Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
Follow Genre: Animation, Action, Crime
Director: Chris Palmer
Distributor: Warner Bros Home Entertainment
Duration: 85 minutes

Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One (Blu-ray) – Movie Review

Site Score
8.0
Good: Interesting opening, Overall atmosphere
Bad: A bit slower than other DC animation films, Can still go in any direction
User Score
10.0
(1 votes)
Click to vote
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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)

After taking a closer look at Justice Society: World War II, we trade in a hectic World War II setting for the grim surroundings of Gotham City, where the iconic Batman has been doing his best to make the city safer for everyone. Nonetheless, we see a young Bruce Wayne in this first part of The Long Halloween, where he is still learning the ropes of being a high-profile masked vigilante. It’s clear that there is still a lot to learn, especially now he finds himself one step behind a ruthless murderer who is taking out gangsters in the city. While a blessing for the city with fewer criminals running the puppet show, murder is something Batman will never approve of. From putting mobsters behind bars, to now be protecting them, we get to see what The Long Halloween is all about.

Bruce Wayne (Jensen Ackles) is only a few years into his career as Batman, and he now finds himself having to find a serial killer. The masked vigilante is used to tracking down more flamboyant villains, often those who are doing their evil deeds out in the open. Now, however, it’s not the normal populace of Gotham that is biting the bullet, but the criminal organizations. During every significant holiday, more and more mobsters find themselves at the wrong end of a gun, only for the police, and Batman, to be clueless as to who the killer might be. Batman, however, teams up with James Gordon (Billy Burke) and Harvey Dent (Josh Duhamel), to hopefully track the murderer. On top of that, Bruce is also struggling with a Catwoman (Naya Rivera) situation, be it in his professional career as Batman, but also in his personal life.

The flow of this film is a lot different than the other DC animated films. The Long Halloween, Part One is a very slow burn scenario, that progresses steadily, but very calmly, warranting the creation of the already-announced second part. You’ll get enough information to process all the events, but this installment of the DC animated universe is more a ‘whodunnit’ story, rather than one where the ritual dance of fisticuffs is the focal point. We did enjoy the change of pace for this adventure, but we are unsure if the second part will also find a proper balance and flow for the events that still need to be wrapped up.

Trading in the Supernatural scene for the career as a superhero, we have Jensen Ackles voice Bruce Wayne for this animated film. He does so with a certain classic touch to it, almost resembling other actors who have voiced the caped crusader before. Other than that, we see many impressive cast members for this detective story. We have great names that include Josh Duhamel, who put Jupiter’s Legacy on the map, only to see it canceled; but also Billy Burke, Jack Quaid, and Titus Welliver pass the revue. We see a surprisingly low number of female voice actresses in this film, but Naya Rivera, who voices Catwoman, does a formidable job amongst all these veteran male actors.

We are always delighted when we see a Blu-ray version of these animated films, as they always come with loads of special features. This also proves to be true for The Long Halloween, Part One as it is filled to the brim with extras. This physical version allows us to have a sneak peek at The Long Halloween, Part Two as well as two older releases. The latter is a common staple with these editions. Nonetheless, these sneak previews always give you a lot more than just a trailer. Other than that, we have two episodes of the classic Batman: The Animated Series, as well as a special episode revolving around The Losers, a bunch of military men who find themselves in an otherworldly predicament. The extra content is almost the same length as the actual feature film.

Conclusion

Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One is a lot slower than most other DC animated films, but it’s a very interesting entry for the DC universe. We go from the classic superhero aspect to a more detective-like setting, fairly reminiscent of a film noir, albeit with the Dark Knight in the lead. We love that these films also stay in tune with the old-school animated series in terms of style and voice acting, albeit modernized for today’s standards. We are looking forward to the second part; even though it can still go in any direction, be it satisfying or disappointing.

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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
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Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One (Blu-ray) - Movie Review, 10.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating
Ibuki


Aspiring ninja.

1 Comment

  1. […] in June, we took a closer look at Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One, which proved to be an interesting look at the early years of Batman’s vigilante career. The […]

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