Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders (2016) Reviews

• Batman as a proper hero, as it should be

  Fudge-32016-10-29

  A 90 minute animated super-hero action/comedy film. Gotham City is filled with diabolical villains whose master plans include locking up a stage band in a closet and gate crashing everyone's favourite TV program. They play musical instruments really badly and reveal their dastardly plot via confounded puzzles that only a genius of dubious reasoning could solve. Thank goodness for Batman is here. Everything that made the 1960s Batman and Robin so charming and funny is here with spades on. Sorry… that should be, 'with bat-spades on.' Those inducted into Batman lore will note lots of references to other movies. For the rest just enjoy the fun. The animation is very well done. The 2D and 3D elements are well crafted together. I particularly appreciated the camera panning homage around the bat mobile. Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar returned to voice their roles from the classic Batman TV shows of the 1960s. There were other Batman adaptations for the movies before him (Lewis Wilson anyone?) but Adam West is the one we all remember. Julie Newmar got her deserved place back in this movie. She played Catwoman in the original TV series but was replaced by Lee Meriwether in the 1966 Batman movie. Lee might have been prettier but that's not all you look for in Catwoman. When it comes to filling out a cat suit to the correct proportions there was none finer than Julie. Batman, Return of the Caped Crusader was expected to go straight-to-DVD but it did get a short cinema release. One showing in the Vue was all there was in Blackpool. Our group was the first to arrive and my imagination of a horde of boisterous youths throwing popcorn at the screen did not occur. We all sat in a polite little block in the centre seats and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The pre and post film extras were fun; I hope and expect they'll find their way onto the DVD too. I was surprised when I saw the film was PG rather than U. There is nothing in the movie that very young children will find distressing though they will not appreciate all the humour. The range of flash cards; {kpow}, {splat} here included such words as, {fracture} but that hardly counts as an increase in the level of violence. The types of humour used in this movie include; droll, parody, farce, screwball and slapstick. All delivered with a very straight face. If you enjoy those then sign up. Who won't enjoy this movie? Batman purists may lift their nose and turn away. The 1960s TV shows were parodies of the comics and don't take the material seriously in any way. This film does the same. If you are a critical comic fan and believe Batman should have a dignified portrayal then you will not like this. "To the bat-(append your contraption here)."

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• The Bright Knight

  charliesonnyray2016-10-10

  In a climate where it feels like Batman is always trying to be grim, dark, brooding and epic; it feels like a breath of fresh air when someone says "Hey remember the 60's Batman? Wasn't that fun! Let's do something like that!" I watched that old 60's movie all the time when I was a kid and I still get a kick out of it. While I haven't watched a lot of the old series, from what I have gathered this movie mimics it perfectly. The crazy gadgets, the silly alliterations, the kooky villains, and even the fact that they add the word "bat" to everything Batman creates. However, it does have a few dull spots for me and it feels like some of the ahem "action" sequences go on a bit too long. However, I think we need to measure a film by what it's trying to do and how well it executes it despite how it makes you feel. And since this movie is obviously trying to homage the old show as well as be it's own thing, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders does a great job! It has an interesting story, fun characters and some great dialogue. If you wanna see a new spin on the classic Adam West Batman, then look no further!

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• Holy Homesickness, Batman

  ed-4212016-10-11

  What a dose of Nostalgia. I heard that the opening credits incorporated many classic comic book covers with some fantastic animation, so I took a look this morning before heading to more important tasks -- but I could not stop watching. Fascinating, funny, festive, friendly, and very alliterative, the actors, writers, and animators knocked this out of the park. I think I spotted at least 50 sly references, and I'm sure I missed many others. Labels, labels, labels galore. I was thoroughly amused throughout. One thing I've noticed is that nearly everyone is staying spoiler-free, but the twists are like punchlines to good jokes. None of the dozens of punchlines are particularly surprising, but they are all fun, and many of them require the set-up, animation, and acting to be meaningful. For example -- "Begora" is one of these punchlines. Explaining why it's funny wouldn't be funny, so why ruin the joke? The movie does get a bit dark. In one particular scene, Robin is horrified by a punch that doesn't follow Marquess of Queensberry rules. Robin's reaction to that punch and subsequent actions keep the movie grounded and friendly. I have to give special acclaim for Burt Ward, here -- his exuberance and delivery hasn't changed an iota. Does the movie get some things wrong? Like the Joker's hidden mustache? Yes and perhaps. There are dozens of things that are not quite like the 60's show, and hundreds of things that are spot-on perfect. I don't recall hearing the Riddler's music cue, but the Batman theme is incorporated well in many places. The producers have already mention that some of the "mistakes" are intentional, such as the colors of Robin's logo being flipped in a throwaway shot, an homage to mistakes in previous animations. I will be watching this many times. The sequel has already been announced, with William Shatner as Two- Face. This is the most enjoyable movie I've seen in years. Highly recommended.

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• A glorious return of the 1960's Batman and company...

  paul_haakonsen2016-10-15

  This 2016 animated movie was actually a wonderful surprise, and it was indeed a much needed addition to the collection of animated Batman movies. Why? Well, because "Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders" really captured the essence and the spirit of the glorious Batman series from the mid-1960s. The animation was really good, and the art style was great. They really managed to make it all look like the Batman TV series from the mid-1960s. It was uncanny how much that the drawn Batman/Bruce Wayne actually resembled Adam West. I thoroughly enjoyed the particular drawing style that they went with in "Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders", because it really was a unique style in a retro-kind of way. But even more impressively was the cast to the animated movie. It was a pure joy to have familiar voices and talents to return to the screen here. And there really is a lot of great stuff for fans of the TV series from 1966. The story in "Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders" was just like an extended episode from the iconic TV series, complete with the hilarious dialogue and the exploding stars with various fight words when they were brawling on the screen, just like in the TV series. As for the voice cast, well as I just said, then it was a pure treat to have so many talents return to the Batman universe and come together in this 2016 animated movie. And people were doing good jobs with their given roles in terms of voice acting. However, if you are not familiar with the 1966 TV series, then chances are very high that you will find the dialogue to be kind of weird, if not downright odd and bizarre. "Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders" is definitely aimed for the audience whom grew up watching the TV series on the television, such as myself. And it was delivered in a most pleasing manner. And it always cracks me up to see that every item in the bat-cave and in the arsenal of Batman and Robin has to be labeled with Bat-something. If you are a fan of the Adam West era of Batman, then you should definitely not let "Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders" slip by. This is, without a doubt, definitely worth sitting down and watching.

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• Batman Return of the Caped Crusaders: Goofy nostalgic fun

  Platypuschow2018-02-02

  I went into this wanting to like it, we're seeing the return of the original old school Batman complete with Adam West, Burt Ward & Julie Newmar! Essentially this is an animated adventure based upon the original Batman television series and it's highly loyal and devastatingly nostalgic. It's faithfulness to the original series however is in many ways its downfall as if you didn't like that very "Marmite" show then you will hate this as well. Full of over the top goofy campy comedy, classic utility belt gags and villian designs we haven't seen in years I commend the creators for what they have done here. Sadly I was never a fan of the original show, I didn't dislike it I just wasn't the demographic and always thought it was goofy for goofy's sake. That being said for the fans of the show this is essential viewing and I'm highly impressed with what they've accomplished. RIP Mayor Adam West. The Good: Very nostalgic Loyal to the original series Excellent voice cast The Bad: Still goofy Things I Learnt From This Movie: The fact we don't see the batzooka anymore is travesty Drinking everytime the word bat is spoken would be a dangerous drinking game Batman has a great Batchelor pad *Badamtish* I don't understand why the eggman isn't a real villian!

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