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A lot of Batman DVDs came out this month: Batman
Begins (regular and deluxe versions), reissues of the
previous four films, the original '40s serial, and this
animated movie, just in time for Halloween. I felt a
bit cheated having spent money on this, unaware that
this would air so soon on Cartoon Network.
I did like the idea of the original "bat-man" meeting
the caped crusader. Overall, I thought this was good
in some places, but not great. The story starts
slowly with the Penguin unwittingly reviving the
prince of darkness while trying to find some hidden
loot in a cemetery. Joker also is lurking about, and
Vicky Vale is introduced into the current animated
version of continuity.
Vicky Vale is voiced by Tara Strong. While I like
Strong's voice work, I wondered if there was no one
else available. She's already voiced Batgirl. As you
would guess, she predictably and eventually does
become an object of desire of Dracula and is captured
by the Count (implied and not directly shown, so as
not to scare the kiddies, I figure).
I did like that we have Batman facing a serious and
seemingly unstoppable threat, as opposed to his usual
rogue's gallery. There were some nice confrontation
between Dracula and Bruce Wayne.
Is it for kids? Certainly not any kids under age 8,
I'd say. And if they're prone to being scared or
sensitive towards monsters, perhaps they should be a
bit older. There is some mild violence and scenes
with victims being bitten and some blood here and
there.
The extra features are okay. There is an interactive
one that's kid-friendly and a feature on the voices of
Batman (Rino Romano), Joker (Kevin Michael
Richardson), and Penguin (Tom Kenny) shown in studio
doing vocal acting. You can appreciate the work the
actors do, doing multiple takes, trying to get the
right inflection on each line.
I give the movie 2 and a half stars, and the extras 2 stars.
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