Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem (2015) - Review

The second Batman Unlimited animated movie is out. I was not impressed with the first one (Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts). In that movie, Penquin/Oswald Cobblepot had assembled a group of animal-themed supervillains (Cheetah, Killer Croc, Man-Bat and Silverback) to take over the world. That plan and the movie, both failed.

This time, it is The Joker (Troy Baker) himself, who brings together a team of monster-themed supervillains (Scarecrow, Clayface, Solomon Grundy and Silver Banshee) to take over Gotham and the world.

The trouble starts on Halloween night when Solomon Grundy (Fred Tatasciore) and Silver Banshee (Kari Wuhrer) break out of the prison. They steal a car and are wreaking havoc in the city streets. Nightwing (Will Friedle) and Green Arrow (Chris Diamantopoulos) try to stop them. Batman (Roger Craig Smith) and Red Robin (Yuri Lowenthal) also give chase in the Batmobile.

Scarecrow (Brian T. Delaney) comes to the villains' rescue and infects Nightwing and Green Arrow with his fear gas.

Gogo Shoto (Noel Fisher), head of a video game company is kidnapped for his software skills. The Joker is planning to unleash a virus on the world and plans to use Gogo as his unwitting pawn.

Also in the fray is Victor Stone/Cyborg (Khary Payton), who is visiting Gotham and becomes involved in Joker's ongoing shenanigans.

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Can Batman and the rest of the heroes stop the Joker from executing his evil plans...You bet, they do.

The animation quality is not up to the usual high DC standards. The character designs look OK. The worst is surprisingly reserved for Bruce Wayne/Batman himself. He looks more like a teenager and not like a seasoned crime fighter. In one of the scenes, Batman looks weird as he drives the Batcycle.

The Batman Unlimited movies lack the thematic complexity and/or the mature tone of the recent DC Animated movies. That is not a surprise, since these movies are not part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series. These  movies are based on the Mattel's toy line and are clearly targeted at a very young demographic.

Accordingly, the tone and even the jokes are pretty juvenile in nature. A kid appears twice in the movie, once taking selfie with Batman and again in the climax, to take selfie with the villains (who happily agree for the photo opportunity). In another scene, a character is playing Batman himself in a video game in a clear reference to the recently released Batman: Arkham Knight game. The game had the marketing line: Be the Batman.

The plot is pretty much non-existent and is made up of one fight scene after another. But the action scenes get tiresome really quick, especially the one long fight scene that starts at the abandoned amusement park and just goes on and on.

The climax is heavily inspired by The Matrix Revolutions and Batman rides what strongly resembles a Dinobot transformer, seen in the latest Transformers movie, Transformers: Age of Extinction. And in addition, the city wide parade scene reminds me one of the finale of Batman (1989).

The best bits involve Clayface. The movie makes full use of his awesome powers. If nothing else, this movie will at least be remembered for focussing the spotlight on one of the most underused villains in Batman's Rogues Gallery.

The worst ones involve Grundy. His attempts at humor fall flat most of the time. Even Silver Banshee's “singing” in the climax induces groans.

Recommended to children only. Adults will most probably get bored fast.

Check out the trailer below:

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Image Sources: DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Premiere, Atlas Entertainment, Dune Entertainment, Lin Pictures

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Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014) Suicide Squad movie - Review

With more and more details being revealed about the upcoming DC Comics superhero picture Suicide Squad, I thought this will be a good time to review the DC Universe Animated Original Movie - Batman: Assault on Arkham.

Directed by Jay Oliva and Ethan Spaulding, the movie features the voices of Kevin Conroy as Batman, Troy Baker as The Joker, Hynden Walch as Harley Quinn/Harleen Quinzel, Neal McDonough as Deadshot/Floyd Lawton, Jennifer Hale as Killer Frost, Greg Ellis as Captain Boomerang, Giancarlo Esposito as  Black Spider and John DiMaggio as King Shark.

The plot goes like this: Suicide Squad is a group of killers/mercenaries who are (forcefully) recruited by Amanda Waller (C.C.H. Pounder) to complete covert missions. In this movie, Waller wants the Riddler (Matthew Gray Gubler) killed due to some information he holds about the squad members.

Batman saves his life from one of Waller's attempts and has him sent to Arkham Aslyum. Hence, the need to assemble the Suicide Squad and have them assassinate Riddler.

Complicating things is the fact that The Joker (currently in Arkham Asylum) has a ticking time bomb hidden somewhere that will bring destruction to Gotham city.

Batman's efforts to locate and defuse the bomb brings him into conflict with the Suicide Squad.

Without revealing any further information, I will direct the readers to check out this movie.

Before watching the movie, all I knew about it was that it focused on a team of assassins who also happened to be Batman villains. That this was a movie based on The Dark Knight, but with limited screen-time for Batman himself. I was a bit skeptical if the movie would be any good...

Yes, I was in for a big surprise. This is hands downs one of the best DC Animated Original (DCAU) Movies in a long time.

While the concept of a movie that focuses too much of relatively lesser known characters (and villains to boot) in the DC Universe might sound foolhardy, Batman: Assault on Arkham comes out firing on all cylinders.

It has all the trademarks of a well-done DC Animated movie - great voice-work, amazing action sequences and superb animation. The plot has enough twists and turns to further add value to the movie watching experience.

The movie has a more mature tone and content. I love the way DCAU has differentiated itself from the more kid-friendly fare regularly dished out by Marvel Studios.

There are a number of other DC characters who make cameo appearances, but I will leave it unspoiled for the readers to experience it first hand.

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Check out the trailer below:

If the upcoming live action movie Suicide Squad can capture even half of the fun quotient of this animated movie, we are in for a real treat.

Superman: The Movie (1978) launched the Superhero movie genre in Hollywood and Tim Burton's Batman (1989) continued to wow audiences all over the world.

Though Joel Schumacher almost killed off the Batman movie franchise in 1997, Chris Nolan brought back fun to the DC Movies with Batman Begins (2005). Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy, is widely considered to be one of the best Superhero movie series ever put on screen.

Warner Bros./DC Comics hit a rough patch with the disappointing Man of Steel. 

The recently released teaser trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice looks promising so far with Ben Affleck's bulked up Batman alone being worth a look in the theatres. In addition, we have Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman and Ray Fisher's Cyborg.

We then saw the image of Jared Leto as The Joker and a couple of days back David Ayer provided us our first look at the entire squad.

Click here to read my thoughts on the recently released Comic Con Trailer for the movie.

The standout is obviously Margot Robbit as Harley Quinn. She seems to be very much in character. Will Smith looks sad as Deadshot. Perhaps, he will be the most humane character of the group with a heavy emphasis on his background and his daughter (who is seen in this movie too).

In addition, Ben Affleck and Jared Leto will be appearing as Bruce Wayne/Batman and The Joker respectively.

DC Comics has been enjoying enormous success on the Television with The Flash, Gotham and Arrow. Hopefully they will retain their successful streak on the big screen as well, with these upcoming movies.

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Image Sources: DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Premiere, Atlas Entertainment, Dune Entertainment, Lin Pictures

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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) - Teaser Trailer

Dear Readers,

The teaser trailer for the upcoming action blockbuster has been released.

Directed by Zack Snyder (Man of Steel, 300), the movie stars Henry Cavill as Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman, Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman.

Other superheroes include Cyborg (played by Ray Fisher), Aquaman (played by Jason Momoa) and The Flash (played by Ezra Miller).

Supporting cast includes Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White.

The trailer focuses primarily on Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne/Batman. Having enjoyed Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy, I was a bit skeptical.

I have to confess that Affleck's Batman looks impressive. His is a bulked up version, like the one found in The Dark Knight Returns series by Frank Miller. I have read reports that this movie might be inspired by Miller's popular work.

Ever since this movie was announced, I had pinned my hopes on Affleck's Batman to be the savior. Looks like I was not off the mark as Henry Cavill remains as bland and uninspired as he was in Man of Steel. 

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I am curious to see the other four superheroes in action, especially Ezra Miller's Flash. He has the unenviable task of being compared with Grant Gustin who portrays the Scarlet Speedster on the wildly successful CW show The Flash.

Here's hoping that the movie will live up its hype as the first live action movie to feature both Superman and Batman.

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Image Sources: DC Entertainment, Dune Entertainment, Syncopy, Warner Bros.

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Ben Affleck is the new Batman!

Ben Affleck has been announced to be Christian Bale's successor to play the Dark Knight in Zack Snyder's sequel to Man of Steel.

I personally consider Chris Bale's performance as Batman/Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight Trilogy to be definitive and as one of the best by a leading actor in the superhero movie genre.

Ben Affleck has won Oscars for his work for Best Writing (Good Will Hunting, 1997) and Best Picture (Argo, 2012). He is one of the most talented people of his generation.

Interestingly, Ben also portrayed the Marvel Comics superhero, Daredevil in the poorly received Mark Steven Johnson directed movie in 2003. He is one of the few actors to play characters from both DC and Marvel Comics, along with Halle Berry (Storm in the X-Men movies and Catwoman) and Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern and Wade Wilson/Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine).

I am not still sure about this casting decision. I am interested to hearing from readers about their thoughts.

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The Gadgets & Gear Of The Nolan Batman Universe

Chris Nolan has created one of the best trilogies and arguably the best Superhero trilogy. If you enjoyed these movies (like I did), this video is right up your alley.

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Movie Review: The Dark Knight (2008)

Christian Bale as Batman

Nolan’s epic starts with a bank heist in motion. As the robbers start killing one another, we are introduced to one of a kind mastermind. A brain that is intelligent and crafty to the nth degree.

Batman, working with Lt Gordon has the mob in retreat. The new District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), assisted by Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes) is working around the clock to put the mob behind bars.

The mob under considerable pressure from the combined onslaught, hire the aforementioned mastermind, Joker (the late Heath Ledger). Joker emerges as an agent of chaos and has only one goal: unleashing anarchy in Gotham. He plans to achieve his ends by making Batman reveal his identity, failing which Joker will kill one person each day.

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Even as Bruce Wayne struggles to make a decision, he faces trouble on an unexpected front. Reese (Joshua Harto), an auditor working Wayne Enterprise’s records finds heavy irregularities and the prototype designs for Batmobile and puts two and two together. He comes forward to disclose Batman's secret identity.

There a lot of plot points and threads that I have not discussed in this review. As the movie is quite densely plotted, the review will be quite long if I were to do so.

Suffice to say that this movie turns the entire superhero movie genre on its head and comes out an out and out winner. Batman’s decisions have far reaching consequences for other characters, some of whom are quite dear to him. From the start to finish, the screenplay is taut and the movie rushes forward at a blistering pace.

Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent

Hans Zimmer is in top form as always. His Joker theme is probably the best in the album. 

The acting all around is excellent. As good as the returning players are, it is the newcomers Aaron Eckhart and the late Heath Ledger who make the best impressions.

Harvey Dent’s character has arguably the best character arc in the movie. As Gotham’s White Knight, Dent is looked upon by Bruce as his rightful successor. Bruce intends to hang up the cape and the cowl. But things take an ugly turn, thanks to the Joker’s machinations. Eckhart is great in the role and conveys the pain of losing the love of his life to a madman.

But the movie on the whole, belongs to Heath Ledger. His is the kind of performance for which the term “tour-de-force” was coined. This is a once-in-a-lifetime performance. Each scene featuring Ledger as Joker is intensely riveting. Whether Joker is narrating the stories of his scars or the prison scene with Batman, Heath grabs our attention and is totally captivating. RIP, Heath.

Heath Ledger as the Joker

But the movie is not without its share of flaws. In the bank robbery scene, the Joker drives the much damaged school bus out of the bank and joins a group of school buses full of children. Even for a realistic Nolan movie, this is quite a leap of faith, considering that none of the other bus drivers or other people on the street do not notice the gaping hole in the bank out of which the considerably damaged bus came out.

Another point to be pondered over is the Bruce’s fundraiser for Harvey at his penthouse. The Joker arrives with his cronies and takes over the party. Batman jumps out of the window to save Rachel and the movie moves to the next scene. We never know whether Batman returns to rescue the rest of the people at the party or did the Joker decided not to harm anyone else or did he continue his search for Harvey in the penthouse.

Despite these flaws, this is a movie from a director at the top of his game. Christopher Nolan dealt with the concepts of Fear and Chaos in the first two movies. We need to wait for couple more days to see his take on Pain in the trilogy finale.

Heath Ledger as the Joker

Over to you, Chris. We look forward to be dazzled!

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Image Source: Warner Bros. Pictures

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