Unofficial Description: The 60’s Batman television show has a warm place in my heart – but I can’t watch it anymore. Having said that, I think this animated movie is an extremely clever and successful way to recapture the spirit and camp of that show, without tarnishing what it was or driving people like me nuts. It’s a great flick, and well worth your time.
With the same actors (Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar) reprising their roles as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Robin/Dick Grayson and CatWoman, this callback to the 1060’s Batman Television series captures the camp and the humor of that show while sprinkling in some serious tension with the introduction of Harvey Dent and his transformation into one of Batman’s deadliest enemies – Two-Face. Both are voiced marvelously by William Shatner.
When Hugo Strange develops a machine to suck the evil out of super-criminals in the hopes of rehabilitating these villains once and for all, Batman and Robin, along with Gotham’s District Attorney Harvey Dent, are there to witness the first test. Using Joker, Penguin, Egghead, The Riddler and Mr. Freeze as the subjects, everything appears to be going well. But there is more evil in those combined villains than the machine can handle, and when the collection vat explodes, Harvey is hit with a blast of concentrated evil that both sears half his body, and infuses him with evil. He becomes Two-Face. It’s up to the dynamic duo to stop him from revealing their secret identities, and turning all of Gotham into versions of his own, dual self.
As mentioned, all the camp and humor from the tv show are present, but it didn’t bother me the way it does when I try to watch the show today. West and Ward slip right back into their roles as if they never left, and Newmar is wonderful as CatWoman. Also back in their Batman 66 versions are Joker, Penguin, Egghead, The Riddler, Mr. Freeze, King Tut, Chief O’Hara, Commissioner Gordon, Aunt Harriet and Alfred.
If you’re a fan of that old show, I think you’ll love this movie. If, like me, you’re a fan who can’t watch that show any more – you’ll still love this movie. 🙂
Note: Although they technically use the Batman Theme throughout the movie, they only have it as an instrumental. I wish they’d done the full version with vocals.
Official Description: Using King Tut as a pawn, the mysterious crime boss known only as Two Face, stages a daring crime wave that baffles Batman and Robin and threatens all of Gotham City! Will Bruce Wayne suspect that his closest friend could also be Batman’s greatest enemy? With Catwoman’s help, can The Caped Crusaders discover the secret identity of this devious Jekyll/Hyde hoodlum before he discovers theirs?
Trailer:
