Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts

Obviously this isn't the best Batman movie ever but I wasn't expecting it to be. I expected it to be a decent animated Cartoon Network style movie, and that's what I got.

The story is decent enough but the action/fight sequences could be better. Also, at times it felt like there was too many characters. Penguin wanted to destroy everyone so he could be rich, but that doesn't make any sense because there's no point in being rich if you're the only one on earth.

The only reason I gave this entry to the DC animated universe a five is because it's Batman. That's it. What we have here is a futuristic Gotham with the ol' good guys against the ol' bad guys scenario. The basic plot has the Penguin recruiting many of the animal super-villains--Cheetah, Silverback, Killer Croc, among others--to help pull off a heist of, ahem, cosmic proportions. Naturally, the good guys have to stop them and you can guess the rest.

First, the good points. Decent music, fast moving, some good fight sequences.

And now, the bad. The animation looks like it's been scaled down significantly. I'm not expecting Pixar. I am expecting something decent. This wasn't. Batman's suit (light blue) hearkens back to the late 1960's take and it doesn't suit (no pun intended) this day and age. His gold get-through-the-force-field suit reminded me of some lousy Japanese anime...double ungood.

As for the script, again, while War and Peace ain't on the menu, this makes Jack and Jill Go Up the Hill read like a masterpiece. Cheesy, poor humor, poorer lines...the one good thing was the voice cast that did what they could with their parts. I miss Kevin Conroy doing the voice of Batman. He had the bearing. His replacement sounds like a slightly younger version of him, but with no depth.

The actress doing Cheetah sounds like a whiny child, and I got zero sense of menace behind any of the baddies. Not their fault, really; 'twas the script that done 'em in.

Finally, all the old stereotypes of animals being what they are were trotted out, and quite frankly, that kind of thinking should have gone out fifty years ago.

I heard this direct-to-DVD effort was to sell toys. My only question is: How many? Nothing wrong with selling goods to the kiddies, but this video is an insult to any comic book/cartoon fan.

I don't typically publish reviews, but after seeing so many negative reviews on this release I wanted to set the record straight. I grew up on Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Justice League, and the like, and have delved deeply into every DC Animated feature released since. True enough, this is not the dark, grim, graphic and violent Batman that our generation is accustomed to; but, in fairness, it's not meant to be. This film is meant for kids and their parents to enjoy together, and in that sense, I think it's awesome. I'll even go a step further, and say that this the first animated Batman film in quite awhile that I would say is kid-friendly for all age groups.There's action, there's comedy, there's loud noises and character development and robots and superheroes and just about everything a young batman enthusiast could ever want. If you're expecting Christopher Nolan's introspective take on the Batman or Scott Snyder's detail-oriented writing skill, you're looking in utterly the wrong place. But if you're looking for a fun, family adventure with the Bat Family, Green Arrow, and The Flash, look no further than this installment. Glad to hear that there's a sequel on the way!

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.

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.