THE INTRO
The intro is pretty similar to the Promo pilot, it's just Batman fighting against criminals who robbed a bank, however, it's still kick ass! The music is great and powerful, the action is cool, the animation is dark and edgy, the shadowing is perfect and the end of the intro with Batman standing on top of a building as lighting strikes is really really awesome. Only flaw that I can think of is, how can two robbers out run a police car and make it on top of a building within seconds? I don't know but I don't care because this intro is still beyond awesome and cool and plus it does work within the dark surreal context of the intro.
So I'm sure you're wondering which route I'm going to take. Should I review the show by air dates("Cat and Claw") or the production order on the DVDs ("On Leather Wings"). I'm going to go with...
because this is also the order that fans prefer to my understanding. So ON WITH THE REVIEW...
The people in Gotham City are seeing a flying Bat causing crimes but not being able to take a good look at it, they assume it's Batman. Commissioner Gordon believes that it's something else but Detective Harvey Bullock has the go ahead to capture or kill Batman. Batman must clear his name by finding out the mystery of this criminal.
Batman is voiced by Kevin Conroy and he is perfect as Batman and Bruce Wayne. As Batman he has a dark and intimidating voice when as Bruce Wayne he sounds like an ordinary rich millionaire who you wouldn't suspect would be Batman. Batman is just as awesome as the Michael Keaton Batman. He's quiet, tries to keep his emotions to himself, but he's tough and hey he can even smile and still be threatening. He also carries some really cool Batgadgets, his Batmobile and Batcave are spectacular to look at and how he solves the mystery and fights the bad guys is just brilliant writing and really shows the genius that Batman truly is.
The villain, well I don't think I'm giving anything a way, it's clearly Man-Bat, however, I won't give away his back story since it's a twist to the episode. I'll I'm going to say about the twist is, I like how it lead me the wrong way by making me think it was someone else than the guy that looked suspicious, even though I did have a hunch it was going to be one of the scientists. Man-Bat is just plain awesome, scary and villainous in this episode as well as making you feel a tragic sadness to this villain. The scene when he transformers to a Bat is incredible dark and scary for a kids show and the whole climax with Batman versing Man-Bat is a cool sequence.
The episode itself is actually a great start to the show (Let alone, the promo pilot). Yeah, it doesn't show or talk about why or how Bruce became Batman but then again it doesn't feel needed, like many Superheroe shows usually the first episode is us trying to get acquainted with the hero and see him in his prime before we get to the heavy and dark stuff, not that this episode isn't any of that but the others are much more heavier than this. Apart from the hero and villain, I do like the relationship between Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Bullock, it's just interesting seeing them argue and yell at each other on who the real criminal is. We also get a small cameo from Harvey Dent who will later become Two-Face. The animation again is really impressive and really does bring a whole new look to Superhero cartoons, in fact we even get a little bit of blood which is of course a huge no no to cartoons for kids. The music is also just as big and epic as the episode and show itself.
This episode is a phenomenal start for this great series and I'm really excited and eager to review more episodes from the series. Sadly the next one is a Christmas related episode, but don't worry I'll review it for my 12 Days Of Christmas Reviews this year. Getting back to the second pilot episode, it's once again a great start and if you haven't seen the show yet, defiantly check this episode out along with the Promo Pilot as well.
RATING 5/5
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