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.
