Batman contre Dracula

When the Penguin (Tom Kenny) escapes Arkham Asylum in search of stolen loot at Gotham Cemetery, Penguin inadvertently stumbles upon a hidden tomb that holds Dracula (Peter Stormare). Awaken from a cut on Penguin's hand, Dracula continues his reign of terror as he drains residents of Gotham to regain his strength with intent on enslaving all of Gotham as his undead army. Meanwhile Bruce Wayne (Rino Romano) strikes up a promising relationship with news reporter Vicki Vale (Tara Strong) but finds his life complicated balancing this growing romance against his secret life as Batman, as a Bat shaped figure becomes associated with missing persons with Batman at the center of police suspicions.

The Batman vs. Dracula is a 2005 direct-to-video feature that serves as a standalone story related to the animated series The Batman which ran from 2004-2008. Released as a tie-in with the then recent Batman Begins and premiering on Cartoon Network's Toonami, The Batman vs. Dracula was able to go darker than its source TV show thanks to lack of "network standards". Not only are there plenty of scenes of blood and vampires drinking it (though a scene in a blood bank has the lighting altered so the blood looks black) but it's the only time in the continuity of The Batman that we've seen the police use actual guns instead of tasers or tranquilizers. While the movie isn't required viewing with the show and is a very self-contained adventure, it's a solidly entertaining one with some excellent edge.

Peter Stormare is an absolute delight playing the titular Dracula who captures the dark menace of the character as well as the romantic magnetism of the character. Dracula is intimidating in both his "monster" form and his false identity as Dr. Alucard and he's a more than worthy foe to square off against Batman. Rino Romano and Tara Strong do quite well in their roles of Bruce Wayne and Vicki Vale respectively, and the chemistry conveyed in their interactions makes me sad the character of Vale never appeared in the actual TV show and only appeared in this film. The action and animation are quite well done playing like a supped up version of the animation you see on the show, but the filmmakers get a lot more ambitious and experimental here as they're allowed to take the macabre elements of their story a lot further than they'd be able to on network TV (see the Spider-Man cartoon's take on Morbius to see how much you had to change for "acceptability"). The sequences of Batman fighting vampires or researching vampire lore strikes all the right notes and gives you every element you'd possibly want from a vampire story (save for some of the racier aspects of vampire war, but it's Batman).

The only real downside is in how detatched the movie feels from the show's continuity and aside from Bruce, Alfred, and supporting appearances by some of Batman's rogue's gallery there's no tie ins to the show's overarching story such as police chief Angel Rojas who served as a staunch opponent of Batman or Detective Yin who was for a time Batman's only ally on the force (though the TV show would give her a similar short shrift in season 3). The ending also feels a bit "too neat" in how things wrap up and it'll be a case of either you buy it or you don't.

The Batman vs. Dracula gives exactly what it promises. With solid animation and voice work the movie gives a more polished version of the already high quality you got from the TV show. Peter Stormare is fun in the role of Dracula and the havoc he wreaks upon Gotham is fun and carries with it the macabre charms we know and love that wouldn't be possible on network TV. The movie does feel like it's maybe too separate from the show as there's no appearances from established supporting players, and while Joker and Penguin show up, the possibilities of this story don't feel as fully exploited as they could've been. Minor nitpicks aside, this is a fun ride that gives you the Batman fighting vampires and delivers on all that entails.

I love the characters and art design, the animation style, the colors and the great direction. Together, they create some amazing shots, that could/should be iconic, if more popular.

The story is fine. I would say it's good actually, with a simple but well paced story, considering it was also trying to be for little kids (which may have hurt the product a bit). I say also, because overall, the movie is pretty dark, more teen than kid friendly, in my opinion, which is great considering the characters.

In the end, some may find it a bit boring at times (the second act) and some too childish, but I think it has a good balance and it was the best DC animated movie, at the time at least.

When I first heard about this movie, I had reservations. The Batman series was straight forward action with too little character depth. Every villain was an evil mustache twirling master martial artist, yet Batman was always able to overpower them. I guess I was hoping for something closer to the Paul Dini, Bruce Timm style complex Batman.

Anyway, this movie started out somewhat similar to a series episode, the Joker escapes from Arkham Asylum and the Penguin uses the distraction and some deft martial arts to make his own escape. Having a lead on a hidden treasure, Penguin goes to a very Gothic cemetery and finds more then gold, but Dracula's remains. Accidentally reviving him, Dracula proceeds to build an army of the undead, targeting Batman partially for using his image to scare criminals, partially because Batman rules the night of Gotham, and that's his territory.

Yeah, I was a little hesitant when I first heard of this story, and the first few minutes didn't do much to dispel those feelings, but it quickly changed into something more entertaining and complex then the series ever achieved, not Bruce Timm, but perfect within its own universe.

Probably the best part of this movie is that Batman has trouble with Dracula's vampire minions, and is completely outmatched by Dracula himself. This means he has to rely on intelligence and improvisation, in addition to plain martial arts skill to defeat him. Batman shows great humility in that luck was the only thing to prevent Dracula's victory in their first encounter.

Make no mistake, this is not a kids movie. Years ago, censors were hesitant to allow a violent Batman Beyond movie go through without changes. This movie has scenes and violence even more intense then the original, uncut version of that movie. You feel the impacts of some hits and see the characters painful reaction. One scene in a blood bank involves vials raining down on the combatants, it is in almost black and white to lessen the image but there is no mistaking what is happening.

Voice work is impressive, many stand out and there are no sub-par performances. Peter Stromwell performs Dracula as calculating, piercing, and outright creepy. Rino Romano gives another strong performance, Bruce Wayne is a charming playboy with occasional philanthropic tendencies, Batman is no-nonsense, plain and simple.

Overall, while some things may not be for everyones taste, it is a rousing 90 minutes that keeps up a strong pace and does not let up until after the credits roll.

Overall, if The Batman

I thought this movie was great in every aspect. Animation was top notch. All those haters talking about how it looks anime, well guess what Japanese anime is pretty much the hot thing now. The only real good animation we have is JLU. Anyways this movie really surprised me. When I initially heard about this title I was a little skeptic at 1st cause I mean when you first hear The Batman vs Dracula, you think what the bleep. But when read more about it I got more excited. This movie ranks it the top three, MOTP and ROTJ are a head of it mainly because of the story. That was the only problem I had with this movie. The story was pretty self explanatory. I think if they wanted to add the human element to the character, they should have had Alfred getting bitten and then Batman trying to save him, not the Joker. But overall I enjoyed it and will watch it again. And for the person who was confused about the antidote working on the vampire minions but not Dracula. Well,I think it's because Dracula is the originator of the infection. Meaning that is blood is pure and basically when he bites someone else it could be seen as an infection that can be cured. If that makes any sense.

Although it is rather serious in tone and deals with vampires and the undead, The Batman vs Dracula just seems to childish and too cartoony to be really effective. The color pallet is suitably drab and washed out and it does have a decent amount of atmosphere but I can't help but think that it could have been better if it just didn't seem toned down.

I prefer the 90s series of Batman, which had an overwhelming amount of darkness and Gothic pathos. This new THE Batman series appears to be reconfigured to appeal to kids who weren't even born in that decade. I know it's a cliché to moan that animated shows were always better when my age-group were kids, but it's so true.

The Penguin and The Joker (now looking like a cross between Krusty the Clown and The Predator) escape from Arkham (there's something new) and make their way to a hidden treasure trove in the cemetery. But the bird stumbles upon Dracula's tomb (why he is in Gotham is not explained) and resurrects him by accident.

But The Batman doesn't approve of a Vampireman stalking his streets and a drawn-out conflict with a predictable and hokey ending fills up the rest of the movie. It's fun, it's entertaining, but it's just not the Batman I'm used to.