Glen reviews "Batman Beyond" !!!

Glen here...

...with (at long last) a look at The WB’s new revamp of its animated Batman franchise. This time it’s called Batman Beyond.

Regular readers may recall my bitching and moaning last week about how Warner Bros. shafted me on a screening copy of the series’ introductory episode. Well, momma always said: "the squeaky hinge gets greased". I never really knew what the hell she was talking about, and still find the analogy somewhat irritating. None the less, she was right. I squeaked, and I was greased.

Batman Beyond’s first episode...called "Rebirth"...opens with Batman moving to rescue a kidnapped damsel-in-distress. A back-ground television introduces the audience to the idea that Wayne Industries is fending off hostile takeovers from a mega-rich sleaze ball named Derek Powers.

The Bat comes to the girl’s aid. Different costume, same Bruce Wayne. But he’s getting tired, older, slower, clumsier. He’s loosing the edge. Barely makes it out alive. He is shaken. When he un-suits, we see him older and a little beaten. He stores away the Batsuit, promises himself "no more". The lights go out in the Batcave. Credits (which you can CLICK HERE to see). Funky. Psychedelic. Fast. Weird. New.

Back to the show: Gotham City, 20 years later. Think the cities from Judge Dredd and Akira and you get the picture pretty well. Hover cars, ray guns, cops looking like a hybrid between Dredd and Star Wars Stormtroopers patrol the streets.

This isn’t Gotham the way it used to be.

An Akira-like biker gang calling itself "The Jokers" is running wild in the streets, terrorizing the populace. They’re dressed-up and made-up like The Joker, and they’re just plain mean.

Terry McGinnis is a regular young kid: on his school’s wrestling team, chasing after girls, getting into fights. His world is about to be turned upside down by a chance encounter with The Jokers. An encounter which peripherally results in the death of his father, the discovery of a horrific conspiracy at the Wayne / Powers corporation, and his meeting a Kane-like hermit named Bruce Wayne.

This sets Batman Beyond into motion. Needless to say, McGinnis’ encounter with the hardened and (apparently) spiritually damaged Bruce Wayne results in McGinnis becoming the new "Batman". Needless to say, for Bruce Wayne to allow McGinnis to don the cowl after swearing-off Batman forever (I think it’s cool the way that title sort of slipped in here) - something big must be at stake.

At stake in this adventure?

McGinnis’ discovery that Wayne / Powers is developing a really nasty "DNA mutagen" (spelling?) which is about to be exported to marginal governments overseas for use in territorial standoffs. Calling the cops is no good - not enough time, and Powers pretty much owns the Gotham Police Force (save for Commissioner Barbara Gordon).

So when you’ve got a Batsuit...

...the Batsuit. Many fans have been asking "where’s the cape?!?!?!?!?" Well, this Batsuit doesn’t really have a cape in the traditional sense. It does have wings that spring out when needed - enabling Batman to glide from building to building. He can also fire rocket boots (for want of a better term) to propel him skyward, then use wings to glide to a touchdown or surface. This creates something of a "bounding" or "leaping" effect...from rooftop to rooftop...building to building...with moments of genuine and elegant free-fall interspersed. Also included in the suits’ immediately revealed capabilities: morphing Bat-a-rangs, and some nifty high-tech surveillance equipment.

Bruce Wayne (still voiced by Kevin Conroy) is portrayed as a bitter and angry old fart who, at one point, is literally willing to let McGinnis die just to get his out of his hair (thus taking McGinnis’ knowledge of matters Batman with him).

McGinnis is, from the outset, a very real character who feels "right". He’s not a whinny kid or a "I’m so tough" reckless teenager. He’s out to avenge his father’s murder (sound familiar?), and he’s also out to do the right thing. And even at his reckless age, he knows what "the right thing" is - and has enough integrity to chase after the ideal .

Bruce and Terry’s relationship is initially stand-offish, but as hard as he tries, Wayne is ultimately unable to escape the conclusion that Gotham still needs a Batman - and that this kid is the right person, at the right time.

Gone is the elegant and gothic Batman scores to which we’ve grown accustomed (which have put a vast majority of other television scores to shame). Replacing it: something I don’t quite know how to describe. A cross between Eric Serra (La Femme Nikita and The Fifth Element) , Apollo Four Forty’s hard rock series theme redux which accompanied the Lost in Space feature last year, Beverly Hills 90210, and every John Hughes teen angst movie from the ‘80s.

There’s probably too much music used in "Rebirth", and sometimes it’s a bit overbearing. Series composer Shirley Walker is listed as "supervising composer" for Batman Beyond, this episode’s score was co-composed by Michael McCuistion (Batman and Mr. Freeze: Subzero) and Lolita Ritmani. The new theme for the series is composed by Kristopher Carter.

Is Batman Beyond constructed for younger audiences, as had been widely reported? There is certainly a more "juvenile" feel to it than it’s predecessors. Part of this feeling certainly comes from the change in music. It’s difficult to take something seriously when the music resists letting you do so. But my hesitance about this re-think runs deeper than that.

It’s almost esoteric at times, but there’s a certain edge missing in Batman Beyond. It doesn’t feel quite as smart as it should for some reason, not quite as legitimate as the previous animated incarnations felt. There are some great sock-o kick-ass fights, and wonderful imagery spread throughout. But when all is said and done, it doesn’t feel quite like Batman.

Perhaps this is simply an adjustment to all the changes. Perhaps this is a subliminal reaction to the new look of the show, which is often brighter - and sometimes more sparsely rendered than its predecessors. Perhaps there is something more profoundly amiss here - which won’t become apparent until we’re a few episodes deeper into the series.

It’s not bad show. In fact, it’s sometimes it’s quite good.

But it’s very disorienting, disquieting, and the answers to many of the questions which might determine whether Batman Beyond will be a solvent series are not answered in this introductory episode.

Questions like:

1) What’s up with Bruce Wayne? Why is he so hostile towards this nice kid? Even Terry acknowledges that "something" has happened to Bruce - more than just grown old.

2) What will happen with their relationship, as McGinnis still has a mom and a little brother back home? Terry’s out a father now, after all. Will McGinnis and Wayne’s relationship be paternal, combative, co-operative, or all of the above?

3) Also, I’m assuming we’re into virgin territory here as far as super-villains go. Can the writers of Batman Beyond whip-up a new & futuristic cadre of evil antagonists interesting enough to match (or surpass) our memories of all the wonderfully realized bad guys who have come before? Tough gig, if you ask me . Reversely, these writers have managed to turn straw into gold in the past, so anything’s possible.

4) Will we ever learn what happened to Batman's posse of sidekicks? Could be interesting and emotional if done, but also a heinous oversight if ignored.

5) Can the emotional integrity of the show be maintained in the face of an (*apparent*) effort to make it more accessible to a younger audience? Or will the genuine heart and soul which distinguished the previous Batman animated incarnations be somehow maintained and nurtured in this new and evolving scenario.

6) Does the presence of The Jokers (bike gang) imply that somehow...somewhere...there is still a real Joker to be reckoned with out there? And what of all the other classic villains? Are they still around? Do they still pose a threat?

Ultimately, the answers to all of these questions (and many others) will determine whether or not Batman Beyond will be a hero for the next millennium - or a woeful misconception driven by demographic and marketing considerations.

I wanted to love this premier, but ended-up only liking it. I desperately wanted to be able to look someone in the eye and tell them how phenomenally kick-ass this new Batman series is. Alas, I can not do that.

None the less, I do want to see more. I am intrigued, and believe the series might well work *if* fans (who have been with the franchise all these years) can regain their slippery footing and acclimate to this new environment, and if Batman Beyond’s writers are successfully able to re-integrate all of the emotional and conceptual resonance which made this series’ predecessors so special and significant.

Alas, I fear that the very charter of making a Batman for a younger crowd might conflict with these time-tested sensibilities. As cliched as it sounds, I suppose time will tell. I’m not sure where it’ s going, and I’m not entirely convinced it’s ever gonna get to where I would like it to be. But the opening episode of Batman Beyond is enough to make me want to see more.

And...I suppose...when all is said and done, what more can one ask from an opening episode?

Batman Beyond debuts the evening of Sunday January 10 on The WB, with a re-airing Saturday January 16.