The Batman: The Complete First Season
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Actor: Alastair Duncan, Danielle Judovits, Evan Sabara, Kevin Michael Richardson, Rino RomanoBrand: Batman
Writer: J.D. Murray
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 276 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-02-07
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: CW Television Network
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- Animated; Closed-captioned; Color; Dolby; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC
DVD Reviews of The Batman: The Complete First Season
DVD Review: Not The Original Animated Series But I Like It
Summary: 4 Stars
The first season of The Batman is weak but not as weak as some of the seasons to come. Sure season 1 has problems but it wasn't that bad of a season. Let's jump in!
The animation (and this goes for subsequent seasons as well) always looked great in this series. The landscape, the fight sequences and character design. Though done in an anime-esque style (reminding me a lot of Jackie Chan Adventures), the characters still had a resemblance (vague for some characters however; ex. Cluemaster) when I compare it to the actual anime seen in Gotham Knight. And while its not the "classic" Batman look that the nineties animated series had, I grew to like the designs, except for one and that was Catwoman. Her costume didn't even resemble a cat, well the mask part anyway. She looked like a mouse with overgrown ears! Batman/Bruce Wayne and Alfred have almost no change done to them whatsoever when compared to other designs, though Batman's cape is a little longer but it does look good when he's jumping about the buildings. The Joker design startled me at first and I was a little off put by his wardrobe in the first episode but by the time he reappeared again, he was back in his traditional (for this show anyway) outfit (though the straightjacket look would reappear one more time in season 2) and I was happy. Though for the life of me I'll never understand why they didn't give him any shoes. Penguin's back to his Danny DeVito look and it kind of works for this series over its predecessor. Though he looked deformed in B:TAS, he still acted and dressed like a refined gentleman of crime. The only off putting thing about Penguin is the oversized hat and his coattails dragging on the ground. Firefly is another villain that got a decent upgrade; from a man in a metal suit and helmet to a guy in a flying bug suit (though you'd think that the giant light on the costume would slow him down and the "flying" effect did get annoying) Another negative thing to point out is that this version of Gotham is the least populated. I've never seen a city so empty before in my life (except London in The Avengers but they were striving for a "fantasy" approach to that series).
Voice acting however was not the strong point for this season though Rino Romano and Kevin Michael Richardson are good as Batman and Joker, respectively. Steve Harris and Ming-Na do great jobs as Det. Ethan Bennett and Ellen Yin but special praise for Harris during the two-part season finale. He really brings out Ethan's turmoil as he goes from being tortured at the hands of Joker to having his morals confused after being turned into Clayface. Tom Kenny's Penguin is a little more obnoxious than Paul Williams' interpretation but it does reflect the design of the character. Kenny's Penguin, while obnoxious, is far more vicious than Williams and he does bring back the "Penguin laugh" that Burgess Meredith had done back in the sixties. Clancy Brown's Mr. Freeze, while not as sympathetic, is still pretty menacing but the ice puns wear thin (though that's more of the writer's fault for watching too much Batman & Robin). James Marsden's Firefly is actually sounds pretty tough to the bland rendition we got before. The only voice I didn't like was Gina Gershon as Catwoman. It sounds like she's trying to be mysterious and sexy but it sounds like she's imitating Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy. And special mention to Adam West as Mayor Grange, who would end up being an underused character until he is replaced in season 5.
The writing was something that would improve as time went on. This series starts with Batman in his third year of crime-fighting and he's eliminated most, if not all, of Gotham's organized crime. That is until some costumed clown and a host of other costumed criminals showed up. While the first season mainly set up Batman's encounters with his infamous Rogues Gallery, those would be the strong points. Well every time except Q&A, which is probably the worst episode of the series (though that's probably debatable). Every time he's with Alfred and they talk about "The Batman", they refer to him in the third person as if he's a different character. Exchanges such as;
Bruce: I'm thinking about letting Ethan into the fold.
Alfred: You mean someone other than me would know The Batman's identity?
Um, he's standing right in front of you, why didn't you just say "your identity". Another irking thing that would pop up in episodes would be Alfred irking Bruce to lead a normal life such as signing him up on a dating website or implying that he needs to be a "full time Bruce Wayne". He's been with him all of his life and knows he's committed to his cause so why try and change his mind. He even admits in one episode that even if Bruce did listen to him, Alfred would regret it. I know in other versions, Alfred has implied that it would be good for Bruce to let go and live a normal life but he's never been a nag about it. There were only four episodes, to me anyway, that were standout this season. First is "The Big Heat", which features Batman's first encounter with Firefly. The subplot deals with Bruce trying to convince the city council members that he's just as capable of running the children's hospital as his father had been. While he does achieve it in the end, when he fails, you can see the disappointment in his face, thinking that he's let down the memory of his father. Second is "The Big Dummy" and, like "Heat", features the Caped Crusader fighting the Ventriloquist and Scarface. While it ends up being a "villain with a gimmick" episode, I like how it touches upon Ventriloquist's split personality which would unfortunately be touched upon one other time in season 3. Lastly is the two-part season finale "The Rubberface of Comedy"/"The Clayface of Tragedy", wherein it starts out as a villain-gimmick episode, it turns into how Ethan Bennett falls from grace and turns into the villainous Clayface. A real tragic character as all season you see him debating about Batman and whether he thinks this vigilante does any good in the city only to become one of the very people he fights. This would be a semi-arc that would continue for a couple of seasons.
All in all, season 1 was weak but, like Justice League, it did improve over time.
Description of The Batman: The Complete First Season
The adventures of a young Bruce Wayne and the first villains that he fights as the new Gotham City protector Batman.Genre: Children's Video
Rating: NR
Release Date: 7-FEB-2006
Media Type: DVD
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