, Static Shock, Justice League, and Justice League: Unlimited...However, that is false. In actuality, there were several hands that crafted the series and its spin-offs over the years, the most influence Timm had on it all was his designs for the characters and the world around them. He is for certain a fan of the characters, but not quite the DC encyclopedia many had assumed he was, in fact, he found the whole of DC's heroes and villains to have been rather dull in as a youth and gravitated more towards Marvel when he was buying and reading comic books. In the years since the DCAU technically finished with the final episode of Justice League: Unlimited, the fan-concepted belief of him knowing exactly what is right for the iconic characters began to diminish, with some unimpressive animated features and television series that followed, and now more people have come to the conclusion that he is an over glorified cartoonist. Batman: Caped Crusader proves this quite well as Timm has been given more creative leeway than he had before and most of the people who were involved in Batman: The Animated Series and its continuations are absent, and the lack of quality really does make it clear what is missing.

It is not technically a bad series. The animation is generally nice, though lacking the atmosphere Batman: The Animated Series presented. The voice acting ranges from good to great, with Hamish Linklater doing a fairly good job at Batman and guests stars like Christina Ricci shining in the part of Catwoman. The stories are conceptually interesting but delivered between the lines of "okay" and "good enough", with sprinkles of unimaginative and flat action beats that don't leave enough impact. And if you are a purist in how these characters are to be traditionally portrayed in media, you will not be very satisfied by the results, and to a degree very upset.

Could've been great and could've worse. This is really an "in-betweener" sort of program, whether or not you are a fan of these characters.

Horrible. I wanted to watch a Batman cartoon, but practically 60% of the screen time was devoted to Barbara Gordon and the other female detective, whose name I didn't even bother to remember. Batman did absolutely nothing in this show; it was the others who did everything, and he only showed up in the last 5 minutes to fight the villain.

While expanding the roles of supporting characters can add depth to a narrative, it shouldn't come at the expense of the hero that the audience came to see. Batman deserves better than to be a background character in his own show, and fans deserve a series that honors the legacy of the Dark Knight by putting him at the center of the action where he belongs.