Batman vs. Two-Face makes for a bittersweet swan-song for the late and great Adam West making his final foray as the Caped Crusader, a role he apparently relished until the end. This outing is a slight improvement over the disappointing Return of the Caped Crusaders with a stronger story and more compelling villain.
Batman vs. Two-Face
(2017)
Genre(s): Animation, Comedy, Crime
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment | PG – 72 min. – $24.98 | October 17, 2017
Date Published: 10/20/2017 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE — 3.5/5 |
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Batman vs. Two-Face is the follow-up to last year’s Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders which saw the voice acting from Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar from their respective 1960s television show. I thought ROTCC was an “okay” animated movie mainly because the story wasn’t all that great and it was just a wee bit weird hearing an older Burt Ward voicing a teenage-aged Robin. While Ward’s voice is still odd, I did find the plot was better developed with a far more compelling villain.
The story opens with District Attorney Harvey Dent (WILLIAM SHATNER), with Batman (ADAM WEST) and Robin (BURT WARD) standing by, attending an experiment where a machine created by Dr. Hugo Strange (JIM WARD) — with assistance by one Dr. Quinzel (SIRENA IRWIN) — that would extract the evil from bad guys, in this case including: The Joker, Penguin, The Riddler, Egghead and Mr. Freeze. Their evil essence would then be collected in a vat. All’s well at the start before the entire experiment goes haywire and the vat explodes… right onto Harvey Dent creating his Two-Face persona. We then get a cool opening credits sequence showcasing Two-Face’s crime rampage and sparring against the Dynamic Duo, afterward he’s captured and apparently rehabilitated and even the scarring of his face has been repaired. Dent is, for some reason, allowed to be the assistant to the assistant district attorney which he readily agrees in the hope of regaining the trust of the citizens of Gotham City. But soon enough, its apparent Two-Face has not gone away as crime reigns of Gotham via King Tut and The Bookworm, both of whom face issues of duality.
By no stretch do I think Batman vs. Two-Face is a great animated movie or anything, but it certainly was a lot of fun seeing the mixing of the old 1960s Batman — including Julie Newmar and Lee Meriwether both donning the Catwoman outfit — with some more “modern” aspects like the inclusions of Harvey Dent/Two-Face, Hugo Strange and Harley Quinzel. And I would remiss in not mentioning the great Adam West who of course passed away in June so there is an extra measure of emotion hearing his great voice and just what a wonderful Batman he was for me growing up, watching reruns back in the 80s and 90s. Here, sure his voice is a bit more gravely, yet the cheekiness of the character shines through the wonderful animation.
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SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5 |
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This release comes with a title-embossed slip cover and inside is a DVD Copy and a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. The Wonderful World of Burt Ward (14:34; HD) is an interview with the former Boy Wonder discussing his career and how he landed the role on Batman. Adam West Tribute Panel, Comic-Con International 2017 (39:27; HD) – Easily the best of the features as various panelist – including Kevin Smith and Lee Meriwether – talk about the legendary actor. Last, there are a couple of short interview segments with Burt Ward: On Ambition (0:59; HD), On Being Starstruck (2:03; HD) and one with Julie Newmar On Inspiration (1:53; HD). Also look out for an Easter Egg clip with Joker and Harley Quinn. |
VIDEO – 3.75/5 |
| Warner releases Batman vs. Two-Face onto Blu-ray and is presented with a 1080p high-definition transfer and 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio. Most traditional animation looks good in HD and this is no exception as colors are generally bright from the blues in Batman’s costumes to the mossy green in Two-Face’s, well, face. The only drawback is there were many instances of banding so transitions aren’t entirely smooth. |
AUDIO – 3.75/5 |
| The movie has been given a pleasing DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which does show off some nice depth during the many action sequences, particularly the end sequence while dialogue levels do some through the center channel with good clarity. |
OVERALL – 3.0/5 |
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Overall, Batman vs. Two-Face makes for a bittersweet swan-song for the late and great Adam West making his final foray as the Caped Crusader, a role he apparently relished until the end. This outing is a slight improvement over the disappointing Return of the Caped Crusaders with a stronger story and more compelling villain while still keeping the wink and nods to the old series. The Blu-ray released by Warner offers good video/audio transfers and an okay selection of features. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.