The Brave and the Bold
Episode #14 - The Brave And The Bold, Part 1
Original Airdate - March 10th, 2002
Flash and Green Lantern stumble upon Gorilla Grodd and a plot against
the secret "Gorilla City".
Episode #15 - The Brave And The Bold, Part 2
Original Airdate - March 17th, 2002
Flash must stop Gorilla Grodd while Green Lantern attempts to disarm
warheads.
Media by Bird Boy
Review by Anthony Garritano |
Credits:
Story by Rich Fogel and Paul Dini
Teleplay by Dwayne McDuffie
Directed by Dan Riba
Music by Michael McCuistion
Animation Services by Koko Enterprise Co., LTD.
Voices:
Kevin Conroy as Batman
Maria Canals as Hawkgirl
Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman
Carl Lumbly as J'onn J'onzz
Phil LaMarr as Green Lantern
Michael Rosenbaum as Flash
Powers Boothe as Grodd
David Ogden Stiers as Solovar
Catherine Cavadini as Dr. Mary
Richard Doyle as Dr. Louis
Bill Duke as Detective
Virginia Madsen as Dr. Corwin
Andre Sogliuzzo as SWAT Officer
Keone Young as Dr. Chin
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Screen Grabs, Part 1
Pans, Part 1
Screen Grabs, Part 2
Pans, Part 2
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Review
Part 1:
INTRODUCTION
My comments on “The Brave and the Bold” are simple because it was an
episode with a simple story that had a simple objective. So, to make
things as simple as possible I’ll just say that I simply enjoyed it.
CRITIQUE
The story was very straight forward and engaging. There was an element
of suspense that ran through the episode up until the history of Gorilla
City was revealed. From that point on it became a simple revenge plot
where the chastised evil genius is seeking revenge against those that
cast him out. Yes, it’s been done before, but the way Timm & Co. did it
was truly unique, and did I mention simple?
I say it was unique because I particularly enjoyed the sequence where
Flash was in a dream state while under Grodd’s mind control. The use of
color and movement was truly something to see. Also, the animation in
the flashback sequence was thrilling when we got to see Gorilla City up
close, not to mention the dig scene in the beginning when we see a
secret city appear, Gorillas flying pods and then everything
disappearing. So, I’ll simply say the episode had great visuals and move
on.
The second thing I liked was the character development. We got to see
Flash hitting on two women and impulsively rushing into things time and
time again only to get himself into trouble. And on the other hand we
had Green Lantern as the straight arrow, always trying to do things by
the book. Simply put, the characterization was on point and one of the
best parts of this simple story.
CONCLUSION
The story was good, the characterization was good and I look forward to
seeing how the league is going to undo the destruction of that city next
week. The one thing I missed was the other members. Yes, we got behind
the skin of the Flash and Green Lantern, but this is a show about a
league of heroes, not just two. Oh well, maybe next week the other
members will pop up. Even if they don’t, I’m still simply amazed at what
Timm & Co. have accomplished, and simply can’t wait for part two.
Part 2:
INTRODUCTION
If you think back a week ago when I provided my two cents on part one of
"The Brave and the Bold," I used the word "simple" to describe it's
plot, purpose and characterization. The all around simplicity of the
story gave the characters a chance to shine. Well, if part one was grand
because of its sheer simplicity, part two was grand because it was just
awesome. Everything was large in scope, full of suspense and perfectly
animated, just awesome all around.
CRITIQUE
The one drawback I found in last week's episode was that we only saw two
leaguers in action. I feel that the show is called Justice League for a
reason, to spotlight a league of heroes in each story, not just one or
two. Well, the powers that be quickly fixed that in part two by
showcasing the entire league, minus Superman, and it was truly awesome
to see so much of the group together. In fact, if I had to pick an
adjective to describe their interaction, I'd have to say it was just
awesome.
Aside from getting most of the team together for this episode, it was a
standout because they didn't sacrifice characterization in the process.
We saw Batman's detective skills and ingenuity, Hawkgirl's aggressive
tendency, Martian Manhunter's leadership, Flash's cavalier attitude,
Green Lantern's sternness and Wonder Woman's courage and strength. The
team worked together perfectly to save the day and display they're
unique talents at the same time. The final sequence is a perfect example
of exactly how awesome this episode was. We saw Green Lantern disable
two missiles with his ring, Martian Manhunter fuse through another to
disable it, while Hawkgirl just destroyed the last one by smashing it
with her mace in a purely impulsive move that could have destroyed
Gorilla City if Wonder Woman wasn't around to single handedly stop the
missile with her bare hands. As I said, everything about this episode
was awesome.
CONCLUSION
This episode spotlighted everything good about a group hero show because
we really got to see how these heroes relate to each other. We saw Green
Lantern gain some respect for Flash and Batman get a kiss from Wonder
Woman after he thought she had died and tried to dig her out with his
bare hands. The icing on the cake was seeing that Grodd hadn't lost his
smarts after all and will undoubtedly be back for revenge. As I said, it
was awesome.
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