Post by blinker on Dec 8, 2005 22:22:10 GMT -5
One of my strong points is reviews. I post my reviews of The Batman & Justice League Unlimited at BYTB, SHH! & Toonzone. If I would, I would like to share my reviews on The Batman Season Three since its the current season, and you guys may or may not have read them elsewhere.
And since I will post my reviews here once new episodes start, I think I should post them for fun.
BATGIRL BEGINS PT. 1
Since I dl JLU/TB episodes, I haven't seen an episode aired on Kids WB since.....Season 1? The quality when it aired is not going to be like that when I get it on my computer, I'll tell you that right now.
Barbara Gordon, age around 14-15 tops, wants the action but her father tries to convince to her that's its dangerous since villains like Temblor are out there. Her role model is course Batman. So that’s a start for her Batgirl identity. Hey, if you had a superhero in your town, who would be your role model? I can tell you right now, SHE'S OUR POPULAR CHARACTER.
Pamela Isley, around the same age, maybe older, is exactly who she is. An activist on plants and their survival. Her per transformation makes her beautiful, while her post transformation makes her...cute. But still good nonetheless. She is a good girl because she only did this not like she was evil, but because she's an activist who took a wrong decision. That makes her transformation sad in a way.
While its Poison Ivy's origin as well as Batgirl's, you still need another villain for this episode and that's Temblor. Introduced in the Con, his unique design, and love for destruction makes him like ANY villain in TB. But since he's for hire like Firefly, that's different. Also, since this was "Batgirl Begins", we kinda needed, or wanted, more references to the film.
Back in the TNBA days, the Batman and Batgirl duo seem more better than just Batman and Robin, while Batman and Nightwing were cool. Mainly it’s because it’s two heroes, male and female, in bat costumes. Than just having a kid in pixy boots. Thank god that wasn't in either BTAS/TNBA and TT. And that duo of Batman and Batgirl will be a powerful team for TB fans alike.
The new opening, I cringed at a little. But its OK. Its better to see something new than the other opening all the time. Maybe its because the new one sounds like the '60s show, or something like the '60s show, prolly because we have a DUO now. If I hear it again, then maybe, probably, WILL, I'll like it more.
Overall, a good episode to start a new season with much promise. If they showed Part 2 on the same day, that would make my day. But it’s Kids WB. Also, wghat scares me is that after a few episodes of this season, BIG HIATUS!!!! NO!!!!!!!!
PLEASE WB, NO MORE!
8.5/10
BATGIRL BEGINS PT. 2
"Hello Commissioner Gordon, this is Batman, care to go bowling?"
Barbara Gordon is cute. Yes, she is the popular character for this show. After the first part which sets up their characters, Poison Ivy and Batgirl (storyline wise) get into action. Pretty much what we thought was in Part 2. There were some cute moments from Batgirl that made me smile and the actions by Poison Ivy showed that they treated her well.
Batgirl, age 15-ish, is popular. As I said, she is cute in both identities. The line she says to Gordon after receiving a call, the one above where the review starts, I found laughing and going "awwww" . I don't know why but I love her. Then again, I'm supposing to. Her mistakes in aiming, and blowing off her super identity (which I don't think its her fault) and fighting are common with origin stories. As the show moves on, she'll of course will improve.
Poison Ivy I felt was like her, if not more than her BTAS incarnation. The idea of her as a super villain was quick in terms of getting in her costume. But I kinda let that go since she is an activist (which isn't wrong) and has been in and out of jail (which is common) that I thought "She believes in her ideals, but feels weak many times. So her powers are perfect for her." Nuff said.
With animation, music and sound at top notch, and finding myself jumping around on my chair when the theme aired so I still like it after getting use to it, I can say that Season Three will be on par with what good episodes were in Season One and Season Two in general. But more are on the way.
"This is only the beginning..."
A Dark To remember is next. Wonder what that is....
RATING: 9/10
A DARK KNIGHT TO remember
Memory loss, this reminds me of the UNCUT version of Batman Forever. From what I remembered, this episode was almost close to that movie's pre-reedit version. I'm glad Batgirl appears in ever episode (probably, but mostly) because she proves useful, despite fans saying that her in every episode might lead to something bad.
The Penguin's "new look" wasn't anything special. I'll agree that he might look a little more sinister in the episode than before, but that's it. Welcome change, just was expecting more. Bruce's small training does show, very little though, but what Bruce used to train with the batarang. Animation-wise, this looked darker than any episode before it for some reason. That was cooler.
For this type of story, I was expecting Bruce's parents dying to be shown, with new animation. But maybe that being shown probably wasn't needed. Barbara was close to say Bruce was Batman, but his actions here disapproved her theory...for now.....I hope.
Overall, nice. All I have to say.
REVIEW: 8.5/10
BTW, the BatBoat's location in the cave was revealed. Now we know, or already knew from TBvD's screens, that the cave has a river. And we saw more of it anyway.
A FISTFUL OF FELT
Wesker & Scarface hasn’t been seen since Season One’s The Big Dummy, 21 episodes ago. The first episode was good in the terms of psychology on Wesker’s part and how that was reflected on Batman’s part. Now when I found out about Wesker & Scarface returning in Season 3, I wanted to see what was gonna happen this time ‘round because sometimes a villain’s second appearance isn’t as good as the first. Luckily, it was good.
The way Wesker was in this episode was done in accordance with his character. Of course you can’t have a Ventriloquist, regular or villain, just give up their talents so the idea of Wesker “replacing” Scarface with a loveable puppet as Mr. Snoots was a interesting idea. The whole plot worked out in the end since we’re dealing with split identities in one man.
Another moment in this episode was Prof. Hugo Strange. In Season two with his cameo in Meltdown and his first full appearance in Strange Minds, his true character of him actually being on the bad side of things is slightly revealed when he plays with Wesker and his personalities for his puppets. And the idea of maybe he’s planning something for Batman.
Overall, this was nice to see something on the mature side of things. Hugo Strange is this episode might be a foreshadowing of what’s to come.
RATING: 8/10
RPM
As part of Kids WB's NEW-ember, The Batman returns with all new episodes after a short hiatus. Was it worth the wait? Let's see:
We're introduced to a new villain called Gearhead. Just like Temblor, and maybe Toy Maker (who has yet to be seen as of 11-5-05), Gearhead has been created for the show and not from the comics AT ALL. Gearhead represents another good villian because he controls machines of whatever type like a virus, and Batman creates alot of them for his "mission". So that puts Batman in a tough situation.
While the nano-technology Gearhead uses that makes any thing like cars transform into something else isn't on the reality side of things, at least it was explained that it was something that exists today, and not something like "oh, he uses magic". The episode would've been dead right then and there if it was.
Another main introduction is the new Batmobile. This episode is also mainly a origin story for how the old Batmobile was trashed and how the new one was built and first used. The new Batmobile, or "Batmobile 2.0", is based on elements from other Batmobiles such as the TNBA/JL/JLU Batmobile, the blue coloring again from the Kilmer car, and I heard that the bigger wheels and powerful jet(s) makes it also based on the Tumbler. But you be the judge on that.
As far as performace; it was decent. It was nice to see this in action however I wished there was more screen time for it when it was racing Gearhead. But that can be fixed once we see more in action in the next episodes. Another factor that put me not as ease was its specs. It looked a little slim instead of being wide. But since the car is a good addition, that'll work on me in a bit. But as I stated: New Batmobile, new stuff to see.
Now I wouldn't make a paragraph for Batgirl for this review, maybe just part of my closing, but for her in this episode, I'll make one. Also because she's cute. Now, her in this episode was that she is trying to get her driver's lisence. No problem. She also gets to drive, well without permission, the Batcycle. No problem there either. But the one thing that was a moment (in my mind) was her in the Batmobile with Batman. Together in the car gave the feeling of "The Dynamic Duo". Even though that goes for Batman AND Robin, I still got that feeling from her and Batman.
I don't want to start up anything, but maybe that’s a hint somewhat of her getting closer to Batman to the Bruce identity in the future. I don't want to fight, all of us want that so that’s just an idea of what that is. But overall: a good episode after a hiatus.
RATING: 8/10
BRAWN
Before this episode, we had a confusion of which episode would air: Brawn or Cash for Toys. As of now, Brawn was gonna air anyway and Cash for Toys is probably next.
Back to the episode.
The idea of Joker using Bane's venom is original. But there was no point of him to be that to begin with. No motive either (yet, when did he had one? lol). I guess the point from his point of view was wanting to be bigger, and fun. I guess that's it.
Batgirl on the other hand was the focus on this episode. It can be argued that it ain't but it is. She is the star of Brawn. Her against a Bane Joker was more in line for the girl audience. That's no problem at all. Since she's young, not that tall and still fast, she was kinda the perfect one to handle the Bane Joker. It took a while and Batman could only defeat Joker in this episode at his normal size.
Now, what will trouble fans was the fact that Bane wasn't in it. He was mentioned, but that was that. At least he was back in some way. I guess the only other thing was the return of the Batbot after........a while. Batgirl using it was another reason why I said it was focused more on her.
With all that, sound and such was still on the good side of things. Now overall: this episode wasn't that big of a deal. However, I can still consider it wacthable if you like Batgirl.
RATING: 6.5/10
THE LAUGHING CATS
After Brawn which was mixed (more bad than good which I didn't fight anyone to look my way, since I said the same thing), this season's track goes up again from bad to good with this episode.
Catwoman comes back after her last appearence in Season Two's "Ragdolls to Riches". In this episode, she wasn't in her other appearences which she just stole. She did still, but she was most in line on what she was on animals. That brought her more out as the animal activist that she is. I only wished she and Batman would be "together" like in the comics. But that doesn't happen. Catwoman is still a good character and on the good side of things when it comes to animals. She's a good person.
Before; Batgirl showed up when Batman needed help or wanted to join in on whatever he was doing. This started in Batgirl Begins Part 2, now it was changed. When the episode started, Batman and Batgirl were finally side by side. It had "Dymanic Duo" written all over it than before. That was a good chance for once.
Joker was the villian again. People complain about him appearing all the time. But in this episode, he wasn't annoying nor stupid. He was....normal. Not his normal, the type where he didn't act the way he normally acts. No problem there, just different. He did have his tricks and traps, but no jokes. Nothing that I heard people hating him for. By the way; Joker's hyenas were a good addition. It made me remember BTAS when they appeared with Joker.
Overall, this was bad. It was good enough which after Brawn many people would ask for. With these characters, there was some but not alot of development though. Hey, still good.
RATING: 7.5/10
FLUERS DU MAL
Returning since "Batgirl Begins Pt. 2", Poison Ivy is back resuming her mission. This episode was "known" since Pierra, the voice actress for Ivy, told the people at LoG that she did one more episode. So how did it go?
Poison Ivy in this episode couldn't have been the same since her first appearence. That's good since once a villian changes attitude and feel, it's hard to believe them again. I must admit the story seemed campy at first until few minutes in, then it was a whole lot better.
I know for a fact that once Penguin was revealed to be in this episode, everyone was complaining like hell. Well that would be understandable, however he wasn't focused in the episode. Instead, Ivy's clone of him was. That would be the relief viwers must've gotten. Because of that, this passed easily.
The plot of Ivy wanting to "Green up Gotham" would seem chessy at first until a few minutes in. Once her plant monsters were revealed, and she wasn't any different in terms of character, I had the feeling of BTAS with the episode; House & Garden.
Overall a very good episode. TB's true potential has shown it's face again.
RATING: 8.5/10
And since I will post my reviews here once new episodes start, I think I should post them for fun.
BATGIRL BEGINS PT. 1
Since I dl JLU/TB episodes, I haven't seen an episode aired on Kids WB since.....Season 1? The quality when it aired is not going to be like that when I get it on my computer, I'll tell you that right now.
Barbara Gordon, age around 14-15 tops, wants the action but her father tries to convince to her that's its dangerous since villains like Temblor are out there. Her role model is course Batman. So that’s a start for her Batgirl identity. Hey, if you had a superhero in your town, who would be your role model? I can tell you right now, SHE'S OUR POPULAR CHARACTER.
Pamela Isley, around the same age, maybe older, is exactly who she is. An activist on plants and their survival. Her per transformation makes her beautiful, while her post transformation makes her...cute. But still good nonetheless. She is a good girl because she only did this not like she was evil, but because she's an activist who took a wrong decision. That makes her transformation sad in a way.
While its Poison Ivy's origin as well as Batgirl's, you still need another villain for this episode and that's Temblor. Introduced in the Con, his unique design, and love for destruction makes him like ANY villain in TB. But since he's for hire like Firefly, that's different. Also, since this was "Batgirl Begins", we kinda needed, or wanted, more references to the film.
Back in the TNBA days, the Batman and Batgirl duo seem more better than just Batman and Robin, while Batman and Nightwing were cool. Mainly it’s because it’s two heroes, male and female, in bat costumes. Than just having a kid in pixy boots. Thank god that wasn't in either BTAS/TNBA and TT. And that duo of Batman and Batgirl will be a powerful team for TB fans alike.
The new opening, I cringed at a little. But its OK. Its better to see something new than the other opening all the time. Maybe its because the new one sounds like the '60s show, or something like the '60s show, prolly because we have a DUO now. If I hear it again, then maybe, probably, WILL, I'll like it more.
Overall, a good episode to start a new season with much promise. If they showed Part 2 on the same day, that would make my day. But it’s Kids WB. Also, wghat scares me is that after a few episodes of this season, BIG HIATUS!!!! NO!!!!!!!!
PLEASE WB, NO MORE!
8.5/10
BATGIRL BEGINS PT. 2
"Hello Commissioner Gordon, this is Batman, care to go bowling?"
Barbara Gordon is cute. Yes, she is the popular character for this show. After the first part which sets up their characters, Poison Ivy and Batgirl (storyline wise) get into action. Pretty much what we thought was in Part 2. There were some cute moments from Batgirl that made me smile and the actions by Poison Ivy showed that they treated her well.
Batgirl, age 15-ish, is popular. As I said, she is cute in both identities. The line she says to Gordon after receiving a call, the one above where the review starts, I found laughing and going "awwww" . I don't know why but I love her. Then again, I'm supposing to. Her mistakes in aiming, and blowing off her super identity (which I don't think its her fault) and fighting are common with origin stories. As the show moves on, she'll of course will improve.
Poison Ivy I felt was like her, if not more than her BTAS incarnation. The idea of her as a super villain was quick in terms of getting in her costume. But I kinda let that go since she is an activist (which isn't wrong) and has been in and out of jail (which is common) that I thought "She believes in her ideals, but feels weak many times. So her powers are perfect for her." Nuff said.
With animation, music and sound at top notch, and finding myself jumping around on my chair when the theme aired so I still like it after getting use to it, I can say that Season Three will be on par with what good episodes were in Season One and Season Two in general. But more are on the way.
"This is only the beginning..."
A Dark To remember is next. Wonder what that is....
RATING: 9/10
A DARK KNIGHT TO remember
Memory loss, this reminds me of the UNCUT version of Batman Forever. From what I remembered, this episode was almost close to that movie's pre-reedit version. I'm glad Batgirl appears in ever episode (probably, but mostly) because she proves useful, despite fans saying that her in every episode might lead to something bad.
The Penguin's "new look" wasn't anything special. I'll agree that he might look a little more sinister in the episode than before, but that's it. Welcome change, just was expecting more. Bruce's small training does show, very little though, but what Bruce used to train with the batarang. Animation-wise, this looked darker than any episode before it for some reason. That was cooler.
For this type of story, I was expecting Bruce's parents dying to be shown, with new animation. But maybe that being shown probably wasn't needed. Barbara was close to say Bruce was Batman, but his actions here disapproved her theory...for now.....I hope.
Overall, nice. All I have to say.
REVIEW: 8.5/10
BTW, the BatBoat's location in the cave was revealed. Now we know, or already knew from TBvD's screens, that the cave has a river. And we saw more of it anyway.
A FISTFUL OF FELT
Wesker & Scarface hasn’t been seen since Season One’s The Big Dummy, 21 episodes ago. The first episode was good in the terms of psychology on Wesker’s part and how that was reflected on Batman’s part. Now when I found out about Wesker & Scarface returning in Season 3, I wanted to see what was gonna happen this time ‘round because sometimes a villain’s second appearance isn’t as good as the first. Luckily, it was good.
The way Wesker was in this episode was done in accordance with his character. Of course you can’t have a Ventriloquist, regular or villain, just give up their talents so the idea of Wesker “replacing” Scarface with a loveable puppet as Mr. Snoots was a interesting idea. The whole plot worked out in the end since we’re dealing with split identities in one man.
Another moment in this episode was Prof. Hugo Strange. In Season two with his cameo in Meltdown and his first full appearance in Strange Minds, his true character of him actually being on the bad side of things is slightly revealed when he plays with Wesker and his personalities for his puppets. And the idea of maybe he’s planning something for Batman.
Overall, this was nice to see something on the mature side of things. Hugo Strange is this episode might be a foreshadowing of what’s to come.
RATING: 8/10
RPM
As part of Kids WB's NEW-ember, The Batman returns with all new episodes after a short hiatus. Was it worth the wait? Let's see:
We're introduced to a new villain called Gearhead. Just like Temblor, and maybe Toy Maker (who has yet to be seen as of 11-5-05), Gearhead has been created for the show and not from the comics AT ALL. Gearhead represents another good villian because he controls machines of whatever type like a virus, and Batman creates alot of them for his "mission". So that puts Batman in a tough situation.
While the nano-technology Gearhead uses that makes any thing like cars transform into something else isn't on the reality side of things, at least it was explained that it was something that exists today, and not something like "oh, he uses magic". The episode would've been dead right then and there if it was.
Another main introduction is the new Batmobile. This episode is also mainly a origin story for how the old Batmobile was trashed and how the new one was built and first used. The new Batmobile, or "Batmobile 2.0", is based on elements from other Batmobiles such as the TNBA/JL/JLU Batmobile, the blue coloring again from the Kilmer car, and I heard that the bigger wheels and powerful jet(s) makes it also based on the Tumbler. But you be the judge on that.
As far as performace; it was decent. It was nice to see this in action however I wished there was more screen time for it when it was racing Gearhead. But that can be fixed once we see more in action in the next episodes. Another factor that put me not as ease was its specs. It looked a little slim instead of being wide. But since the car is a good addition, that'll work on me in a bit. But as I stated: New Batmobile, new stuff to see.
Now I wouldn't make a paragraph for Batgirl for this review, maybe just part of my closing, but for her in this episode, I'll make one. Also because she's cute. Now, her in this episode was that she is trying to get her driver's lisence. No problem. She also gets to drive, well without permission, the Batcycle. No problem there either. But the one thing that was a moment (in my mind) was her in the Batmobile with Batman. Together in the car gave the feeling of "The Dynamic Duo". Even though that goes for Batman AND Robin, I still got that feeling from her and Batman.
I don't want to start up anything, but maybe that’s a hint somewhat of her getting closer to Batman to the Bruce identity in the future. I don't want to fight, all of us want that so that’s just an idea of what that is. But overall: a good episode after a hiatus.
RATING: 8/10
BRAWN
Before this episode, we had a confusion of which episode would air: Brawn or Cash for Toys. As of now, Brawn was gonna air anyway and Cash for Toys is probably next.
Back to the episode.
The idea of Joker using Bane's venom is original. But there was no point of him to be that to begin with. No motive either (yet, when did he had one? lol). I guess the point from his point of view was wanting to be bigger, and fun. I guess that's it.
Batgirl on the other hand was the focus on this episode. It can be argued that it ain't but it is. She is the star of Brawn. Her against a Bane Joker was more in line for the girl audience. That's no problem at all. Since she's young, not that tall and still fast, she was kinda the perfect one to handle the Bane Joker. It took a while and Batman could only defeat Joker in this episode at his normal size.
Now, what will trouble fans was the fact that Bane wasn't in it. He was mentioned, but that was that. At least he was back in some way. I guess the only other thing was the return of the Batbot after........a while. Batgirl using it was another reason why I said it was focused more on her.
With all that, sound and such was still on the good side of things. Now overall: this episode wasn't that big of a deal. However, I can still consider it wacthable if you like Batgirl.
RATING: 6.5/10
THE LAUGHING CATS
After Brawn which was mixed (more bad than good which I didn't fight anyone to look my way, since I said the same thing), this season's track goes up again from bad to good with this episode.
Catwoman comes back after her last appearence in Season Two's "Ragdolls to Riches". In this episode, she wasn't in her other appearences which she just stole. She did still, but she was most in line on what she was on animals. That brought her more out as the animal activist that she is. I only wished she and Batman would be "together" like in the comics. But that doesn't happen. Catwoman is still a good character and on the good side of things when it comes to animals. She's a good person.
Before; Batgirl showed up when Batman needed help or wanted to join in on whatever he was doing. This started in Batgirl Begins Part 2, now it was changed. When the episode started, Batman and Batgirl were finally side by side. It had "Dymanic Duo" written all over it than before. That was a good chance for once.
Joker was the villian again. People complain about him appearing all the time. But in this episode, he wasn't annoying nor stupid. He was....normal. Not his normal, the type where he didn't act the way he normally acts. No problem there, just different. He did have his tricks and traps, but no jokes. Nothing that I heard people hating him for. By the way; Joker's hyenas were a good addition. It made me remember BTAS when they appeared with Joker.
Overall, this was bad. It was good enough which after Brawn many people would ask for. With these characters, there was some but not alot of development though. Hey, still good.
RATING: 7.5/10
FLUERS DU MAL
Returning since "Batgirl Begins Pt. 2", Poison Ivy is back resuming her mission. This episode was "known" since Pierra, the voice actress for Ivy, told the people at LoG that she did one more episode. So how did it go?
Poison Ivy in this episode couldn't have been the same since her first appearence. That's good since once a villian changes attitude and feel, it's hard to believe them again. I must admit the story seemed campy at first until few minutes in, then it was a whole lot better.
I know for a fact that once Penguin was revealed to be in this episode, everyone was complaining like hell. Well that would be understandable, however he wasn't focused in the episode. Instead, Ivy's clone of him was. That would be the relief viwers must've gotten. Because of that, this passed easily.
The plot of Ivy wanting to "Green up Gotham" would seem chessy at first until a few minutes in. Once her plant monsters were revealed, and she wasn't any different in terms of character, I had the feeling of BTAS with the episode; House & Garden.
Overall a very good episode. TB's true potential has shown it's face again.
RATING: 8.5/10