Worst to Best Animated Films of 2018 Part 1

(If you like what you see, you can go to camseyeview.biz to see more of my work on video game reviews, editorials, lists, Kickstarters, developer interviews, and review/talk about animated films. If you would like, consider contributing to my Patreon at patreon.com/camseyeview. It would help support my work, and keeps the website up. Thanks for checking out my work, and I hope you like this editorial/list!)

Well, it’s 2019, and it’s time to talk about the Worst to Best of 2018’s animation line-up. Overall, 2018 was a vastly superior year for animation, as it wasn’t just a few good major releases and a ton of great indie/foreign releases like 2017. 2018 was a year full of surprises, and, for the first time in a while, the number of really bad movies felt shorter, and not as bad as other years like 2011, 2017, or were as bad as the worst of 2016. It also proved to be one of the few down years for Disney and Pixar, as a Sony Pictures Animated film took home the most awards, and rightfully so. Anyway, the rules for this list are the same. They had to have come out in 2018, and were in the running for the 2018 Oscars and Annie Awards. No straight-to-DVD films, unless they are of some major importance in the animation pop culture realm. Like usual, I will also be including the animated Netflix films, because unlike most animation lists, I actually saw every animated film released in the US and in the running for the Oscars. So then, let’s get started!

44. Duck Duck Goose

While Netflix’s upcoming animated feature line-up sounds incredible, Duck Duck Goose was by far the worst animated feature I saw last year. It was obvious that after multiple delays, it was shoved onto Netflix with no fanfare. It’s not a great looking film, the writing wasn’t anything note-worthy, characters were wildly inconsistent in personalities, and it was really gutsy to think that it had a chance in being in theaters. I felt badly for the studio that made it, because now it’s going to be labeled as another example of a studio wanting to dump a film that won’t do well, and give it to Netflix. I liked Jim Gaffigan in it, but that’s because he’s Jim Gaffigan. Outside of that, there is no real reason to go see this flick.

43. Gnome Alone

I was wondering where I should put this one, because it’s just as bad as Duck Duck Goose, but Gnome Alone feels more cohesive and consistent in terms of tone, writing, and animation quality. It’s another film that was in limbo, because the original distributor was probably on its deathbed, and while there a few decent ideas that could have made this mildly more amusing than other films on this list, they don’t go far with it, and it’s another film that has a decent cast, but you will not find any info on them talking about it at all. At least, I couldn’t find anything. It’s fairly generic and pretty forgettable. Hopefully, Netflix picks and chooses what they release in the future, so they don’t end up with tripe that no one will be talking or caring about after it’s released on their service.

42. Happy Family

Yeah, the entire bottom part of this list will be including many of the “was released in theaters, but no one cares” animated films of 2018, and Happy Family is one of them. It could have been an interesting flick about a family that ends up getting turned into the monsters they are dressed up as, but they didn’t take advantage of it in any of the correct ways. The characters are unlikable, the animation is dated and not theatrical quality at all, and the story gets a bit bonkers as it goes on. I hate that a lot of talented actors were attached to this, because this film does nothing for their careers. Maybe a more talented group of filmmakers could have made this better, but there is a reason no one remembers this came out last year.

41. Son of Big Foot

The direct-to-video animation market had a dry spell last year, with no real major clunkers reaching theaters, but this carryover from 2017 was the only major animated direct-to-video film that was getting any kind of talk. It’s an absurd idea that’s not handled well, more animation that’s not entirely impressive, and a story that doesn’t really take advantage of how insane the premise sounds. It comes off like no one knew how ridiculous this setting was and played it entirely straight. The only major reason to watch this movie is to get a few friends together and grab a few beers to have a night full of laughs. Yeah, that’s not really a positive endorsement.

40. Netflix’s Godzilla Trilogy

At first, I was going to make them take individual spots on the list, but they only work as one big movie, and they all are terrible. Clunky CGI, a boring drawn-out story, too much focus put on the humans, not enough monsters and giant monster action, and it had the wrong writer to craft a story that was worthy of Godzilla. I know some people love these three films, but I really can’t stand them. To me, this trilogy showed everything that was bad about both anime and the king of monsters. I already reviewed it, so you can check the review out on my website, but I would rather watch giant monsters duke it out Pacific Rim-style next time than what we got with this trilogy.

39. Sherlock Gnomes

The real reason why this film is up this “high” on the list is because while the marketing for this film was awful, the two leads from the previous film were side characters in their own sequel, and the story as a whole is clunky and soulless, I could understand actually watching this film again. Honestly, it turned into a “better” movie because of how bad the marketing was, and how those jokes were only there in the trailer. There are a few solid performances, like Depp’s Sherlock, and the 2D animated sequences were easily the best part of the film. Sadly, outside of Elton John, no one really cared or wanted this movie to be made. Luckily, Sherlock Gnomes won’t be Paramount’s biggest animation blunder this decade, which, as of writing this, goes to Wonder Park.

38. Scooby Doo & Batman: The Brave and the Bold

I don’t really talk about Scooby Doo on this site, but it’s mostly that I am avoiding the mountain of direct-to-video and the mediocre live-action films. I had to talk about this one as it combines the Scooby gang with the iteration of Batman that combined action and comedy. While I was amused and entertained somewhat, I felt like this film didn’t really know how to balance it out. It couldn’t focus enough on either the Batman or the Scooby Doo element to make either part feel cohesive. It felt more like an average episode of either show. Still, it had a few decent moments and some good voice performances. Check it out if you want, but you aren’t missing much if you don’t. At least it’s not that Tom & Jerry and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory film.

37. Have a Nice Day

Ah, yes, the Chinese “animated” film that caused a stir at Annecy 2017, and then was quickly forgotten. It’s a shame too, because I was very intrigued by the dialogue and the characters. It had some great dark comedy bits, and while the animation was limited, you could still feel the tension during certain scenes. I do wish this had more animation to it, and the ending didn’t just happen abruptly with no real conclusion, but it’s an interesting film nonetheless.

36. Fireworks

Yeah, I was sad to put a GKids release this low on the list. Fireworks is not a good movie, and it’s fine if you like it, but for me, it’s up there as one of GKids biggest distribution disappointments. The characters were unlikable, the side male characters were creeps, and the premise and animation weren’t fully up to par. It’s interesting when you find out that this was an adaptation of a live-action television drama episode of a series called If, but that’s the only interesting thing about it. They could have easily taken this premise to much bigger heights with the whole rewinding time mechanic, but it comes off like this was only greenlit because Your Name was a hit. Maybe someday, another studio will find more to do with this idea, but for me, Fireworks is low on my priority of GKids purchases.

35. The Wolf House

While I still found this film to be sort of boring and overly-long at 75 minutes, The Wolf House is way more interesting when you find out about the context in which this film takes place. This includes a compound that was founded by a German who escaped Germany and fled to Chile, to avoid pedophile charges, and the compound was full of monstrous acts of child sexual abuse, abuse towards it members, and so on. Yeah, that’s not entirely clear when you first see it. If you look at this with its own slow-burn horror film style, it’s surprisingly atmospheric, with an entire house being used with painting and stop-motion animation. It’s quite a technical achievement. Still, even for its short runtime, it seems fairly long, and most of the context will be lost on people who aren’t aware of this subject and history. It’s an interesting film if you can find it, but I don’t know how many will dig it.

The Other Side of Animation 129: Batman Ninja Review

(If you like what you see, you can go to camseyeview.biz to see more of my work on video game reviews, editorials, lists, Kickstarters, developer interviews, and review/talk about animated films. If you would like, consider contributing to my Patreon at patreon.com. It would help support my work, and keeps the website up. Thanks for checking out my work, and I hope you like this review!)

You know, there is only so much you can do with a character, before you have to start getting creative. You either find new ways to tackle a character that has been around forever, or you simply stop their story right then and there. There are also tactics and plans to be had in-between those two decisions, but when you are someone like Batman, you have pretty much done it all. Batman Ninja, directed by Junpei Mizusaki, is one of the rare DC animated features to not be tied down to the more strict DC-animated film tropes. It’s a Batman film that decided to take a big shot of anime in its veins, and that is what we got. It also had some big names attached to it, like Takashi Okazaki, who was the creator of Afro Samurai, and Yugo Kanno, who did the music for Blame!, Psycho-Pass, and the PlayStation 4 game, Nioh. It’s also one of the more interesting animated features, due to its mix of CGI and 2D animation. So, is it as good as the best action anime out there? Is it one of the best DC animated films out there? Let’s find out.

The story starts us off with Batman, dubbed this time by Roger Craig Smith, during a mission at night, as he tries to stop Gorilla Grodd, dubbed by Fred Tatasciore, from selling another mighty invention of his to the black market for supervillains. These villains include Poison Ivy, dubbed by Tara Strong, Deathstroke, dubbed by Fred Tatasciore, Two-Face, dubbed by Eric Bauza, The Penguin, dubbed by Tom Kenny, Harley Quinn, dubbed by Tara Strong, and of course, The Joker, dubbed by Tony Hale. After Batman gets into a fight with Grodd, the machine goes haywire, and sends all of them, including some of Bruce’s closest allies and partners, back into feudal-era Japan. Now, along with Catwoman, dubbed by Grey Griffin, his butler Alfred, dubbed by Adam Croasdell, Nightwing, also dubbed by Adam Croasdell, Robin, dubbed by Yuri Lowenthal, Red Robin, dubbed by Will Friedle, and Red Hood, also dubbed by Yuri Lowenthal, must stop the villains, turn back time, and save the day.

So, what’s so amazing about this film? Well, for one of the rare occasions, DC decided to let someone else take the wheel, and they take the wheel hard. Batman Ninja is unapologetically dumb, fun, over-the-top, Japanese, and it will not stand down. Out of many of the DC-animated features I have seen the past few years, this one felt like it had the most consistent tones outside of the Adam West Batman films. It’s Batman in Japan, fighting a version of the Joker, whose grand master plan is to make a giant mech, and rewrite history. It will not let up on how anime this entire film is. From the designs to the action-packed fight sequences, it was clear that they knew what they were doing. Heck, they even have giant robot fights. Again, giant robot fights between the villains and Batman in feudal Japan. While there is definitely a story arc for Batman having to remember to rely less on his gadgets and more on his closest allies and his own skill, it’s balanced out enough within the main plot to keep you invested among the insanity.

While I was fairly disappointed in how this film was going to be mostly CGI, and CGI on a small budget can be a gamble if you do not have the right creative team, I felt like it worked. Sure, they act like puppets sometimes, but the models used are way more expressive, detailed, and they feel like they have some kind of life to them. I was concerned about how action sequences would be handled, but I never found it distracting that they were CGI. The action is fast, brutal, satisfying, full of energy, and very entertaining to watch. The last fight between Batman and Joker is probably one of the best fights among these animated DC features. I never found myself wondering what the heck was going on during the fights. I think that’s because, unlike the Berserk anime series that uses CGI, Batman Ninja has proper direction in how the fights flow. On top of the crazy action, the color pallet is used well, the CGI models look good on the 2D planes, and they even have an entire surreal sequence done in 2D animation, and it looks fantastic. The music by Yugo Kanno was also matched up well with the film’s pacing and style. The big action theme that plays near the end is quite heart-pounding, and it makes the final fight so intense to watch.

In terms of the voice cast, I was surprised. While we have some returning faces like Roger Craig Smith, Tom Kenny and Tara Strong reprising their roles as Batman, Penguin, and Harley Quinn, the rest of the voice cast is pretty spot-on. I was curious to see how Tony Hale would do as The Joker, and while a bit off-putting at first, he does a good job capturing that zany crazy nature of the character. As you can tell, many of the actors in this film pull double shifts with voicing multiple characters, but they are each unique sounding enough to not be an issue or a distracting element to the overall film. It was also simply fun to see other villains outside of the main Batman library, like Gorilla Grodd, who is definitely one of the more entertaining aspects of the film.

While I do love this film in terms of how willing it is to be not only visually creative, but fun with its plot and setting, I do have a few complaints. I get why they used CGI animation, and it’s not the worst I have seen, but it definitely shows itself at times with how limiting it is. Sometimes characters seem more like puppets, and less like actual characters that are on the screen. It’s even more distracting when you can tell that not everyone is a CGI model. It is better than what I have seen Polygon Pictures or the Berserk series use, but I wish they went full-stop 2D animation for this film. For as fun as the action is, the final battle that is not Batman and The Joker is really underwhelming. You have all of these amazing villains and characters with the unlimited creativity of anime fight sequences, and the villains end up losing in under a minute. It’s really underwhelming, because all the other action sequences in the film are great. The one full 2D sequence was fun to see in the film, but it sticks out like a sore thumb. I don’t think I fully got why it was only that one scene, and why it was animated in such a way. The rest of the complaints are minor, like even though I respect how much the film wrapped itself up in the anime culture, some parts were just a bit much, like the little monkey sidekick. Some of Batman’s sidekicks also don’t have a lot to do, or get that many line reads.

Overall, Batman Ninja is just a fun movie. By the end of the year, it probably won’t be in my top ten or five, depending on what else comes out, but it will be one that people should definitely pick up. If you were burned by their other animated features, definitely pick this one up. I had a lot of fun, and it’s easily one of the most entertaining DC animated films you can get right now. For now, we must move on to the 130th review as we take a look at another film that may be good or bad for infamous reasons. I won’t say what it is, but you will have to see next time! Thanks for reading the review! I hope you enjoyed it, and I will see you all next time.

Rating: Go See It!

The Other Side of Animation 108: Batman & Harley Quinn Review

(If you like what you see, you can go to camseyeview.biz to see more of my work on video game reviews, editorials, lists, Kickstarters, developer interviews, and review/talk about animated films. If you would like, consider contributing to my Patreon at patreon.com. It would help support my work, and keeps the website up. Thanks for checking out my work, and I hope you like this review!)

Well, after a year of nothing, but positive reviews for a project, DC finally has what could be considered their worst outing of the year so far. Well, at least in the animation scene (I do know Justice League is not doing well). I mean, it’s bound to happen to some companies. Even GKids, Disney, and A24 will have a dud or a film that isn’t as good as their other offerings. I think it’s more disappointing, since DC has been really good so far this year. I enjoyed LEGO Batman, Justice League Dark, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, and even though I haven’t seen it yet, Wonder Woman is one of the more important films of the year. Too bad that winning streak had to come to a halt with Batman and Harley Quinn. Probably one of the more hyped direct-to-video films from DC, this was promising from every aspect. It had Kevin Conroy and Loren Lester returning as Batman and Nightwing, Kevin Michael Richardson as one of the villains, and it was going to be this big comedic action film with Batman fighting alongside Harley Quinn, one of the most popular comic characters of all time. Sadly, as anyone can tell you by now, this film was not well received, and it was just another disappointment from DC’s animation front. Let’s dive into this Sam Liu-directed experience, and see what went wrong.

The plot starts us off with Poison Ivy, voiced by Paget Brewster, teaming up with a rather low-key DC villain, Floronic Man, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. They break into a lab, and take a scientist hostage to unleash their evil plan. Batman, voiced by Kevin Conroy, teams up with Nightwing, voiced by Loren Lester, to find out what exactly is going on, and what specifically did the two plant villains steal. Unfortunately, if they want to find out about anything, they need to get in touch with Ivy’s long lost friend, Harley Quinn, this time voiced by Melissa Raunch of Big Bang Theory fame. Can they find Harley, and team up with her to stop Poison Ivy and Floronic Man?

It’s really hard to talk about this film, and not bring up one of the biggest elephants in the room/problems with the film, Harley Quinn herself. She has been everywhere, and has enjoyed critical acclaim from all fandoms of DC. Sadly, she is incredibly hit-and-miss with this film. I don’t want to be too harsh on Melissa Rauch, because I know she has gotten the most criticism out of a lot of reviews, but she is part of the problem. Her voice for the character sounds like an incredibly obnoxious parody of how Tara Strong or Arleen Sorkin voiced her. It got grating quickly with her forced accent. I mean, she would be fine if the script and story did more with her than to be a sex icon. Listen, she is a very lovely character, but a lot of the jokes and scenes with her are focused around sex appeal, and I’m not some teen anymore. Her relationship with the Joker ruins any kind of sex appeal, due to how horrifying and damaging it was. The film just decides to give her a one-night-stand with Nightwing, and some scenes of fan service. Again, I wouldn’t mind a more mature edge to everything in this movie, if it didn’t clash with the more comedic tone of the film. This film is probably one of the more violent DC animated films. You will see blood, and the Floronic Man kills multiple people in the movie. The sleaze and the violence would have been better if the jokes landed. Sadly, the jokes don’t always land, and rarely did I laugh in the movie. The film tries out a lot of childish humor, adult humor, and clever humor, but it felt like too many people were trying to make the film’s comedy work. For example, they have a fun scene with Rob Paulsen playing two characters singing a country song, but then do full-on Harley Quinn fanservice, and it makes the fun part lose some weight. Also, does DC have something against Swamp Thing? This is the second film from DC this year with Swamp Thing, and he only appears in the last five minutes, and does nothing. He just spouts some philosophical garbage, and then says “peace!”, and sinks back into the swamp. Now, part of that is very funny, but at the same time, why have him in the movie if he isn’t going to do anything?

The jokes and the action would probably be better as well, if the animation was better. At times, the animation is typical straight-to-video quality, but some scenes will dip in frames, and it’s really obvious that they spent more money on some scenes than others. It’s such a shame because they are using the old 90s animated series style. You know they can make that style work for multiple projects. I even noticed some weird details, like you can see Nightwing’s eyes through his mask, and you don’t know why they did that. His eyes are already super expressive with the mask on.

So, what is great about this movie? Well, the voice cast is pretty outstanding. While I know I dragged Melissa Rauch through the ringer, the rest of the voice cast does a great job bringing their characters to life. Kevin Conroy, Kevin Michael Richardson, Paget Brewster, John DiMaggio, Rob Paulsen, and Loren Lester all have great performances. One of my favorite scenes is actually the scene I talked about above this sentence, where Paulsen plays twins singing a great country song. While the comedy doesn’t always land, when it does, the jokes are laugh-out-loud funny, though if you want a funny DC-animated film, you should just pick up The LEGO Batman Movie. Still, the comedy does work when the scenes line up with everything going on.

Batman & Harley Quinn is a huge disappointment, and it doesn’t help Bruce Timm’s later work, since his reputation was hit with The Killing Joke last year. Like I said above, if you want a more comedy-focused DC animated film, you are better off getting The LEGO Batman Movie or Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders. It’s honestly a shame this didn’t work out as well as it could have, because the idea is really good. A dark comedy Batman movie. That sounds like it would sell well. However, if this is the best they could do, then maybe it’s best they stick to more serious stories. Not the worst of the year, but it’s still not that great. Well, let’s jump into the countdown to 110 reviews, and check out Leap! Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the review, and I will see you all next time!

Rating: Rent it!

The Other Side of Animation 78: Justice League Dark Review

(If you like what you see, you can go to camseyeview.biz to see more of my work on video game reviews, editorials, lists, Kickstarters, developer interviews, and review/talk about animated films. If you would like, consider contributing to my Patreon at patreon.com. It would help support my work, and keeps the website up. Thanks for checking out my work, and I hope you like this review!)

As we move into 2017, DC is under a microscope in terms of their movies. To be honest, I’m quite looking forward to Wonder Woman, and hope that Justice League Part 1 will blow everyone out of the water. I don’t think anyone needs to be reminded that DC went through some rough times in 2016. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice failed to impress everyone, resulting in the film underperforming, and while Suicide Squad was a financial hit, it didn’t fare well with critics and audiences being split with it. Personally, I find both films to just be middle of the road. I’m sure if I thought long and hard, I could explain why they don’t work for me, but this is about animation so how did they do in 2016? Not well either. Besides the amazing Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, their offerings were boring, underwhelming, or terrible. Luckily, if DC’s 2017 offerings are anything like The LEGO Batman Movie and Justice League Dark, then they are in good hands. Let’s just dive in and see why Justice League Dark is one of the best starts in terms of animated films for 2017.

All over the world, normal law-abiding citizens are going on murderous rampages killing innocent people in the process. The problem comes into play when the Justice League try to stop them, and they find out the people doing these horrible acts of violence are apparently seeing demons. Batman, voiced by Jason O’Mara, then decides to enlist the help of the more magical/supernatural heroes of the world. These include John Constantine, voiced by Matt Ryan, Zatanna, voiced by Camilla Luddington, Boston Brand a.k.a Deadman, voiced by Nicholas Turturro, Jason Blood/Etrigan the Demon, voiced by Ray Chase, Black Orchid, voiced by Colleen Villard, and Swamp Thing, voiced by Roger Cross. It’s up to them to find out who is exactly causing all this chaos.

So, what does DC do right in this Jay Oliva-directed animated film? Well, I can tell you one thing that a majority of DC’s film line-ups didn’t have last year, charm. Justice League Dark probably has one of my favorite casts of characters in terms of DC animation. The way they work off one another makes them very likable and endearing to watch. I’m not fully on the DC hate bandwagon, but I’m not going to lie and say I found a lot of their recent iterations of characters in film form interesting or worth liking. Justice League Dark has a great balance of characters who are engaging and worth investing into. I think the best example of this is a scene early on in the film where John Constantine and Jason Blood are playing poker with The Demons Three. This one scene balances out action, comedy, and personality. Outside of that one scene, there are other points in the overall story, where the characters were engaging, and it helped that there was a good mystery of where the paranormal incidences were coming from. I was hooked in terms of what was happening, the villains behind this whole shebang, and let’s not forget how great the action is.

The animation is fantastic. While it might be straight-to-DVD quality animation that you normally see in terms of DC’s animated features, and yes, there is a tiny bit of stiff movements, it’s definitely easy to tell that this film had a bigger animation budget than, say, The Killing Joke. Due to this being a story that revolves around magic and demons, you not only get great visuals of the spells, but also action that takes advantage of said magic. It’s why animation is such a great form of entertainment. While you do need to create it, you are not limited by real life physics or limitations. Let’s face it; unless you are Game of Thrones, or you get a really good effects team, TV-grade effects are not going to be that impressive. It’s just so satisfying to watch the action in this movie, and see how creative the spells got.

The voice actors that were chosen were superb. It was a nice touch that they got Matt Ryan, who played John Constantine in the cancelled-too-soon NBC series as well, for this film. It’s like hearing Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop. If it’s not Steve Blum, then it’s not the same character. The other cast members, in addition to the ones I mentioned above, include Alfred Molina as Destiny, Enrico Colantoni as Felix Faust, and Roger Cross as Swamp Thing. They all did a great job at their roles.

Unfortunately, some of my complaints for this film come from some of the characters. They don’t really do much with Swamp Thing, and he doesn’t appear in the film until the 40-minute mark. He’s not really that interesting, and when he fights the big baddie of the film, he gets taken out rather quickly. I also didn’t care for what they did to Etrigan. Granted, I enjoyed about 80% of his screen-time, but what happens in the last 20% f this film bugs me. I won’t say what happens, but still. Deadman could also get somewhat annoying at times. I get why he couldn’t do much because he’s a soul, but he was very much the comic relief.

Justice League Dark might be the newest entry in the flawed rebooted DC animated film universe, and it does have its share of problems, but it’s easily the best one since Batman versus Robin. I liked the fighting, the comradery between the characters, the animation, and the story. I wish they were able to flesh out some more characters and not one-shot them, because the team in this film were easily the most endearing and entertaining. If you are a DC fan, and haven’t picked this film up yet, then I highly recommend doing so. Even though it’s early in the year, and I still think after Justice League Dark and The LEGO Batman Movie, this could very well be DC and WB’s year in animation. Well, that was fun, but next time we shall take a look at China’s highest grossing animated film that wasn’t made by other studios with Monkey King: Hero is Back. Yes, it’s spelled like that. Thanks for reading, and I will see you all next time.

Rating: Go see it!

 

The Other Side of Animation 63: Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders

(If you like what you see, you can go to camseyeview.biz to see more of my work on video game reviews, editorials, lists, Kickstarters, developer interviews, and review/talk about animated films. If you would like, consider contributing to my Patreon at patreon.com. It would help support my work, and keeps the website up. Thanks for checking out my work, and I hope you like this review!)

Oh, my goodness, it finally happened! In 2016, DC released a superhero film that wasn’t terrible or super-divisive! 2016 has definitely been an uneven year, but we finally have a product that changes that! Granted, it’s another Batman film, but hey, you’ve got to take the victories as they come. What is also interesting is that this universally praised DC film is based off of one of the best cheesiest shows of all time, this is Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders. This new animated film from DC is directed by Rick Morales, and has Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar reprising their roles from the 1960s Batman TV series. So, how good is this movie? Is it DC’s Deadpool? Or is it meant to be yet another divisive, but mostly in the middle of the road DC film? Let’s find out.

As previously mentioned, Adam West and Burt Ward reprise their roles as Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. While enjoying a lovely night of television, they realize that the ghoulish team-up of Joker, voiced by Jeff Bergman, The Penguin, voiced by William Salyers, The Riddler, voiced by Wally Wingert, and Catwoman, voiced by Julie Newmar, are joining forces to pull off the heist of the century! Can the dynamic duo of Batman and Robin stop the four?

So, what makes this DC’s best film? Well, it’s because it takes full advantage of its setting and characters. Unlike the previous movies that tried to either a.) shove two comic book storylines into one, b.) have two cuts, and release the one that people were criticizing due to its editing, c.) add additional story that hurts the main story, or d.) have a story focus on the most unlikable characters of all time, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders knows what it wants to be. It loves its setting, and the writers and director took full advantage of it. You get corny lines, captain obvious lines from Robin, Adam West trying to connect current events to them fighting crime, the police being utterly useless, and cheesy lines everywhere. Oh, and I do mean everywhere! It’s easily one of the most consistently funny films that I have seen this year. And in a year where we have had Sausage Party and Storks, that’s saying something. It also has some not-so-subtle commentary about the darker incarnations of the iconic superhero. Listen, I love stuff like Tim Burton’s Batman, The Dark Knight, and the Batman Arkham games, but there is a point to where being “dark” comes off as “trying too hard” and “edgy”, which seems to happen a lot to Batman. Not to say I like the corny fun Batman over something like Batman: The Animated Series, but when you can do well with both, then both have a reason to be entertaining to watch. You even get a cool little twist about halfway through the film with commentary about a darker Batman. I was at first concerned about how they were going to handle this, but in the end, it still felt like one giant joke, and it was pulled off perfectly. It’s one of those rare experiences where the entire story and the characters are enjoyable from beginning to end. I think my favorite part about the experience is the trope of how easy it is for the dynamic duo to solve the riddles when they seem like something out of a Sierra adventure game, or how overly, and I mean overly prepared they are for situations.

The animation is leagues better than Batman: The Killing Joke, since it feels like characters have actual movement. It can be a bit stiff, but it doesn’t become super-distracting. The voice cast is also pretty solid. I have some complaints, but I feel like Burt Ward, Adam West, and Julie Newmar give off the best performances. The cheesy music is nothing too memorable, but it fits the mood of the story.

If I had to complain about something, it would be some of the voice acting. The villain’s dialogue comes off as clunky, and it might be due to how the actors behind them deliver it. Some of the main characters’ dialogues also felt weirdly delivered at times, but that’s probably due more to their age. I also wish the ending could have been more over-the-top in silly action. I understand they didn’t want to put all of their eggs in one basket, but when you have a plot as funny and goofy as 60s Batman can get, you want to go out on the ultimate high note.

Still, even with some weird line deliveries and an ending that could have gone further, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders is definitely the funniest animated film I have seen this year in terms of comedies, and is no doubt DC’s best movie of 2016. It’s easily their most well-received film, and is one I would highly recommend purchasing. They even announced a sequel where William Shatner will voice Two Face. Well, this was a fun review to write, since I didn’t have many kind words to DC’s other projects. Next time, we will head upward with the French/Danish film, Long Way North. Thanks for reading, and see you all next time!

Rating: Go See It!