Batman Beyond: The Movie

In the past, Bruce Wayne, as Batman, attempts to stop a gang who is holding a woman for ransom, but after suffering heart issues during the fight, which nearly leads him to use a gun, one of the things he swore against using, Bruce hangs up the new Batsuit he wore, swearing never again to wear it. 20 years later, Gotham City is now a futuristic city, with one Derek Powers running it, as the GCPD (with Barbara Gordon, who was once Batgirl, as commissioner) are in his pocket while criminal gangs like The Jokerz run free to terrorize innocents. Terry McGinnis, a troubled teenager, meets Bruce after having an argument with his father, and kicked out when he discovers the Batcave, he returns home to discover his father was killed by what looked like The Jokerz. After failing to get Bruce to help, and the disc he found at the scene of the crime being sought out of Derek Powers himself, as it has info revealing he is making illegal chemical weapons, Terry steals the Batsuit Bruce last wore to exact justice.

This movie combines the two part series premiere "Rebirth" into a almost hour-long film, this is a good start. Right off the bat, the series does not waste time getting into dark territory, as this future Gotham still has the crime problem (and even goes as far as to have characters killed), which continues the trend of Batman: The Animated Series (and its sequel series, The New Batman Adventures). As Kids' WB was less strict than Fox Kids was, this cartoon was allowed to do certain things its predecessor was never allowed to. Kevin Conroy reprises his role as Bruce Wayne, while the series introduces new characters like Terry (voiced by Will Friedle), The Jokerz (who appear throughout the series), and Derek Powers (voiced by Sherman Howard), who would become Terry's archnemesis. This is a good start to a sequel series that, despite being flawed, has gained a cult following, with the characters even appearing in other DCAU shows like Static Shock and Justice League.

I have always been a fan of Batman, from the first Batman movie(1989) to the recent film (Batman Begins)< so it was natural that I would follow the adventures of this new batman....I have mixed reviews.

First and foremost, this a very cool series and it deserved more respect that it got. Though I have to admit that I was just as concerned as many "Bats" fans when I heard the first cut of the title, "Batman Tomorrow"....."Batman Tomorrow"? Even the name sounds stupid and badly planned. Well, with a much needed name change and some well-placed faith(on my part at least), the show came on and I was impressed.

Though, I did like the series and the very cool animated movie that followed, I did think that the series reminded me too much of the "Spider-man" TV series that came on FOX just a few years before(now that show was cheesy). I mean the protagonist got away a bit too much and the series seemed a bit cookie-cutter like that( no real drama). In the end of it's run, the series got a lot better at catching you by the sack and keeping your interest.

The movie, like the series' final seasons, did not disappoint and the uncut version made it even better(if you buy the movie, buy that version).

So, if you haven't seen "Batman Beyond" because you did have the KidsWB network then or because you're just being stubborn, then take a look....I guarantee you will like it....at least a little.

This Batman movie isn't quite as good as Batman mask of The Phantasm and Batman and Mr. Freeze subzero But it is still a good installment to the Batman cartoons. And Another reason why it is not quite as good as the other two is because that there is a new character taking on the role of batman but he still does it pretty good so that does not really matter and Bruce Wayne is still in it so that good. This movie is good for all the same reasons The storyline is good not quite as good as the other one's but still pretty good it has lots of action in it The Cartoon effects are good The voice of actors are really good such as Kevin Conroy as Batman/ Bruce Wayne, Will Friedle as Terence "Terry" McGinnis/Batman. The villains are good such as Michael ansara as Mr. Freeze etc. So I am sure you will not be disappointed with batman beyond the movie. So make sure that you rent or buy batman beyond the movie because it is really good.

Overall score: ******* out of **********

*** out of *****

It's 30 years in the future, Bruce Wayne is in his mid seventies, and realizes he can't continue as Batman anymore, enter 16 year old Terry Mcginnis, a troubled youth who seems to have no fear of anything and always seems to have a nack for adventure. Batman got an upgrade. Great animation, and a great story line, cool action, and a great soundtrack. Kevin Conroy is great has the voice of Bruce Wayne. Will Friedle(best known from Boy Meets World) is also great has the voice of Terry Mcginnis. I hope they make a live action Batman Beyond movie.

I didn't watch Batman Beyond when it aired on kids WB on Saturday morning years back as I thought, frankly, I'd grown out of Saturday morning cartoons. As it turns out, my suspicion was partially correct: this is much more of a 'kid-friendly' series than the original Batman animated series (if not by much, though it's slightly more serious-minded than The Batman series of the past few years). These first several episodes do demonstrate the promise of the series, if also certain liabilities. It's also curious that this 'movie' isn't exactly linear; episodes that don't have a lot to do with the running current between Terry McGinnis (the new Batman and apprentice to old curmudgeon Bruce Wayne) and the dastardly villainous CEO of Wayne/Powers inc, Derek Powers, tend to be hit or miss, while the central storyline involving Powers is much stronger.

As it turns out McGinnis becomes Batman by slightly similar circumstances, as it's out of revenge for the death of his closest (his father). Also McGinnis is tough and out for blood, while continuing his life as a regular teen, but following the tenets of the Batman code: don't kill anyone, but do your best to stop the bad guys. In this case, McGinnis is up against Powers, who becomes a radioactive man after an incident involving his planned noxious chemical deal, a squadron of thieving card-player-disguised bandits (one of whom McGinnis starts to date unbeknownst to him), Mr. Freeze (yes, he's back by a stroke of genius contrivance), and Bane's legacy of Venom. This last one actually brings the series down to the level of an after-school special- it's a surprise Bane doesn't pop up at the end saying 'this is what happens when you take ster-I mean Venom'- though it isn't as conventional as the Nerd & Robot Golum' vs. the school bullies.

So, as you can imagine, it is a little more geared to the younger crows, and it also features a repetitive, mediocre heavy-metal score. But aside from these faults, it still is an exciting program, and works very well for kids by having the "message" element mixed with a cool character like McGinnis and an aged Bruce Wayne (still, very thankfully, voiced by the master Kevin Conroy). There's even some inventiveness with the animation, mixing with futuristic elements with the Batman world we all know and love from the previous series. If it's not as brilliant as the former, it still presents itself as a pretty good 'next generation' saga.