Steve Presents: Reviews of Batman Animated Series and others

[JME2]

So with the new Batman Beyond mini-series finally being released, I'm sure I'm not the only fan whose interest in the exploits of Terry and Bruce has been rekindled. In addition to TNBA, I've been going back through the 52 episode run. Here's one of my favorites from Season 2.

EYEWITNESS
The Batman/Commissioner Gordon relationship has been a key part of the Dark Knight’s mythology for decades. Batman has respected Gordon as one of the few honest cops in Gotham while Gordon has realized the necessity of Batman in keeping law and order in Gotham. Even so, there was been conflict between the two at various points throughout the DCAU and we saw a potential end in "Over the Edge". This relationship was one of the core elements Batman Beyond chose to keep when the show premiered, by having Barbara Gordon – who had already been set up as working for the GCPD in TNBA – follow in father’s footsteps.

However, Team Timm gave it a twist. The former Batgirl was opposed to Terry’s operation. As we learned , her attempts to persuade him to abandon the cowl were rooted in her failed relationship with Bruce and the Gotham Knights’ with the Joker . While not planned out, that tension began building up throughout Season 1 and the first half of Season two before finally coming to a head in “Eyewitness”.

The episode opens with Terr y accidentally screwing up a police sting operation that Barbara has spent a year putting together. Furious, she warns Bruce that she won’t be giving Terry any more chances if he interferes in GCPD operations. The following night, Barbara attends a fundraisers for her husband DA Sam Young’s reelection campaign. The dinner is interrupted by the insane anarchist Mad Stan, with Batman in pursuit. Barbara and Terry chase him into the building’s parking garage, but after disarming Mad Stan Terry appears to beat him to death.

Outraged, Barbara vows to bring him in, even if it means exposing all of the Gotham Knights’ identifies and sinking her husband’s campaign. But when Bruce confronts Terry, his protegee swears he didn’t kill Mad Stan. Is he telling the truth or is there something else going on?

In my opinion, the best Batman stories are those that portray him less as a super-hero and more as a costumed detective. This was one of the better mysteries to come out of the future Batman, in part because this story wouldn’t have worked with Bruce Wayne under the cowl. Bruce’s aversion to murder is well documented and a core part of the character. But we know Terry is not his mentor. He’s a former punk, he’s been in Juvenile Hall, and he has an angry streak within him. I seriously doubt anyone really thought Terry crossed the line, but the spark of doubt is there thanks to Terry’s past actions. The answer of what really happened in the parking garage is on par with BTAS’ best reveals and only possible within the future of Batman Beyond.

There's nice character interaction and development as well. As the former Batgirl, Barbara knows how Bruce thinks and is able to anticipate Terry's actions during the chase, which is reminescent of "On Leather Wings", "Over the Edge", and MOTP. Bruce proves again that even without the psychical capabilities, he is still the World's Greatest Detective and his willingness to believe Terry shows how far their relationship had come at this point in the series. Likewise, Barabara's relationship with Terry gets development. While they don't entirely bury the hatchet, both are on better terms for the remainder of the series.

On a side note, this episode also has the distinction of being the first DCAU episode to be inked and colored digitally, a move that would span the remaining episodes of the series and JL/JLU.

5/5

[Steve]

Turns out I did see "Mean Seasons", just didn't remember it very well.

Anyway, it was also an excellent bit of casting. Page Monroe/Calender Girl was voiced by actress Sela Ward, who was already in her early 40s at the time yet still quite gorgeous, going quite in line with the concept of the character of Calender Girl (a beautiful woman who, in getting old, becomes obsessed with minute flaws in her appearance). As of late, her most noticable role seems to have been Stacy Warner on House M.D., 2nd season. Though makeup and cosmetics may be playing a role in things, she certainly looks to be aging gracefully.

[JME2]

Yeah, that was an interesting bit of casting, but I'd expect nothing less of their voice/casting director Andrea Romano. She's always been good at matching actors and actresses to characters and I'm not just talking about Kevin Conroy or Mark Hamill. Avatar: The Last Airbender would have been impressive alone for its animation, but Romano's presence gave the performances and casting an edge that really set it on par with the DCAU performances.

On a side note, I've always been amused that she cast Jodi Benson AKA Ariel from The Little Mermaid as Aquagirl in BB's "The Call".

[Steve]

I have a review for the Avatar: The Last Airbender finale, Sozin's Comet.

That. Was. AWESOME.

There, review over.

I give it a 6/5. Yes, you heard me, six out of five. I don't care that it's technically impossible, I rate as I want to dammit!

[JME2]

I have a review for the Avatar: The Last Airbender finale, Sozin's Comet.

That. Was. AWESOME.

There, review over.

I give it a 6/5. Yes, you heard me, six out of five. I don't care that it's technically impossible, I rate as I want to dammit!

I completely agree with you. 2 years after its original airing and it remains the most satisfying series finale I've seen in a long, long time.

[Ghost Rider]

I have a review for the Avatar: The Last Airbender finale, Sozin's Comet.

That. Was. AWESOME.

There, review over.

I give it a 6/5. Yes, you heard me, six out of five. I don't care that it's technically impossible, I rate as I want to dammit!

The whole thing or just the finale episode? Because honestly, that final episode for Aang versus Ozai was a tad lackluster given he screamed enough at everyone, even himself and universe relented with the giant sea turtle and went "Here's your cake.".

Especially when taken into the whole of the show, the finale felt forced in said direction. Though at least they stiffled the shipping fans. Well, the sane ones anyways.

[Steve]

Honestly I don't particularly mind that Aang's encounter with the Lion-Turtle let him learn a way to defeat Ozai without killing him.

[Ghost Rider]

Honestly I don't particularly mind that Aang's encounter with the Lion-Turtle let him learn a way to defeat Ozai without killing him.

But that was a major problem of the storytelling. You come up this fantastic dilemma, and after he consults his past and they were all about death equalling justice, thus frustrating the main more. It actually was an interesting thought. Maybe he couldn't just simply have his cake, he actually had to do something or find something else. So out pops a dimensional travel island, that just so happens to be able to teach the main how to do what he really wants in the last chapter of the last chapter?

They really should've spaced it out better and had some point to this being dangerous or something(something we only know from the creators) rather then last second deus ex machina telling him how to get the win button.

[Dragon Angel]

They really should've spaced it out better and had some point to this being dangerous or something(something we only know from the creators) rather then last second deus ex machina telling him how to get the win button.

Wasn't that made clear in the last episode, though, when we heard the Lion Turtle's voice (saying that Aang would, in essence, lose his soul) while he attempted to remove Ozai's powers?

I'm not sure about its timing story-wise, but that was definitely a point made during their whole exchange.

[Ghost Rider]

They really should've spaced it out better and had some point to this being dangerous or something(something we only know from the creators) rather then last second deus ex machina telling him how to get the win button.

Wasn't that made clear in the last episode, though, when we heard the Lion Turtle's voice (saying that Aang would, in essence, lose his soul) while he attempted to remove Ozai's powers?

I'm not sure about its timing story-wise, but that was definitely a point made during their whole exchange.

A point made after he screams that he won't to his friends, consults past lives that he just cannot and will not do it. And oh wait...here's a barely noted thing(it's shows up in the library as a picture that Aang notes) that goes "Yeah, here's your out.". It's poorly paced and even worse appears to be done solely to have Aang get his way because he screamed enough of how he won't kill Ozai and worse still, something that does appear for all intents and purposes made just for him. Especially how the turtle brings up that others never learned it. And before we go into that no, it wasn't. Examine the sequence. They had better opportunities to introduce the concept and have some foreshadowing. A concept they handled very well, thus this particular sticks out. Even moreso that it is what resolves the climax of the series.

Honestly, I compare it him learning to firebend. Something they did earlier, demonstrated why he and others were so adamant, and needed something other then Zuko coming out and going "Here's ya go firebending!".

Did it ruin the finale? No, given there was plenty of clean up and climax points, but it didn't help that there was no build, no structure to it other then to give Aang his happy resolution.

[Steve]

I have a review for the Avatar: The Last Airbender finale, Sozin's Comet.

That. Was. AWESOME.

There, review over.

I give it a 6/5. Yes, you heard me, six out of five. I don't care that it's technically impossible, I rate as I want to dammit!

I completely agree with you. 2 years after its original airing and it remains the most satisfying series finale I've seen in a long, long time.

Honestly the last series finale I can think of that I enjoyed as much was Babylon 5's "Sleeping in Light". No, not even DS9 "What You Leave Behind" ranks above it to me, though it is a third place, I'd say. I might actually have to rate "Sozin's Comet" even above "Sleeping in Light", but it was twice the length and had far more action to it. And, arguably, a far happier ending (B5 ended with Sheridan's "death" and the station being destroyed as a "navigation hazard", though its legacy survives it, Avatar OTOH had pretty much a uniform happy ending; only the inability to fit the return of Ursa kept it from being a complete happy ending).

And there were some supremely powerful moments in that finale. Like the beginning of Part 4 with Sokka laid out on one of the zeppelins' Firebender firing platforms, one hand desperately trying to hold onto Toph, throwing away his prize weapons in a desperate bid to save himself and Toph. More Firebenders come, a choir begins to sing in the background, and with Toph slipping out of his grasp Sokka calls out, "I don't think Boomerang is coming back, Toph! It looks like this is the end!". We see Toph's eyes tearing up as she looks up at Sokka.... and then the Firebenders begin to flee, the background music shifts to a more upbeat theme, and another zeppelin comes in from nowhere and crashes into the one they're on, letting Sokka and Toph drop to (relative) safety (Sokka does break his leg). Toph asks "What just happened, did Boomerang come back?" A grimacing Sokka looks up and his expression: "No, Suki did!"

Of course, can't just go by that one. So many awesome moments to pick. There's Zuko's tearful reunion with Iroh, Iroh leading the White Lotus into battle at Ba Sing Se, the flashback of Bumi single-handedly driving the Fire Nation out of Omashu on the Day of Black Sun, Katara beating Azula, Zuko's coronation....

Looking at how the show started well and kept getting stronger, it's no wonder Nickelodeon staggered its releases so much. Too much pure awesome on their network would probably overload things.

[Steve]

Oh, and I missed GR's question on whether the 6/5 rating was for the whole four-parter or just Part 4. It's for the whole four-parter. It's one massive Crowning Moment of Awesome (yes, I'm aware the term CMoA has become badly abused over time, I still think it qualifies).

[Ghost Rider]

Oh, and I missed GR's question on whether the 6/5 rating was for the whole four-parter or just Part 4. It's for the whole four-parter. It's one massive Crowning Moment of Awesome (yes, I'm aware the term CMoA has become badly abused over time, I still think it qualifies).

I can understand the enjoyment, but Aang's bit takes a bit out it for me.

Sukko/Suki/Toph's battle was great. Katara/Zuko was honestly even better then Aang/Ozai's because...there was something there, but that's another rant entirely. Even the taking of Earth Capital from the Fire Nation had great play for the series. Aang's battle was good, but played a bit more towards eye candy rather then tension. The others I could see someone die, except Aang's.

Still, the series was a lot more high points then low.

[Molyneux]

I have to admit that I felt the Spirit-bending came a bit out of nowhere, but seeing the Firelord finally sweat was probably worth the abrupt end to the fight.

My absolute favorite moment for the finale has got to be Azula finally cracking completely. Especially the haircut, and her final defeat - Katara's final moment of triumph, and a well-earned one.

[Ghost Rider]

I have to admit that I felt the Spirit-bending came a bit out of nowhere, but seeing the Firelord finally sweat was probably worth the abrupt end to the fight.

My absolute favorite moment for the finale has got to be Azula finally cracking completely. Especially the haircut, and her final defeat - Katara's final moment of triumph, and a well-earned one.

Azula breaking was awesome writing. She's shown from the beach party of being a little bit human but not all there. She does everything in the same way she fights. She pushes through by her own will, everything in her life is her way or the highway. So with Mai and Ty Lee betraying her, her father giving her free reign, and she's finally alone to have a friendly chat with *mom*...she breaks down. And not all at once, and that's what makes it so well done.

So when she's finally a wreck at the end with Katara defeating her, you saw the signs, they planted earlier and went full force before the battle, take hold.

[JME2]

I have to admit that I felt the Spirit-bending came a bit out of nowhere, but seeing the Firelord finally sweat was probably worth the abrupt end to the fight.

To be fair, it felt like a natural extension of the history of bending, of how the benders learned from animals. A convenient deus ex machina, but it allowed Aang to avoid making the mistakes of the previous generation.

[Steve]

I suppose, in a way, it also enhanced the chance to ensure peace and rebuilding. If the Avatar killed Ozai or, even moreso, executed him after rendering him helpless (as the Avatar State nearly did before Aang held it back) then it could still potentially be seized upon as an act of regicide on behalf of allies for political purposes, since to save the world he "only" needed to stop him from using Sozin's Comet to roast the Earth Kingdom. While you might think letting Ozai live permits him to be a figurehead to rally Fire Nation militarists around, the fact that he's been stripped of his Firebending skills dilutes his usefulness as a leader; moreso, it tells other militarists that if they try to keep the war going and live up to the virulent supremacist ideology they'd constructed, the Avatar might come take their bending away too.

Though this might just be semantics to consider.

[JME2]

You're right. Ozai is of more use to the other nations by being both still alive and powerless.

[JME2]

Since you enjoyed the finale Steve, I'm curious to know what you thought of "The Ember Island Players".

[Steve]

Since you enjoyed the finale Steve, I'm curious to know what you thought of "The Ember Island Players".

Fairly amusing way to recap things and even make fun of stuff (like the way Nickelodeon made them throw a softball on Jet's death), while also having the whole Downer Ending with a cheering crowd to remain everyone this is a Fire Nation play and that these people, ostensibly, want to see them fail. It's actually an interesting two-birds-one-stone approach there; the play's depictions of the characters allows us to laugh at the caricatures, but it also serves as a reminder that the play is propaganda and that the characters we see as protagonists are being depicted as ridiculous and silly to reinforce the superiority of the Fire Nation (Just look at how they depict Uncle Iroh, especially in Zuko being torn between them in the Season 2 finale at Ba Sing Se. "Choose treachery. It's more fun!").

I think it worked as a fluff and humor-centric episode, with very good touches of characterization (Zuko's reaction to the scene concerning his choice to join Azula in Ba Sing Se, Aang talking to Katara about his feelings and her response to them, etc.), setting us up for the Big Damn Finale.

Oh. And Toph enjoys that she was portrayed by a big, muscular guy (done also as an injoke, I imagine, as initially Toph was to be a male character). That was awesome. But Toph usually is awesome.

[Steve]

So, out of curiosity....

Did anyone here, as a kid, ever watch "Fox's Peter Pan and the Pirates" during the 90s? Complete with Tim Curry's Captain Hook, for which he won an Emmy in 1991, and it also had some rather familiar VA names: a young Jason Marsden, for instance, voiced Peter Pan, Scott Menville and Josh Keaton (Robin from Teen Titans and Peter Parker/Spider-Man from Spectacular Spider-Man) voiced two of the Lost Boys, and Tony Jay voiced one of the pirates in Hook's crew.

I found its entry on TVTropes and started having flashbacks to being 8 years old, impatiently urging my mother's car on toward home because I got out of school just after 2PM and the show came on at 2:30PM on our local Fox affiliate. All so I could hear the theme song.

[JME2]

I vaguely remember seeing one or two episodes. Tim Curry's performance as Hook is pretty much all I recall.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I watched most of the series. It had some rather complex episodes, like one where the 'Girl in the Moon' crashes in Neverland, and Captain Hook is the one to save her from her sinking ship. Of course, she believes he is noble and good, and this sets off a rather subtle cat-and-mouse game between Hook and Peter where they're trying to hurt each-others' reputations.

[Steve]

The episode that has stuck with me the most, and which I remembered immediately, was the one two-parter where Peter begins to age and become an adult, so Neverland literally begins to decay and die around everyone.

And I'm not surprised Curry's Hook is the most memorable. He's the one thing about the show I still remember after all these years. And his Hook is probably the best animated version of the character, though Hoffman's Hook challenges for top spot from what I remember of Hook. And speaking of Hook....

Jet (voiced by Jason Marsden) was Peter Pan (the aforementioned animated series)... and Prince Zuko (Dante Basco) was a Lost Boy (Rufio in Hook). Gotta love these silly little connections, don't you?

[JME2]

The joys of six degrees of separation, Steve.