Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts

This is one of several Batman Unlimited movies that also went hand in hand with a short lived television series of the same name.

What sets them apart from the rest is the setting, the franchise is set in the future and has minor tweaks on the usual DC characters.

In this one we see Batman, Green Arrow, Red Robin, Flash & Nightwing take on The Penguin, the super villians working for him and his army of mechanical animals.

I really didn't like the setting, I'm very much not into this whole alternate universe thing. Top that off with this being very kiddie friendly and despite it being an award winning effort I was hardly impressed.

I do like the concept of the Animalitia (Animal Militia) but some childish writing really ruined it for me.

The Good:

Cheetah was great

The Bad:

Nightwings hair, really?!

Not keen on the future setting

Dialogue is laughable in places

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

I found myself wondering how the DC Universe would have looked if they chose Manbat over Batman

Batman doesn't look at explosions

The Penguin has a fear of penguins, who knew?

In the last 25 year, we've seen I believe four Batman animated series, ranging in quality from the Great ("Batman the Animated Series" from 1991) to the truly awful ("Beware the Batman"- a series so dreadful that the Cartoon Network buried it like radioactive waste. Twice.)

This look like it is in the same vein, with Batman's team of Nighwing and Red Robin teaming up with the "Two Guys Who Have Popular Live Action Series Right Now But I'm Sure That's A Co-incidence". (That would be the Green Arrow and Flash, BTW, for the Sarcasm Imparied.) So there is a series of crimes being carried out by out of town villains and robotic animals, all being co-ordinated by The Penguin who really doesn't even bother to hide his complicity. His grand scheme makes even less sense than Batman Returns.

Worth a watch? Sure. The animation looks nice. The voice work is good.

The first of three DTV movies made to promote Mattel's action figure line of the same name. Batman, Nightwing, Flash, Green Arrow, and Red Robin team up to take on Penguin and his 'Animalitia' (Killer Croc, Cheetah, Man-Bat, and Silverback) and their plan to divert an asteroid known as the Midas Heart due to pass by Earth in order to get the gold at its centre.

Much of the voice cast has a solid history with DC; Roger Craig Smith (Batman), John DiMaggio (Killer Croc), Will Friedle (Nightwing), Phil LaMarr (Man-Bat), Charlie Schlatter (Flash), Laura Bailey (Cheetah), Keith Szarabajka (Silverback), Yuri Lowenthal (Red Robin), and Alastair Duncan (Alfred). Animation is pretty good (there are a couple of places where the action seems to 'jump' a little), as are the costume designs (a prototype Batsuit featured at the beginning is an obvious nod to Batman Beyond!). Gotham itself has a Blade Runner/sci-fi look, rather than the more familiar BTAS/Burton type of design. Dialogue, although corny at times, is pretty snappy.

This doesn't approach the depth of the DCAU, and it never claims to. It's just fun, with a feel of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, or the movie JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time. 7/10.

This is just a rotten cartoon. I honestly don't think it would entertain anyone over the age of six.

If you don't know what Batman Unlimited is, it's essentially a line Batman universe toys which, until now, didn't have any cartoon or comicbook to back them up. This movie attempts to do that for kids... but yeah, it's not even worth the $3.99 digital view price.

The first thing you'll notice on viewing it is that, unlike previous Direct-to-DVD DC Comics cartoons, this one doesn't fly under the "Warner Premier" banner. Meaning it has none the writing pedigree or production values of movies like "Under the Red Hood" or "Batman: Gotham Knight." And that shows in how full of plot holes and contrivances this toon is; such as the bat-dog-robot-motorcycle and the clumsy attempt to tie in the Batman Beyond suit, which is instantly forgotten to move on to the next in a line of "neon street luge batman" bat costumes you get throughout the viewing. Villains are given no more reason to work together and no more plot than the fact that they share an animal theme, and one of the heroes just happens to be hanging around Gotham City despite not even having a connection to Batman ever mentioned.

In other words, the movie is a 90 minute toy commercial, and it makes the original Thundercats and Silverhawks seem like Shakespeare by comparison.

This movie has a style that is different from most, if not all Batman movies so far. It is quite a bit lighter, brighter in the less serious sense. So if you're open to see something a bit different, you'll enjoy it. If you are hoping to see something that goes along with the previous Batman movies, you might feel that your expectations aren't met.

Had this movie tried to merge its colorful, somewhat more cartoony style with a serious, dark narrative that is usually a common thing to expect, given that it plays in Gotham, it would have failed to do so and felt really out of place. Instead it takes events a bit less serious, mixing well written, witty dialogue that has some quite entertaining moments with a story that is simple, but serves its purpose, resulting in a combination that works - if you're open to see these kind of things (and don't expect to be surprised by intricate plot-twists - other reviews pick up on this). That also makes this movie quite easy to stomach for the younger audiences. Style, story and dialogue have been chosen to work together, which is nice to see.

The animation quality is very much acceptable and up to the task, voice acting is very nice! No complaints there. The soundtrack is also good.

Enjoyed!