EPISODE REVIEW: (SPOILERS!)
(by Justin Chen and/or Zanna)
All of Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton's reviews of the new-style BTAS
episodes and BATMAN BEYOND can be found via these links, which link to
"Two-Face's Tower of Tranquility and Terror":
The creative "team" for this column alternates between Zanna
and Justin Chen, two loyal subscribers and great friends of ours here.
Any other reviews printed here are written by editor Tim "TWO-FACE"
Leighton. Enjoy!
SPECIAL NOTE: We have a special treat for you all, fans! We've
gotten so many astounding reviews about the recent BEYOND episode "OUT OF
THE PAST", we decided to publish not one but TWO reviews of the episode, one
from each of our subscribers. Enjoy!
<BATMAN BEYOND>
OUT OF THE PAST
Written by Paul
Dini
Directed by James Tucker
Animation by Koko Enterprise Co., Ltd. and
Dong Yang
Animation Co., Ltd.
Original Airdate: October 21,
2000
My rating: ***** (Out of five stars)
Bruce is young, back in the suit and...singing? Terry
takes Bruce to the hot-ticketed Batman musical for Bruce's birthday.
Bruce is less than thrilled with the production and stalks out. He
returns to the Batcave and reminisces over old pictures of Zatanna
(yeah!), Lois, Selina, and Barbara. Talia shows up to wish him happy
birthday and is disappointed that he didn't save any pictures of her.
She has remained young using the Lazarus pits and offers Bruce its gift of
rejuvenation. Terry arrives singing one of the musical's songs, meets
Talia, and witnesses Bruce turning down Talia's gift.
Later, while out alone, Bruce is accosted by some gang members
who attack him and an innocent bystander. He fights them off, but he
and the innocent girl nearly get killed. Then Terry, as the current
Batman, saves them. Bruce reconsiders Talia's offer and both he and Terry fly
with Talia to one of the Lazarus pits.
GOOD POINTS:
It was a great story. The pacing and plot twists kept
this story at a high excitement level. Bruce and Talia dominate in
this episode, but Terry is integral to the story.
When Batman Beyond first aired, many fans stated that Bruce
would never give up the cowl - that he would even use the Lazarus pits to
keep being Batman. This story offers fans the chance to see Bruce
struggle with that decision and that possible future.
Paul Dini gave Bruce and Terry great lines. When Terry
is worried about Bruce using the Lazarus pits, he tells Bruce, "I 'll tell
you right now, there's no way I'm wearing the Robin suit." Bruce
taunts Ra's al Ghul by saying, "You don't cheat death, you whimper in fear of it ...and you hit like a girl." At the end of the episode, when Terry asks
Bruce if she [Talia] was THE special woman, Bruce answers Terry gruffly by
asking if he is going on patrol some time tonight. But, after Terry
leaves, Bruce voices his true feelings.
Bruce and Terry make a formidable team fighting the
villains. It was great to see Bruce throw punches and kick butt
again. The fight scenes were wonderfully depicted. Seeing Bruce and Terry executing synchronized spinning side kicks was terrific. Both
obviously enjoyed fighting alongside each other.
Paul Dini got to poke fun at the notion of a Batman musical
and use it as part of the story line.
The episode uses both Terry and Bruce's Batman music themes.
Kevin Conroy varies his portrayal of Bruce's voice, using his
original young voice and the old Bruce voice. It sounded like Kevin
Conroy singing as Batman for the musical, too.
Mark Hamill and Adrienne Barbeau (voices for the Joker and
Catwoman in Batman: The Animated Series) provide voice cameos in this
episode. Mark gives his voice to an Ubu-like character named Carter
and Adrienne sings in the Batman musical, as Catwoman.
Another voice sounded very familiar. Carl was performed
by Michael Rosenbaum. He was also the voice for Carter
Wilson/Terminal, one of the Jokerz leaders and the voice for Ollie, Shriek's assistant.
BAD POINTS:
This was so wonderfully written and executed, it's hard to
find faults with it. It was difficult to watch this episode and
remember to keep one's mouth from gaping open at the same
time.
The following points are really comments and not problems with
the story itself.
Ubu, Ra's flunkie and enforcer, was an interesting character
and this fan missed his interactions with Bruce.
Terry and Talia both refer to Bruce's final fight with Ra's Al
Ghul that occurred many years earlier. It sounds like a battle that
occurred after the Batman, Superman, and Ra's fight shown in THE DEMON
REBORN. Will the fans ever get to see this?
Talia's choice of Daddy over Bruce in this story, though true
to her character was a painful one, if it was Her choice.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
<BATMAN BEYOND>
OUT OF THE PAST
Written by Paul
Dini
Directed by James Tucker
Animation by Dong Yang, Koko
Original
Air Date: October 21, 2000
Rating ****1/2 of 5
DESCRIPTION: Bruce's past revisits him in more ways than
one.
HIGHS: Good story, fast action, some insight into Bruce's
relationships.
LOWS: The Lazarus Pits are as always somewhat farfetched, some
mediocre art.
OVERALL: This one should satisfy even a jaded BB
viewer.
Amazing...memorable...superb. Those are just a few words that
could describe "Out of the Past". I'll get right down to the story; the
episode opens with a corny Batman stage production which I heard was meant
to mock plans for a real-life Bats musical. Bruce is disgusted and walks out in the middle leaving Terry. Within the Batcave, Bruce reminisces over
pictures of Zanna, Selina Kyle, and Barbara Gordon. A voice comes from
behind, and Bruce finds Talia, the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul. The Lazarus
Pits have kept her young as ever, as Terry walks in and sees. We learn that
Talia assisted Bruce in a final battle against her father decades ago and now
runs a corporation cleaning up the mess he made.
She offers Bruce a trip to the Lazarus Pits to give Bruce a
chance to make up the time he lost. Bruce backs away from that, but we can
see his wishful thinking. When the old Batman runs into thugs one night and
is unable to get a bystander to safety, his mind is made up. Bruce accepts the offer to use the Pits. "No way I'm wearing the Robin suit", Terry
says, but Talia assures him that Bruce will not don the suit once more.
Believe it or not, Wayne takes the plunge and the story goes off from
there.
Without giving away the rest of this story, which chronicles
the return of Ra's Al Ghul as well as Bruce's youth, I can say that it is
indeed a treat to see our favorite Batman in fighting condition again. In
one scene where a massive opponent pounds Terry, Bruce leaps into the fray and completely takes the man down. The side-by-side fight scenes are full of
action and very enjoyable.
What detracts from this episode? The whole Lazarus Pits deal
is a bit of a stretch for the semi-realistic Batman world, but it always has
been. I'll excuse that one. However, the background art in some cases lacks
detail, as well as the people. Not many episodes are being made this season,
so I'd like to see a real boost in individual production over season 2.
There's plenty to like about this episode, being the only
villain besides Freeze (and, apparently the Joker) who could logically
remain a threat in BB, the Ra's Al Ghul issue is well addressed
here. I felt this was a somewhat sad but appropriate closer to Bruce's
long conflict with Ra's. We also learn at what level Bruce truly holds
Talia; at one point Terry asks "Was she THE special woman?" Bruce doesn't
reply, but we soon find out the answer to that.
Do yourself a favor and catch this one if you missed it. If
you did see it, you'll hopefully understand why I'm recommending
it.
By Justin Chen, aka The Overseer
overseer@pacificwest.com
___________________________________________________________________
EDITORIAL
(by
Mike Combs)
THE REAL BATCOMPUTER
One of Batman's most wonderful and powerful tools is the
Batcomputer, but what do we really know about it? What would it be
like to sit down at the controls of the real Batcomputer? Without
windows or a mouse, what would the user interface be like? What kinds of
things could it do for you? As I set out to create a real Batcomputer,
these are the questions I'm trying to answer.
I started out by looking at what the Batcomputer can't
do. It can't solve crimes. Batman can't just step up to the
microphone and ask, "Who stole the diamonds from the Ryan mansion?" The Batcomputer can't reason, doesn't have artificial intelligence, and
can't have a conversation with you, like HAL. (On the other hand, its
lack of personality means it's less likely to try to kill you.) As
HARDAC demonstrated, thinking computers are possible, so not including
intelligence must have been a deliberate design choice.
Instead of doing the thinking, the Batcomputer relies on
Batman to apply the intelligence and reason. The Batcomputer helps
Batman by providing quick access to information that can help him solve
cases. Need to know what known criminals were at large when the diamonds
were stolen? The Batcomputer has a list. Want to know more about
the diamonds? The Batcomputer can tell you that two identical sets
were created as gifts for Alex Ryan and his sister, Maria. Did you
know that Maria Ryan is Alex's twin? The Batcomputer has her current address and
new last name (she got married and changed it).
So, the next step in building my real Batcomputer was to
determine what kind of information the Batcomputer would provide access
to. I started with four major categories: Cases, locations, equipment
and people. Access to a calendar of current events made sense, too, but
didn't seem possible. (Batman needs to know about the rare bird
exhibit at the zoo, but unless it becomes part of a past case, I will never
hear about it and can't put it in the computer.)
Cases are the central organizing system for the Real
Batcomputer. Each episode and comic book represents a case. The
particulars of each case provide the data for all of the other categories:
the people involved, the places they went, the weapons and equipment they
used. If the Real Batcomputer tracks each of these, Batman should be
able to ask it, "Which cases have involved twins?" and also "Which villains
were involved in those cases?"
I've begun building the Real Batcomputer on my web site.
It has a partial list of case files and villains (no equipment or locations
at all yet). It's crude, but maybe you can see its potential.
Next article, I'll write about why I think it's possible to build a Real Batcomputer.
