Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Beware the Batman: Season 1 Part 1: Shadows of Gotham Blu-ray Movie Review

Beware the Blu-ray release of a near-to-death series...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown March 1, 2014

Cartoon Network is making a habit of burning though DCU animated series. (So long Young Justice and Green Lantern. We hardly knew ye.) Cancellation tends to come within two or three seasons, with Batman: The Brave and the Bold being the most recent incarnation of a Dark Knight actioner to receive the ax. It should come as little surprise, then, that the cumbersomely titled Beware the Batman: Shadows of Gotham is already strapped to the chopping block. No one is quite sure if the ax has officially fallen, but all signs -- chief among them the 13-episode half season's sudden, unexplained hiatus beginning in October 2013, and the fact that episodes 12 and 13 have yet to be broadcast -- point to cold, merciless execution. And, once again, it's a bit of a shame. Like The Brave and the Bold, Beware the Batman has, or had, a lot going for it. (Never mind that the two series are complete and total polar opposites.) Beware's villains represent an intriguing cross-section of obscure outcasts and lesser-knowns, its writing is far better than anyone expected, it has more than a few surprises up its sleeve, and it frequently strikes a nice balance between all the action, detective work and character-driven storytelling. Sadly, that's not to suggest everything works out for the best. Not every decision that finds its way out of the writer's room is a sound one, the show's dialogue isn't always the sharpest, its Batman and pseudo-Robin, Katana, are the flattest characters on screen, and its animation is a love-it-or-hate-it... scratch that... tolerate-it-or-hate-it affair, making this soon-to-be-canceled upstart more hit or miss than your typical DCU animated series.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends. Once more...

Another night falls in Gotham City and the ever-vigilant Dark Knight (voiced by Anthony Ruivivar) watches over his city and its citizens. With the help of ex-secret agent turned butler Alfred (J.B. Blanc), sword-wielding assassin Katana (Sumalee Montano) and police lieutenant James Gordon (Kurtwood Smith), the Batman wages a tireless war against Gotham’s twisted criminal underworld. Buckle up for 13 all-new adventures from the first season, and ride along as Batman battles the evil machinations of Professor Pyg (Brian George), Magpie (Grey DeLisle-Griffin), Mister Toad (Udo Kier), Humpty Dumpty (Matt L. Jones), Lady Shiva (Finola Hughes), Silver Monkey (James Remar), Metamorpho (Adam Baldwin), criminal mastermind Anarky (Wallace Langham) and Ra's al Ghul (Lance Reddick). It’s a crime-fighting collection of hidden clues, advanced tech and detective thrills as Batman prowls in the shadows, ready to deliver action-packed excitement and justice.

The only familiar element in Beware the Batman is the Dark Knight himself. Bruce Wayne is the same cookie-cutter billionaire with a secret he's been in past series, and Bats is the cool, collected crime fighter with a chip on his shoulder we all know and love. The more stoic and unflinching, the better, right? It's everything else that sets the show apart. Katana is a decent replacement for Robin (complete with an eye-hugging mini-mask), just one that goes nowhere fast or interesting. She's essentially a reskinned Boy Wonder, albeit with a martial artsy double agent-in-disguise backstory. Alfred is wildly different, though, and the character upon which your reaction -- possibly even your entire reaction -- to the series will be based. With more than a passing resemblance to Lex Luthor, this younger, tougher, balder butler grabs hold of Pennyworth's MI6 background and runs with it. You'll dig the leaner, meaner Alfred, or you'll despise the show for the liberties it takes with such a crucial component of the Batman mythos. The villains, meanwhile, will split audiences further. Well-written as they are, refreshing a change of pace though they may be, it begins to feel as if the showrunners are trying to avoid the top tier of Batman's rogues gallery too hard. I'm all for exploring other baddies, and skipping yet another Joker story. And yet, after a dozen episodes, the brief appearance of Ra's al Ghul was more of a relief than I anticipated. Is it possible to so thoroughly enjoy the new villains and so desperately miss the old? Apparently so.

Unfortunately it's the animation that tips the series scales that last inch in the wrong direction. Caught somewhere between the clunky, chunky CG of Green Lantern: The Animated Series (2011-13) and the classy, jazzy Dark Deco noir of Batman: The Animated Series (1992-95), Beware the Batman fumbles where it counts. By season's end, the animation wasn't as disappointing, but not because it had grown on me. I had become used to its serrated, stocky stylings, not a fan. The fundamentals are largely in place; eye-catching character and costume designs, slick weaponry and gadgets, a snazzy Batmobile and snazzier Batwing, commendable voice casting, et al. But the execution shares more in common with the lows of pre-viz CG -- or even PS2-era videogame cutscenes -- than the polished, personality-packed highs of Warner Animation's hand-drawn animated series. Star Wars: The Clone Wars made up for its plastic-molded action-figure CG with painterly, brush-stroked textures that made the animation pop. Beware the Batman employs texturing, but only of the most generic variety. In the end, it fails to match the meat and muscle of the series' writing, and the whole production suffers for it. Is Shadows of Gotham worth saving? Sure. Will I be heartbroken or confused if it never returns? Not quite. It has a lot of potential, but it has a lot of problems too. If the show is canceled, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone.

Beware the Batman: Season 1 Part 1: Shadows of Gotham Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Beware the Batman's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation struggles with banding and aliasing a bit more than other DCU animated productions (the worst of which haunts Gotham's stormy skies and the finest edges, respectively), but most every instance is firmly rooted in the series' CG animation and source. Otherwise, there isn't really much to complain about. Shadows of Gotham is heavy on shadow and darkness, yet detail is unhindered. Textures are resolved to satisfaction far more often than not, edge definition remains crisp throughout, and the show's near-impenetrable palette, though slathered in inky blacks, midnight blues and deep grays, still manage to exude life. Primaries pack punch, delineation is excellent (particularly when it comes to the subtle color variations in Batman's cape, cowl and costume), and contrast is consistently on point. It isn't the most striking Warner Animation presentation in recent memory, but it is awfully good, so long as you're able to separate your impressions of the series' aesthetic from the quality of Warner's high definition encode.

Beware the Batman: Season 1 Part 1: Shadows of Gotham Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Season 1, Part 1 features a decidedly decent DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo track that, at best, delivers to the fullest of its capabilities and, at worst, won't warrant much praise for a somewhat unremarkable two-channel mix. Dialogue is clean and clear at all times, and punches, explosions and other action-oriented sound effects are smartly prioritized and given plenty of room to breathe. Frederik Wiedmann's score doesn't crowd the proceedings either, and the track does accomplishes everything its able to accomplish very well. Of course, the lack of LFE support and 5.1 surround is a detriment, especially when Batman leaps into what becomes an all too flat, all too front-weighted fight.

Beware the Batman: Season 1 Part 1: Shadows of Gotham Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Warner Archive Collection release of Beware the Batman doesn't include any special features.

Beware the Batman: Season 1 Part 1: Shadows of Gotham Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Beware the Batman has potential -- plenty of it actually -- but it doesn't appear as if the powers than be at the Cartoon Network are prepared to give it a second season, much less the second half of its first season. The series' mediocre animation doesn't help matters, of course, nor does its focus on lesser known villains. (You and I might appreciate the change of scenery, but younger viewers and more casual DC fans will be left wondering why the Joker and other heavy hitters are MIA.) The Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray release of Season 1, Part 1 has its own share of potential. Unfortunately its relatively striking video presentation is somewhat spoiled by a decent but underwhelming DTS-HD Master Audio stereo mix and a complete absence of special features. With cancellation almost a certainty, is 13 episodes of Beware the Batman worth the cost of admission? That depends on how much cash you're willing to risk on the first half of the first season of a hit or miss, nearly dead series.