At long last we come to the DCAU finale, which is odd considering in terms of air dates, this show belongs somewhere in the middle. For simplicity's sake, I put it at the end since, in terms of DC chronology, it takes place at the end.
I'm going to be honest, when this was first announced, I was against it. A Batman who isn't Bruce Wayne? Lame! After watching a few episodes, I did start to get into it.
Though I still found it weird when Terry was referred to as "Batman", he did eventually step into the role rather well and became a worthy successor to Bruce. The fact that Bruce was with him the whole time (and voiced by Kevin Conroy no less) made it a much better sell.
One of the show's biggest weaknesses was the rogues gallery. The writers tried; they really did, but Terry's enemies just paled compares to the original Bat rogues gallery. In fairness, Bats has one of the best all time rogues galleries, so it was some big shoes to fill. The best stories came when Terry was pit against some of Bruce's enemies. The episode Out of the Past that features Ra's al Ghul was very well done and the DTV movie, Return of the Joker was downright brilliant.
The show also did get a little corny with its after school messages, but all in all, it was an enjoyable show. Despite my skepticism on the concept, I got into it and was able to enjoy the show. It's not as good as the other DCAU shows, but it's decent.
We also owe it credit as without it, we probably would've never had the Justice League series. One episode, The Call, featured the League in its future incarnation. This two parter gave the writers a chance to "test the waters" in terms of handling a whole team of characters.
It may not be your cup of tea. The series does have its detractors, but its not bad. It was a valiant attempt to put a new spin on an old character and in all honesty, they could've done much worse.
No comments:
Post a Comment