By Mike Huntley
When it came to superheroes during the 1990s, Batman was all the
buzz in both cinema and in animation. Coming off the wide success of Tim
Burton's 1989 blockbuster hit Batman, and its controversial yet popular
sequel Batman Returns, Batman The Animated Series was a dominant success
on Fox. The series ran from 1992-1995 and then was revived with a new
style on The WB to go along with Superman The Animated Series, which was
also done by animation team Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and many others. In
1997, Batman The Animated Series was cancelled after completing a total
of 109 episodes. Still the longest running superhero animated series to
date since most animated shows for kids are restricted to having around
65 episodes total now. After the cancellation of Batman, The WB wanted
Bruce Timm and company to make a teenage Batman show for them that would
cater to an even younger audience as they thought Batman The Animated
Series was a more mature themed series aimed more towards an older
audience. This little experiment became known as Batman Beyond, which
dealt with an old Bruce Wayne mentoring a teenager who in this
futuristic Gotham City donned the Batsuit and played as a spinoff
series. Batman Beyond was a nice little surprise that lasted 3 seasons
and spawned a movie that brought back The Joker. A few years after
Batman Beyond ended, Timm and Dini entered The Watchtower with the
amazing Justice League: Unlimited series that brought the
most powerful beings in the DC Universe all together. During this
time, Alan Burnett who had worked on Batman The Animated Series got
together with another team of animation producers to bring Batman back
to being a solo TV series again and not be in continuity with the
Justice League show. Taking place in Bruce Wayne's 3rd year as Batman,
The Batman explored The Dark Knight of Gotham facing many of his twisted
adversaries for the first time. After the show's first season was a
success despite many Batman fans hating on it for not being as good as
The Animated Series or the character design of The Joker, the producers
decided to make an animated movie. After all, The Animated Series saw
success with Mask of the Phantasm, Subzero, and Mystery of the Batwoman.
With The Batman taking on a much more fantastical direction than The
Animated Series yet still being kinda dark and somewhat morbid, they
decided to pit The Batman against an equally iconic character who preyed
on people when the sun went down: Count Dracula!
The Penguin and Joker have escaped yet again from
Arkham Asylum. While The Batman chases after Joker, Penguin ventures out
to the old Gotham cemetary in search of gold that may be buried in the
catacombs. What Oswald Cobblepot discovers instead is a weird coffin.
Penguin opens the coffin and cuts his finger in the process, thus
awakening the ancient Count Dracula from his beauty sleep. Dracula
places Penguin under his hypnotic spell and makes him his mindless
slave. Meanwhile, billionaire Bruce Wayne has started dating the
beautiful News reporter Vicki Vale. Soon, Gothamites begin turning into
blood thirsty vampires including Batman arch nemesis Joker and Dracula
targets Vicki to be a sacrifice in order to bring his wife back to the
undead. Can one legend defeat the other?
The Batman was an animated show that I seriously didn't
want to give a fair shot to. It wasn't Batman The Animated Series, which
still is the best TV series thus far about Batman. Sorry Adam West. But
after finding myself loving Beware The Batman after thinking it was
going to suck for about a year, I decided to give The Batman another
shot, a more open minded shot. And I really dug it. Sure, I still am not
fond of Joker looking like a part of Insane Clown Posse, but the show
was fun, entertaining, and surprisingly psychological in some episodes
especially that Bane episode where Bruce flashes back to that night in
the ally and we see Gordon comfort the traumatized youth. Anyway, I had
always been intriqued to watch The Dark Knight go up against The Prince
of Darkness. Who would win? A mortal billionaire who dresses up as a bat
for effect or an ancient evil Count who is cursed to be immortal only
by drinking the blood of living beings.
This 84 minute animated feature like the series is a
fun time. The vampires are creepy looking. Dracula is awesome. Batman is
awesome. Joker gets vamped and looks even more twisted. Vicki Vale is
introduced who many Batman fans may remember as Kim Basinger's character
in Batman (1989).
I absolutely love the way the opening credits are done,
giving this animated superhero/horror show a dark and gothic vibe. The
Batman vs Dracula really shows how great of a detective that Batman is
as he looks for a cure to vampirism.
The voice cast is good. Rino Romano may not be any
Kevin Conroy but I thought he made a decent Batman/Bruce Wayne.
Alaistair Duncan fit the role of Bruce's long time loyal butler Alfred
well. Kevin Michael Richardson was an odd choice to play Joker, but he
did okay although I dug Mark Hamill a lot more. Tara Strong who many
remember as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl on The New Batman Adventures era of
The Animated Series plays Vicki Vale good enough. Tommy Kenny is perfect
as Penguin. Kinda reminds me a bit of Danny DeVito's Penguin voice. And
Peter Stomare was creepy as Dracula.
Overall, The Batman vs Dracula is a good Batman
film even though there are far better animated Batman films out there.
It's a good time for superhero and horror fans alike if you can look
past the mere fact that it isn't nor is it trying to be Batman The
Animated Series even though the show borrows some characters that were
popular on The Animated Series. But, good Batman and vampires movie that
doesn't suck the life out of you. Seek it out.
GRADE
B+
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