Voices of: Anthony Ruivivar, J.B. Blanc, Sumalee Montano, Kurtwood Smith
Rated TV-PG
Studio: Warner Archive Collection
DVD Release Date: February 18, 2014
Run Time: 286 minutes
Season: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Extras: N/A
After “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” although a fun show, but with the success of “The Dark Knight” series, fans were looking for something with a darker tone. Enter, “Beware the Batman”. The show has a more serious tone and a really snazzy look and feel to it. The animation style is great and Batman is quite badass. Unfortunately Cartoon Network did not give this show much love, they pulled it from their schedule back in October after 11 episodes and left two unaired. They claimed it would be back on in January but as we approach March there is still no word. Either way I really dug this show and I would recommend it to any Batman fan out there. “Batman: The Animated Series” still holds the reigns but it is quite an impressive entry for the Caped Crusader.
Batman swings into an exhilarating new age, teaming with a powerful allies old and new for a thrilling new take on the classic Dark Knight franchise in Beware the Batman: Shadows of Gotham, Season 1 Part 1. The new action-packed detective thriller incorporates Batman’s core characters with a rogue’s gallery of criminals as the Caped Crusader faces some of Gotham City’s most despicable villains. Through the show’s first 13 animated adventures of this two-disc collection, ex-secret agent Alfred and lethal swordstress Katana join Batman to takes on an array of evildoers including the likes of Anarky, Professor Pyg, Mister Toad and Magpie. This thrilling series redefines what we have come to know as the “Batman show” and is sure to excite fans with cutting-edge CGI visuals.
This Blu-ray contains all 11 episodes that official aired and the additional 2 that are still unaired. Included are “Hunted”, “Secrets”, Tests”, “Safe”, “Broken”, “Toxic”, “Family”, “Allies”, “Control”, “Sacrifice”, “Instinct”, “Attraction” and “Fall”. There are some solid villains as well in these episodes including Professor Pyg and Mister Toad, Cypher, Magpie, Anarky and Lady Shiva to name a few. I think it was a brave move to include some new and not so well-known villains. Other shows have done in the past having Joker be the lead villains and who doesn’t love the Joker but you have to give it to “Beware the Batman” for being ballsy here. I am sure if this show continued on we would see the funny man pop up surely but we did not rely on it from the beginning.
This Blu-ray comes from Warner Bros’ made-on-demand (MOD) service, Warner Archive, which produced their releases as they are ordered. I feel that this series deserves more than that but at least it is seeing the light of day. The 1080p transfer works well with the tone of the show and the killer CGI visuals. There are no special features included on this release unless you count the two unaired episodes. I hope that Warner Bros and Cartoon Network continue this series this Spring otherwise, this “Season 1 Part 1” Blu-ray will not have a “Part 2” release to complete it.
