SUMMARY
In
the distant future, a new Batman has appeared in Gotham City. Picking
up where the first Batman left off, Terry McGinnis's goal is to
protect the innocent and punish the guilty when the cops are powerless
to stop a new breed of master villains.
This new Batman has been very busy recently. A new gang of Jokers
have been robbing companies that make or sell high tech equipment.
With no apparentcause
for the thefts,
Terry spends his nights waiting for the next robbery. At the same time,
Bruce Wayne has returned to the position of CEO of Wayne/Powers, much to
the disappointment of the current CEO. All these events are starting to
take a toll on Terry McGinnis's personal life.
Suddenly,
a villain from Bruce Wayne's past appears. It is the Joker, the crown
prince of crime. Not only has he not aged over the years, but he knows
all of Batman's secrets.
As the leader of the Jokers, he now
has his sights set on killing his old nemesis, Bruce Wayne, as well as
the new Batman. Due to danger The Joker's return presents, Bruce makes
Terry give up the role of Batman.
This change
of fortune does not last long. With the Joker after his friends and family,
Terry must once again become Batman to stop "the return of the Joker"!
DVD
VISION TEST
VIDEO:
The DVD quality is excellent. Having seen this series on video, the DVD
is a vast improvement. It's colors are sharp, and the motion is fluid.
AUDIO: With the English track, it is pretty easy to critique. Warner Bros.
have a superb 5.1 audio track. During the high actions scenes, the sound
just blows you out the door. The sound stage is full of subtle little
things that hit you all around.
With
the audio commentary, the movie is in the back ground, but the three
different speakers come from different sides.
EDITS: Lots of edits have been made. Scenes where characters are killed
have been edited out, or changed to leave it ambiguous. Scenes involving
knives or hookers have also been removed. There is also some digital
removal of blood and the addition of seatbelts.
EXTRAS:
Tons. There is a directors and writers commentary, music videos, deleted
scenes, animation test, and a "behind the scene" make up most of the extras.
WIDESCREEN
REVIEW
STORY:
Paul Dini, Glen Murakami and Bruce Timm, all who have worked on Batman:
The Animated Series, know their characters and the Bat-universe very well.
The script is well written, with plenty of snappy dialogue that we have
come to expect from Batman Beyond. This is a more adult version of Beyond.
When the unedited version comes out, you can see what they originally
intended.
ACTING: The cast is the same as the TV Series, with Dean Stockwell and
Melissa Joan Hart joining in as new characters. All of them are experienced
voice actors, and each play their characters with the right mix of intensity
or playfulness. One of the best acted animated series out there.
FAN SERVICE: None in the panties or shower scene category, but plenty
of references to past characters in Batman: TAS, as well as the surprise
return of a "dead" character, and I am not talking about the Joker.
CONCLUSION:
Initially, I was worried about this movie when I heard about
all the edits that had been made. I hate editing in films for the most
part, especially when it is done to achieve a certain rating. So with
some dread, I put this disc in and let it spin.
It was not as horrible as I expected. I really didn't notice the cuts
except for the one that explains what happened to the character Bonk.
If editing is done right, you will never notice the difference.
This is an upgrade from the TV series, with more action, more extreme
danger, and some answers to a nagging question.....what ever happened
to The Joker. This answers them, in a way I never expected. I was actually
a little surprised on who the Joker was. I give the writers
and
director Curt Geda major credit for giving us a really good, anime
flavor, Batman movie. I am looking forward to the unedited version.
Batman
Beyond: Return of the Joker (edited) is good to own because there
are scenes in the unedited version that will be too intense for
some of the younger watchers of this series (my 7 and 5 year old
children for example).
If you like Batman Beyond, or well written stories, make sure you
get both the edited and unedited.
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