Genres

Visitors Review

2013-05-19 17:48:05

Batman: Painfully out of Character

**Spoilers for the ending of this movie**Overall the animation is done well, consistent with the New Look Batman Animated Series, and the voice casting by Andrea Romano was excellent, as always.Several of my fellow Batman lovers warned me against this movie, mainly saying that it suffered from not having Bruce Timm directly involved, but I decided to give it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised for most of the movie. Although it was more light-hearted and 'fluffier' than Timm's movies, it was entertaining enough and had several laugh out loud moments without being too silly.Then... the ending. Oh god, the ending.The movie, up to that point, had clearly portrayed certain characters as having typical Batman-villain flaws (no concern for the value of human life, trying to kill others for selfish goals/excitement, and killing for revenge's sake). One of these villains even considers shooting Batman when Batman learns too much. Then, without explanation, Batman not only helps exculpate them, he goes out of his way to pat them on the back. For all their... y'know... crime... Also, considering the writer's efforts to show Batman in at least a semi-serious relationship with Batgirl, the ending kinda makes Batman a tool. Which I thought was impossible.It left such a bad taste in my mouth that it wiped out any good will it earned at the start.Probably a decent movie in its own right, but the most out-of-character portrayal of Batman from any animated movie of the last 20 years.

2013-05-19 11:40:03

Great Animation Great Batman story

This review is from: Batman: The Mystery of the Batwoman (DVD) I purchased it for my birthday recently and couldn't have been a better animated Batman movie.Is very well written and acted. Never has a dull moment.Is it very well balanced between plot and action sequences. If it wasn't animated I'd say I was looking a t a great Batman live film. Should this movie had been made live even for the WB network it would have been a success, the story is that good.The only disappointment is perhaps the design of the Batwoman's costume, resembles too much the Terry McGuiness' Batman Beyond costume. They should have looked up the original Batwoman from the 1940s and 50s Batman comics instead, and update that design.If you're a fan of the BATMAN ANIMATED SERIES is worth your every dollar and keeping it in your collection.

2013-05-19 05:11:37

waste of money

This is not worth your money. And if you're a "completest" like one of the other reviewers commented about, don't bother to buy this. Trust me, a "completest" would be a true fan of batman the animated series fan, and a true fan would be better off just believing that this batman story never existed.

Shawn Watson 2013-05-18 22:47:20

Excellent Batman Adventure

The original animated Dark Knight returns in this ace adventure movie thatrivals Mask of Phantasm in its coolness. There's a lot of style andintelligence in Mystery of the Batwoman, so much more than Batman ForeverorBatman and Robin.There's a new crime-fighter on the streets of Gotham. She dresses like abatbut she's not a grown-up Batgirl. And Batman is denying any affiliationwithher. Meanwhile Bruce Wayne has to deal with the usual romances anddetectivework. But the Penguin, Bain and the local Mob makes things little morecomplicated.I didn't have high hopes for this 'un since being strongly let down buttheweak Batman: Sub Zero (Robin isn't featured so much here!)but I wasdelighted with the imaginative and exciting set pieces, the clever plotanda cheeky sense of humor. This is definitely a movie no fan of Batmanshouldbe without. Keep your ears open for a really catchy song called 'BetchaNeva' which is featured prominently through-out.It's a shame the DVD isn't so great. Don't get me wrong there are somegreatfeatures (the short 'Chase Me' is awesome) and a very cool Dolby 5.1soundtrack but... the movie is presented in Pan and Scan. Batman: Mysteryofthe Batwoman was drawn and shot in 1.85:1 but this DVD is presented in1.33:1 an in comparison to the widescreen clips shown on the featuresthereIS picture cut off on both sides. I find this extremely annoyingconsideringMask of Phantasm was presented in anamorphic widescreen. Warner have hadtore-release literally dozens of movies on DVD because people havecomplainedabout the lack of Original Aspect Ratio available on some titles. Why theychose to make that same mistake here again is beyond me.I would give this DVD 5/5 but the lack of OAR brings the overall scoredownto 4/5. It's a shame because widescreen would have completed a great DVDpackage.

sicilianbeauty80 2013-05-13 20:28:26

Catered to the female audience

I thought the film could be a bit more complex,in a psychological senseperhaps, but the action and voice acting were top notch. The animationwas heavy CG in many scenes, but very good ones at that. This is one ofthe Batman Returns/Forever type films, which include romances and theconflicts of Wayne and motives for dating. 007 fans would love this,and so would the females, great theme song! Wayne was portrayed verywell in this film, and the Penquin was back to his true form, no mutantgenes in him this time! I liked the fact Robin wasn't used too much,Tim Drake was just a good computer nerd, somewhat of an Indigo child ormind of the future.The supporting cast was made up of some soap opera stars, decenttalents and the characters were drawn to look like the voice actorstoo. Kelly Ripa was hilarious in this film.I rate this below Phantasm, Return of the Joker, and Batman vs.Dracula, but liked the smarter script better than I enjoyed Subzero.7/10

2013-05-13 06:24:00

dvd

This review is from: Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (DVD) good service on time mailing plays good work well well well well well well well well well well well well

gigan-92 2013-05-06 23:33:01

"Batman, Batwoman, Batgirl; what is it with this city? The water?"

I just bought the DVD and I'm very impressed by the quality of thestory. It definitely keeps you guessing and the mystery itself is areason to watch. The animation itself is that of the "The New BatmanAdventures", although somewhat brighter than the actual show. Still, itis very good and there's not really much to complain about in thecharacter designs. Some fans as I'm well aware of criticize the "TheNew Batman Adventures" but consider this movie for example. Bane looksgreat, and though the voice actor is Héctor Elizondo instead of theusual Henry Silva, the character retains the same intelligence andprideful personality as in the comics. Penguin's design changesdrastically from the original "Batman: The Animated Series" design, nowfree of the Danny DeVito look and being pretty awesome in the movie.John Vernon reprises the role of Rupert Throne, though he does littlein the movie to my distaste. Then of course there's Batwoman, and Ican't reveal too much but she is a bad-ass character. There's lessfocus on Batman in this one you could say, but it's in order to allowthe audience to explore new characters and this is done very well.Lolita Ritmanis, a regular composer from the show, does the music forthis film and while I find it okay it's a tad much of a departure fromthe usual darker music. Still, all in all, "Mystery of the Batwoman"has complex characters, great animation and an intriguing storylinethat delivers action and mystery. I definitely recommend it.

2013-05-06 03:58:36

Oh my god where have I been when it was released?

This is a very, very enjoyable movie. It has everything you can ask for. A great story line, outstanding new characters! An exciting adventure. And when it seems you know he answer, you find yourself to be wrong, until that very special moment. Such a complex characters were so nicely brought to life. I am upset that there is no such a new story where Batman could have been using those 3 bat women. I am very upset that the story ended here. With more imagination they could have done more new twists to the stories, develop Bruce Wayne and those women even more. Make them evolve in the cartoon. And from that cartoon there could have been done a brand new story line, for brand new bat women. Why, why did it end in here? I still have hopes that the review will be read by someone and someone will make a new release for those 3 bat women. They were so cool! I believe, I'll miss them.

2013-05-04 18:28:08

Little complaints about service and movie

I enjoyed the video being a Batman fan. I recommend this to anyone who is a Batman fan. The movie itself does not focus on Batman so much but he is still definitely involved.

2013-05-04 09:31:02

Great Batman movie for kids

My boys are absolutely nuts for Batman the Animated Series as well as the Justice League animated series, however there's only so many times you can watch the same show no matter how much you love it. So, I was very excited to get this movie, and must say it is great! I enjoy watching it (at least right now, we've only seen it 3 maybe 4 times in a week and a half), but they love watching it and would watch it all the time if I let them along with the other bat movies.

2013-04-19 22:55:00

A very enjoyable animated adventure; plus a bonus short film

This review is from: Batman: The Mystery of the Batwoman (DVD) "Batman: The Mystery of the Batwoman" is the first new straight-to-DVD Batman animated project since "Batman Beyond: The Return of the Joker." It was worth the wait. Even if it doesn't match the manic, violent heights of "The Return of the Joker," it's a welcome, more lightweight adventure that's full of action and drama and also a very enjoyable mystery. There's a slew of villains: The Penguin, Bane, and gangser Rupert Thorne. And there's the fascinating new character of Batwoman herself, with her unique abilities and unusual arsenal of gadgets. It's also quite a sexy, steamy Batman story (but don't worry, parents, not THAT steamy), with a strong romantic subplot that gives Bruce Wayne plenty to do when he's not hunting through the night as Batman. Like all of the animated D.C. Comics projects to come out of Warner Bros. since the early 90s, it's enjoyable, smart entertainment for both children and adults. If it doesn't quite attain the level of some of the previous Batman animated adventures, it nonetheless delivers a fun, exciting time in Gotham city.Directed by Kurt Geda (who also directed "Return of the Joker") and Tim Maltby, and written by frequent writers of the various D.C. TV shows, Michael Reaves and Alan Burnett, the movie takes us back to the days of "The New Batman Adventures" (which means the look and style of the movie matches the more stylized look of the last few seasons of the show). Batman and Robin (the younger Tim Drake version of Robin) are still together fighting crime, but Batgirl has left Gotham City to go to college (no mention is made of Nightwing, the former Robin). But a new vigilante has suddenly appeared in Gotham: Batwoman (voice of Kyra Sedgewick), who wields bizarre technology and seems to have a grudge against the Penguin and Rupert Thorne's weapons-dealing operation. Batman sets out to find out the truth behind Batwoman and also stop the Penguin, Thorne, and their cronies. There are plenty of suspects who could be beneath Batwoman's mask: scientist Roxanne "Roxy" Ballantine (voice of Kelly Ripa), mobster Carlton Duquesne's beautiful daughter Kathy (voice of Kimberly Brooks, although the character is clearly modeled on Halle Berry), and police detective Sonia Alcana (voice of Elisa Pensler-Gabrielli). Each one, Batman discovers, has a reason for revenge against the Penguin or Rupert Thorne. Things become more complicated when Bruce Wayne becomes romantically involved with Kathy Duquesne.The animation is, as usual, fantastic. It's limited by budget, but nonetheless is far ahead of most of what appears on television, and the animators use the minimalist, art-deco look to great advantage. The set-pieces are stunning: Penguin's icy-night club, the truck chase action opening, Batwoman's hyper-kinetic fight with Penguin's female goons, the cruise boat slam-bang finale, and a beautiful sunset romance scene. It's sequences like these that make me wish Warner Bros. would give the animated Batman another shot at the movie theaters. (Only "Mask of the Phantasm" has shown up on movie screens.) The voice work is impeccable: Kevin Conroy is always a terrific Batman, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. is still the perfect Alfred, and Hector Elizondo has fun with villain Bane. All the various female actresses mentioned above do great jobs with their characters. The only disconcerting casting choice is David Ogden-Stiers (a frequent voice-over artist) as the Penguin. He gives a good performance, but it's hard to better Paul Williams in the role, who had played the character throughout the TV series. The jazz-oriented score is also a nice change and adds to the steamier and mysterious aspects of the story.The DVD contains a number of extras, but the best is a short animated film called "Chase Me." It is done completely in pantomime -- no dialogue -- as Batman chases Catwoman across Gotham City after she robs a jewelry safe at a ritzy party. It's a stunning piece of animation, and if it had been released in theaters would probably have easily snatched up the Oscar for Best Animated Short. It's one of the best explorations of the strange Batman-Catwoman-Bruce Wayne-Selina Kyle relationship, and the jazz score is hypnotic. It's a great bonus feature to have along with this extremely enjoyable Batman film. Buy this DVD! It will encourage more animated Batman features in the future, and maybe, just maybe, get one of them released to the theaters!

2013-04-19 19:15:51

Good Movie Not Great

This review is from: Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (DVD) It was a good movie. The plot can get a little obscure at times, but overall was a fun movie and a good way to end the series. I would reccomend it to friends.

2013-04-05 06:16:19

Balance

No, its not great, but we need to balance out the 1 star review here. It should now have an average customer rating of 3 stars, which I feel is what it deserves. Plus, every completist is going to need to get it anyway, and the hardcases are worth 2 bucks more.

2013-04-04 11:21:19

Great Story, Good Animation, Another Classic

Bruce Timm does another great job with this one. It has every thing including an ending no one saw coming and the coolest charecter of all time, Bane. And in regards to the guy who thinks it looks like the one in the coloring books and thinks justice leage is better, two things 1)Why are you looking at coloring books? 2)Every one else on Justice Leage sucks except for Batman. So go buy it!

2013-04-03 10:48:06

A VERY GOOD INSTALLMENT!

I almost didn't buy this DVD because of all the whining I was reading about storyline, animation, etc. The WB Batman animated series appears to be a victim of the incredibly high standards it set in the early 1990's as the best super hero animated series of all-time. Now, anything that doesn't rise to the perfection of those first few seasons gets a bad rap. The story was excellent as usual. The writing was fantastic. There were several scenes including a beat up body guard who very discreetly declined a second confrontation with the Dark Knight, that was absolutely hilarious. The uncredited use of Halle Berry's image definitely added to the glamour and mystique of the beautiful stable of animated Batman females. The choice of villains could have been better however. The animated Penguin never did measure up to the other animated Batman villains. (Burgess Meredith, where art thou?) And who really cares about Ruppert Thorne other than he's actually Dean Wormer in mob pin-stripes? But I guess you can't bring back the Joker EVERY TIME (or can you?).Overall a great installment and must-see for anyone who loved the original series. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

kyle-mcdonald 2013-04-03 00:22:00

Good Batman Cartoon.

This Batman movie isn't quite as good as Batman mask of The Phantasmand Batman and Mr. Freeze subzero But it is still a good installment tothe Batman cartoons I say it is equally good as Batman Beyond TheMovie. This movie is good for all the same reasons The storyline isgood not quite as good as the other one's but still pretty good it haslots of action in it The Cartoon effects are good The voice of actorsare really good such as Kevin Conroy as Batman/ Bruce Wayne, TaraStrong as Barbra Gordon, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Eli Marienthal as Robin.The villains are good such as Kyra Sedgwick as Batwoman, David OgdenStiers as The Pequin, Hector Elizondo as Bane. So I am sure you willnot be disappointed with batman Mystery of The Batwomen. So make surethat you rent or buy batman Mystery of The Batwoman the movie becauseit is really good.Overall score: ******* out of ********** *** out of *****

2013-04-02 14:45:04

Give or take

while it's nice to see some new animated batman material since the series ended, this is not really essential. While over all it's would make an ok episode, this just isn't up to movie quality. Now return of the joker THAT was a good movie and worthy of your hard earned dollar, but this isn't more than a long episode. Overall it's ok, but I had a few gripes about it: the batwomen theme was reminicent of a james bond movie and overall the music wasn't very batman (in fact the whole movie felt a bit james bondy for my tastes over all), and during the scene where the two girls attack batwomen during the fight in the Iceberg they attack her in a sort of synchronised state, this was similar to the scene in return of the joker where DD attack batman... just sayin. Anywho if you really like this series go for it, the movies pretty cheap here so you it's easy on the plastic.Note: I realized that some people may think it's unfair to compare batman vs. batman beyond, i'm not one of those people. If you wanted movie quality stuff return of the joker is your thing, but you gotta be familiar with batman in general to get some of the things, while this could be considered nothing more than an episode done with a somewhat foriegn style to tbe series. (wups! long note):(

2013-04-02 00:37:31

Mystery, thy name is Batwoman

This review is from: Batman: The Mystery of the Batwoman (DVD) I found "Mystery of the Batwoman" was just that a mystery and an excellent one at that. Having been a long time fan of the animated series, I found this movie a must have for any collector of the series. Like the series, itself, the movie is well-done, having a steller script and a plot that had me guessing to almost the end. The most refreshing aspect of the show as well as the movie is that the writers are also fans to the comics, so they take great care when write as to be faithful to traditional contitnuity and character while creating a universe for the series that is contemporary.

2013-03-31 07:05:03

and Batwoman is...

The Penguin, Bane and their goonies are up to something sinister. Batman and Robin are doing their best to stop these horrendous crimes. However, they soon realize that they aren't the only one stopping crimes.Batwoman has entered the picture. And, no, it ain't Batgirl. She's away at college in another city.Just who is Batwoman? Apparently, it isn't enough for Batman to just accept extra help. He has to know who is behind the mask.Batman doing the sleuthing makes the entire film fun. That's because Batwoman is just as mysterious as Bruce Wayne is.

2013-03-30 12:13:51

Pretty good mystery

This review is from: Batman: The Mystery of the Batwoman (DVD) No, this DVD does not suck. It's not your average Batman, mainly because it's more about Bruce. The pace is a little slower but considering that this is Bruce's story and it involves love interests, then it works. I thought the actual mystery of Batwoman's identity was pretty cool. The women characters were strong and intelligent and all involved with Bruce in some manner. The city scenes were gorgeous, very good animation. Some of the action scenes were very right out of 007. I liked very much that we could see Bruce fall in love and even see his funny side. What a treat! It's definitely something different for Batman fans. Just relax and enjoy it for what it is - a well thought out Batman story that lets us in on the private life of our hero. Life isn't easy for Batman and neither is love. It's nice to have a movie depicting his gentle, but also vulnerable, side for once. I highly recommend it.