Director: Butch Lukic
Distributor: Warner Bros Home Entertainment
Duration: 74 minutes
Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts (DVD) – Movie Review
Right out of the oven, the DC Universe presents us with a new animated Batman adventure. As the last movies were quite grim, this one takes a lighter tone in a setting that seems to be the future, instead of the present. Become reintroduced with the evil mastermind ‘The Penguin’, his new henchmen and portions of the Justice League. Both will fight a fierce battle to save Gotham city from a terrible fate. Prepare yourself for an animalistic new adventure that will provide some flesh ripping action.
As always, Gotham city is one of those places where a masked vigilante will always have his fair share of work. Nonetheless, as of late it seems crime has been picking up quite a bit. Whilst this is nothing exceptional, it is those who are committing the crimes that are quite peculiar. A front of animalistic attackers have been breaking in on several different locations. Cheetah (Laura Baily), Killer Croc (John DiMaggio), Silverback (Keith Szarabajka) and Man-Bat (Phil LaMarr) have undergone an alliance in order to bring their foul burglary attempts to a successful end. Luckily Batman (Roger Craig Smith), Nightwing (Will Friedle), Red Robin (Yuri Lowenthal), Green Arrow (Chris Diamantopoulos) and The Flash (Charlie Schlatter) use their ‘powers’ in order to put an end to this crime wave, but it seems it’s easier said than done. Especially when the ‘Animilitia’, as these criminals named themselves, receives backup from mechanical creatures, things go south very quickly.
Those who are very familiar with the franchise will probably immediately catch on that The Penguin (Dana Snyder), who is mentioned after the first attacks, will have a part in this plan. The evil mastermind seems to be cooking up a new plot to take over the city, if not leave it in rubble. Oswald Cobblepot (The Penguin) is a man who is consumed by hatred due to everyone mocking him for his appearance, or simply put, his deformities. When Bruce Wayne gets invited to his party and sees Oswald promoting his new line of mechanical creatures, his suspicions are confirmed and the race to see what The Penguin is up to begins.
Just like Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts is a rapid succession of action scenes with a bare minimum of information to keep things interesting. The story is quite barebones and perhaps this is why the movie is all about action and it works, to a certain extent. Overall the action is great but again a bit more story value would have been great.
It’s also clear that in the last few movies the rest of the Justice League is gradually being introduced. It’s clear that DC is doing its very best to prepare many of the fans for the coming of the Justice League movies.
Compared to the other movies that we have discussed over the past months this one looks a lot different. Animal Instincts uses a bland color palette instead of the more grim atmosphere that we have seen in the previous films. Other than that, the animations were more static, which was extremely noticeable in a few of the action scenes. More than once the ‘combat’ froze, which disrupted the flow of things happening on screen from time to time. For some reason the used styles also feel like a subtle wink to Batman of the Future (Batman Beyond), as the movie starts with Batman wearing a suit with his iconic bat shaped emblem in red, as well as a cape that resembles the one used in Batman Beyond.
Voice acting is as qualitative as in the other feature films. Many of these voice actors have already worked on DC titles in the past, be it movies or games. Voices are authentic and make you feel right at home in this seemingly alternative DC universe.
A nice feature this DVD release has to offer is the amount of fun extra’s. You’ll be able to dig in to the history of Oswald Cobblepot or some amusing DC Nation Shorts. These short clips provide some extra entertainment but sadly only last about a minute per episode. Another fun extra are the two extra episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, the series that was released in 2008. Whilst this series is in a totally different style than the movie, it’s still a big chunk of extra content.
Conclusion
Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts is a basic, yet action packed addition to the collection of animated DC Universe movies. If you’re a fan of action, the film will offer more than plenty. If you’re looking for an intriguing plot, you will probably have to look elsewhere. The different style is certainly an amusing one but there is still some work to do. Nonetheless, Batman fans, young and old, will find some pleasure in this reintroduction of Oswald Cobblepot and his posse. A march of the penguins to remember?
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