Batman Beyond: Season 1 - Episode 7: 'Shriek' (1999) - TV Episode Review

Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils

So far I have to admit that I am extremely impressed with the series, 'Batman: Beyond'...

You would think that it was because of the concept of having the series take place in a technologically advanced future, in which Batman has also adapted with the times... Well that isn't it... But it is the story.

What I mean is that Batman may have had to adapt with the future, but in all honesty, Batman doesn't go super high tech (although he does have a cool different suit from the one that he used to use. In this case it is an old Batman (in a different costume), that has to learn to adapt in a high tech future, to high tech villains... Well so far this new series has as yet not failed to make me impressed with the current episode!

And you know what? This episode may not be the best of the series, but I will say that Episode 7: 'Shriek' is still a pretty darn good one!

Starring: Will Friedle (Boy Meets World), Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series), Sherman Howard (Day Of The Dead) & Chris Mulkey (The Purge).

Shriek and Batman about to go in to an intense round of, 'talks'...

This episode  tells the story of how Derek Powers (Sherman Howard) decides that it is time to get rid of Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) once and for all... You see, Derek Powers is about to tear down an old section of Gotham City, that Bruce dearly wants to keep preserved... And it is starting to look more and more like he will get his choice!

So Derek puts Walter Shreeve (Chris Mulkey) on the job... Shreeve is grateful, and turns himself in to, 'Shriek', a villain that uses audio to disable and destroy his opponents, and it looks like the only one who can stop and save Bruce is the new, 'Batman'... But he will have to do so before Shriek can completely destroy Bruce, not just in body, but in mind as well!

Batman stopping Shriek's first attack!

Well, this episode was fun, because we got to see Bruce as an old man fighting the good fight one last time... But other then that, this episode is pretty paint-by-numbers, and in all honesty... Shriek... Not a particularly impressive villain...

In the end though, despite it's paint by numbers aspect... It is an episode worth watching, at least I thought so, and you might as well!

Batman Beyond: Season 1 - Episode 5: 'Meltdown' (1999) - TV Episode Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

You know, so far I have to say that I am pretty impressed with, 'Batman Beyond'... I mean it is a fascinating look at a world where the mantle of, 'Batman' had to be passed on to a new generation... And with that new generation, a new generation of Super villain as well!

And speaking of new villain... Episode 5... Has our new Dark Knight fighting an old villain... Which did make for a very fun episode!

You see, this episode, which was written by: Hilary Bader (The New Batman Adventures), Stan Berkowitz (Justice League: The New Frontier), Alan Burnett (Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm), Paul Dini (Batman: Arkham City), Rich Fogel (Smurfs), Bob Goodman (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Part 1) & Directed By: Curt Geda (Ultimate Avengers). Starring: Will Friedle (Kim Possible: The Secret Files), Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series), Linda Hamilton (Children Of The Corn), Michael Ansara (Broken Arrow) & Sherman Howard (Lethal Weapon 2).

Mr. Freeze (Michael Ansara)... A villain who when Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) fought him as, 'The Dark Knight', was a criminal that was hell bent on saving his wife's life... His only connection to humanity... What with being a cold emotionless immortal shell and all...

Well decades later he has become a different type of person... He wants to reform and come back in tot he world of the living... In comes Derek Powers (Sherman Howard)!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320"] Mr. Freeze goes to war with his benefactor![/caption]

You see, for his own nefarious reasons, Derek Powers has decided to help him out, and gives Mr. Freeze a new lease on life, with a new body and all...
At first everything seems to be going alright... As a matter of fact, it appears as if, 'Mr. Freeze' has gone to that cold storage in the sky, what with Victor Freese adjusting to his life as a law abiding citizen of the great city of, 'Gotham' real nicely!

In the end though... Victor Freese's body ends up reverting to, 'Mr. Freeze', (along with his mind as well)... In the end though Victor Freese may finally get the justice that he so richly wanted, in the revenge he thought he deserved to reap on Derek Powers and the group that tried to help him!

In the end, this episode was a lot of fun, and well worth it to see the character arc of Mr. Freeze... So in the end, check it out, I think that you might find this episode to be fun... I know I did!

http://youtu.be/22yMGXR2fqU

Batman Beyond: Season 1 - Episode 3: 'Black Out' - TV Episode Review

[caption id="attachment_390" align="alignright" width="178"] Official Score = 1 Devil[/caption]

Well so far so good, so far, 'Batman Beyond' is proving itself to be a pretty formidable series... I mean we got to see how Bruce Wayne finally realized that he was, 'as the famous line goes', "To Old For This Shit"... And retired the Dark Knight... Seemingly for good, and how Gotham has begun to fall to the wayside thanks to the loss of Batman... And how just when things were at their bleakest, a young man, whom in a similar situation that Bruce Wayne was in when he decided to pursue the life of, 'Batman', ends up taking over...

Well believe it or not that was a real mouthful... The sad part is, is that the first 2 episodes of this new series were so great, but the next episode just ended up going all, 'children's cartoon' and didn't leave anything for the adults that were just settling in for a fun ride!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300"] It looks like the new, 'Dark Knight' is really struggling with his newest enemy![/caption]

What I mean by this, is that this episode, which was called, 'Blackout' and which was written by: Hilary Bader (The New Batman Adventures), Stan Berkowitz (Superman/Batman: Public Enemies), Alan Burnett (The Batman Superman Movie: World's Finest), Paul Dini (Superman), Rich Fogel (Batman Beyond: The Movie), Bob Goodman (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1) & Directed by: Dan Riba (The Super Mario Bros. Super Show). Starring: Will Friedle (Boy Meets World), Kevin Conroy (Tales Of Metropolis), Shannon Kenney (The Invisible Man), Sherman Howard (Casualties Of War), Stockard Channing (Grease) & Lauren Tom (Wall Street).

In this latest episode, it looks like some one is trying to dismantle a technology firm bit by bit... The problem is, is that when the new, 'Batman' (Will Friedle) comes on the case, he discovers that not only is his first case as the new Batman an exciting one, but that the slimy dirt bag that he is following, may actually be a slime based dirt bag!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="250"] Batman's latest enemy is one that is a little more slippery the normal![/caption]

And as Terry McGinnis, settling down to a new life, both as, 'The Batman' and to try and maintain his old identity as just, 'Terry' is also proving difficult as well... But like all great cases, the old addage, 'sometimes the simplest solution is the best,' may prove out on this one!

In the end, I really just didn't like this episode all that much... Don't get me wrong, the characters, voice over work, and animation were pretty awesome, but in all truth, the big bad that they had for this episode was just really lame!

http://youtu.be/e3rAZJiVngc

Batman Beyond: Season 1 - Episode 1: 'Rebirth Part 1' - TV Episode Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

When I was a kid one of my favorite shows was, 'Batman: The Animated Series' It was sleek, it was dark, it was cool, and it had finally dropped all that campy stuff that made Batman so popular from the 60s through the 80s!

So when I discovered, 'Batman Beyond' in the early 2000s, I found the concept of, 'What if Bruce Wayne had to retire and pass the mantle of, 'Batman' to the next generation' and what that would be like.  Now I will admit that I have not really seen to many episodes of this new series yet, but I will admit that so far, that I have found this show to be pretty awesome!

And so far, starting with Episode 1 of Season 1, the show has been a great way to start... But we will get in to that in a moment!

Written by: Alan Burnett (Superman), Paul Dini (Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker) & Directed by: Curt Geda (Ultimate Avengers). Starring: Will Friedle (Boy Meets World), Kevin Conroy (Batman), Teri Garr (Tootsie), Michael Gross (Tremors), Sherman Howard (Day Of The Dead), George Takei (Star Trek) & Lauren Tom (Futurama).

This first episode tells the story of how 50 years in the future, Gotham City is a whole different place... The technology of the future is there, including hover cars, and an over grown bustling Gotham City... The only problem is that Batman retired years ago, and the Police are essentially under the control of, 'Derek Powers' (Sherman Howard)...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Derek Powers (Sherman Howard) as he is having a frank discussion with Warren McGinnis (Michael Gross)... And boy is it the discussion of a life time![/caption]

Now Derek Powers is an up and coming billionaire playboy who is slowly replacing Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy)... Being that Powers is buying up Wayne Enterprises one company at a time!

But there is a secret that Derek Powers is harboring, and it will hit the McGinnis family pretty hard!

You see after his fight with his father, Terry McGinnis (Will Friedle) takes off to go and be with his girl friend, 'Dana' (Lauren Tom)... While there Terry is confronted by, 'The Jokerz' a street gang that modeled themselves after the legend of the original, 'Joker'!

Well in the end, they chase Terry up to Wayne Manor... Once there McGinnis meets an aged Bruce Wayne, who helps McGinnis take down the, 'Jokerz' and after helping Bruce up to, 'Wayne Manor', Terry ends up accidentally stumbling on to the Batcave and discovers who Batman really is! Well after he gets home and discovers that his father is dead and decides to enlist Bruce's help in trying get vengeance...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] It's gonna be like a buddy cop movie, ya know?[/caption]

Since this is a 2 parter, stay tuned for part 2 of this review!

In the end though, the acting in this episode was good... Not exceptional, but good... The animation was good... Not exceptional, but good... In the end what really held my interest in this episode was the story! I love stories that quickly establish great back stories... which this episode did really nicely (what with having shown how Bruce Wayne initially retired as, 'Batman'... And it also quickly established a great story and motivation for bringing, 'Batman' back to life!

In the end, this episode was fun, and if this series continues this way, it is sure to get better and better!

http://youtu.be/3ABcSoiDnFQ