When a new vigilante arrives in Gotham City, Batman works tirelessly
to uncover her identity and stop the Penguin from selling weapons. ACTION/CRIME
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Batman: Mystery
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You can always count on DC's animation department for a good story, even if the finished product ends up being somewhat forgettable. Still, it's another Kevin Conroy adventure with a good host of villains that aren't the Joker. Don't get me wrong, I love the Clown Prince of Crime. I just love it more when Batman's other rogues get their chance to shine. In this one, we get Penguin, Rupert Thorne, and Bane alongside the introduction of the elusive Batwoman. Since this movie is a continuation of The New Batman Adventures, the tone and violence has been substantially lowered from the days of Batman: The Animated Series. It's more kid-friendly and as a result, it loses a lot of the grittiness that makes Batman great.
After Batwoman arrives in town and disrupts a shipment of Penguin's high-tech weapons, Batman tries to uncover her identity. What follows is a Raymond Chandler-esque whodunit that ends in a surprising twist. The hunt for Batwoman and Batman's conflicting feelings for the woman he suspects is her are done really well, but the story feels like a lukewarm episode of the show. It's not Phantasm or Sub-Zero, and the stakes never seem all that high. The voice talent is terrific as always, though, and they help save it in the end. Mystery of the Batwoman doesn't rank high among the greats of DC's animated movies, but it's decent enough to warrant a watch for longtime Batman fans. Bane is criminally underused and never feels as ruthless as he's been in the past, and Penguin just feels and acts like an ordinary gunrunner. There's a good dose of drama and some funny interactions between Batman and the thugs, but overall, it's nowhere near as good as I've come to expect from these kinds of movies. |