It's been over ten years, and they still can't beat The Animated Series
-
comicstu — 17 years ago(July 25, 2008 10:38 AM)
Well, I don't see how anything about 'Over the Edge' or 'Growing Pains' qualifies as ugly, but that's your personal preference and not really a criticism of the actual merit of the designs. And as cinematic as 'Heart of Ice' or 'Beware the Gray Ghost' were, those two TNBA episodes still have far better action and far more fluid animation.
I felt that the fact that it was Barbara's dream gave huge insight into her psyche, so I liked it a lot.
I still don't get the issue with Tim Drake's design. He looks like a kid and he looks like Robin. That's good enough for me. And I also thought that Bruce's new face gave him more overall expression than his overly detailed B:TAS face that too often yielded blank expressions. And he looked just as old as he did in B:TAS too.
As for 'Legends of the Dark Knight', I still think that showing the regular Batman in action was the only way to provide closure. There would have been no real resolution if we just saw yet another interpretation. With only two stories, we get two complete contrasts, making the final fight with the regular Batman that much more effective. -
fdpedro — 17 years ago(July 25, 2008 01:38 PM)
Yes, it's my personal preference. The designs are what they are, if Timm received a message from the Gods saying the Joker needed to lose his lips and have black eyeballs, that's fine. But I still find them ugly. Why on Earth did they give Nightwing a mullet?
Do you honestly find those TNBA episodes better than Heart of Ice or Gray Ghost?
They might have far more action but IMO that is not a good thing at all. Would Heart of Ice be better if Batman had a fight with polar bears inside an ice grinding machine in Freeze's hideout (which I guess would have happened if it was TNBA). I'd much rather have dark cinematic of BTAS. Once again, look at the T-Rex fight in Mean Seasons. It might be good on its own, but it adds nothing to the episode's narrative.
And once again, I understood the purpose of showing the regular Batman in LOTDK, but did we have to see him fight one of the lamest villains of the series in a movie theater as a representation? -
comicstu — 17 years ago(July 25, 2008 03:14 PM)
Well to be honest I don't think that they can top 'Gray Ghost', as that's my favorite episode in probably the entire DCAU, but I think they do rival 'Heart of Ice'.
I don't think that the action in those episodes is a bad thing either though. It was exciting, well animated, wasn't overbearing, and didn't detract from the plot. And personally, I thought that, even though it lacked the film noir atmosphere of most B:TAS episodes, 'Growing Pains' was very cinematic.
As for 'Mean Seasons', I felt that the dinosaur fight was fun and very good on the eyes. In fact, I like 'Mean Seasons' because of the animation and don't really pay much attention to the story.
And I think that Firefly was a good throw away villain for him to fight; a more renowned villain would have probably detracted from Batman himself. And I think the movie theater was a really cool setting. -
fdpedro — 17 years ago(July 25, 2008 10:04 PM)
The story of Mean Seasons is a very good commentary on the modeling business IMO, with a rather tragic twist ending regarding Calendar Girl's face.
Firefly was destroyed in this series IMO. Amazing how they improved some average viollains yet made interesting ones so lame. -
cheekymonkey67 — 17 years ago(August 09, 2008 04:45 PM)
I'd have to agree with you. While it was interesting to see the different interpretations of the directors I am not the biggest anime fan and that is clearly what this movie is. The big draw, for me, about Batman has always been his gadgets and ingenuity. There were virtually none of them used in this movie and the stiff jaw talking of the characters, prevalent in anime, leaves me feeling like I am watching Pokemon or any of the far too many what-ever-mons. This is worth a look but die-hard Batman fans may be in for a disappointment.
Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too. - Voltaire -
jmmycsnv — 16 years ago(June 13, 2009 11:03 AM)
I wish Warner Bros would continue on delivering more Batman, at the quality of the Animated series, though I will say this movie is one of the better animated features they have released related to DC in a good awhile.
"This city deserves a better class of criminal and I'm gonna give it to them."