Season 2 of Batman: The Brave and the Bold is now underway. Warner Bros. kicked off the season with an interesting episode that reminds myself of a old Hanna Barbera cartoon, Wacky Races. Tiggerbrown and rhine1784 reviewed the show, so let's see what rating it gets.
Review: Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Death Race to Oblivion
Synopsis: Heroes and villains are forced to race each other in order to save the world from destruction by Mongul.
The teaser reveals the mindless aggressive “Blockbuster” against the Caped Crusader as he and Captain Marvel team up to foil his museum master plan. SHAZAM!
Ladies and Gentlemen….START YOUR ENGINES!! In episode 1 for Season 2, the BMBATB starts out Mad Max/Wacky Races style. The evil and tyrannical alien Mongul with the help of his artificial planet weapon “War Moon” puts the heroes and villains to epic test. They must race each other for the savior of planet earth. Batman, Plastic man, Catwoman, the Joker, Black Manta, the Green Arrow and many others join in on the ultimate race, survivor style. As friend and foe race against the champion Steppenwolf, the War Moon slowly begins to house the drivers who aren’t so lucky.
This is the exact sort of episode which makes BTBTB so wonderful. The story line and characters within are absolutely a perfect fit for this series. We do get to see a slightly different side of Batman, “When it comes to protecting Gotham, I have no friends”. Season 2 is definitely off with a bang and the quality is superb.
BTBTB: Death Race to Oblivion:
Reviewed by rhine1784
Next we move on to Tiggerbrown's review.
Review: Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Death Race to Oblivion
Do you remember the movie Death Race 2000? Jason Statham starred in the 2008 remake of the much cooler 1975 cult classic with David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone. When I read the title to the season two premiere of BTBTB I thought to myself, “Man, they’re getting serious.” But Dustin called it in the preview, this more like the cartoon Wacky Races than a high octane, blood and guts action film.
There’s no Penelope Pitstop or Muttly here, but the campy cast of DC heroes and villains do their best to ham it up. The story is pretty basic: Mongol transports a group of heroes and villains to a barren desert where he forces them to race against Steppenwolf for control of the Earth or be executed. Using a weapon called the Warmoon; Mongol threatens the home city of each hero and the entire world. Batman, Green Arrow, Huntress, Joker, Catwoman and others all get their vehicles primed for the race to save the Earth. If you’re not familiar with the classic 60’s cartoon Dustin was comparing this to, think Cannonball Run but with super heroes. Just a side note; if WB had decided to make a live action Batman feature film instead of Superman in 1978, Burt Reynolds may have easily become the face of the Dark Knight. Pretty scary thought, isn’t it?
The episode works best when played for laughs. The Joker shines in the role of comic relief playing the commentator as well as getting in some site gags such as using a giant whoopee cushion to put Black Manta out of the race. I also liked the decision to include Woozy Winks, Plastic Man’s oafish sidekick. His very 1940’s depiction fits perfectly with the old school tone of the episode. The more dramatic plot elements are where the episode drops the ball. For example, having Batman pretend to be ruthless in his attempt to win the race at the expense of the lives of the other drivers was unconvincing for any fan of the Caped Crusader. Even Mongol should know better! I suppose if your only introduction to Batman is from this series, the rivalry between Green Arrow and Batman may have convinced you.
The production value, animation and acting were all up to the usual high standard. While he’s no Mark Hamill, Jeff Bennett stands out above the rest as the Joker. I much prefer this throwback to the Dailies style than the attempted modernization in The Batman.
I also continue to like the BTBTB version of the Huntress. This incarnation may be the series’ most intriguing female character. I hope she is featured again.
I leave the prelude to last. Captain Marvel is one of my favorite all time super heroes. Billy Batson and the World’s Mightiest Mortal are portrayed true to the Whiz comic’s original characters, much more so than in the Clash episode of Justice League Unlimited (Although it was still pretty spectacular!). My only criticism is that his appearance was far too short. If there is one character that would fit this series to a tee, it is The Big Red Cheese! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a full length Batman and Captain Marvel team-up.
Overall this episode had its comedic moments, but isn’t exactly the direction I was hoping for after last season’s finale or the Music Meister.
BTBTB: Death Race to Oblivion:
Reviewed by Tiggerbrown
Overall, I would have to agree more with Tiggerbrown. The episode was enjoyable and reminded me of a cartoon from my childhood, but there was nothing special that would make me remember the episode a couple of months from now. Let's hope the the season two episodes have more and better things in store for us.
Posted by Dustin