REVIEWS

Episode #5 - The Big Chill Original Airdate - November 6th, 2004 The Batman is on the trail of Mr. Freeze, a villain who uses his ice technology as a means of stealing the objects of his passion: the rarest, most valuable diamonds. Review by The Penguin Media by Bird Boy Credits Supervising Producer Duane Capizzi Supervising Producer Michael Goguen Producer Linda M. Steiner, Jeff Matsuda Associate Producer Kimberley A. Smith Written by Greg Weisman Directed by Brandon Vietti Music by Thomas Chase Jones Animation by DR Movie Co., LTD. Voices Rino Romano as The Batman Alastair Duncan as Alfred Steve Harris as Detective Ethan Bennett Ming-Na as Detective Ellen Yin Clancy Brown as Mr. Freeze and Fries Cathy Cavadini as Wife, Movie Star and Reporter Screen Grabs Additional HD Images Pans   Review "If I'm no longer living Batman, then you are the one who iced me." Well that was different. After the previous Batman series rewrote a Mr. Freeze origin so tragic, poetic and touching that it won an Emmy and was adopted into the mainstream comics, the 21st century has brought Victor Fries back to the victim of an accident he blames on The Batman. Overall, I like the design and power concept of this Mr. Freeze. While there is something to be said for the trusty freeze gun, I like the turn that was taken with the freezing-power being part of Victor's accident and the cool-looking (pardon the bad pun) suit controlling it. I also like that his helmet is made out of ice he produces himself rather than glass as part of his suit. It makes it slightly more vulnerable to breakage, but since he creates his own ice he can recreate it just as quickly. With the expressionless face it also allows for the protective cover to be taken away when it fits the moment. This time it was used to reveal the identity of the cold-hearted villain to The Batman, but I expect it to be used for more dramatic moments in future Freeze appearances. Despite the apparent step back in his character, Freeze was deeper on different levels, some good, some evil. The pictures of the woman we can only assume is Nora in his getaway car imply that he did have someone he cared about and has now lost, but we didn't really go anywhere with it. Back in present time, we saw just how deep Freeze's resentment for others goes and how he feels that his condition is in no way his fault when the puts forth the effort to freeze the homeless man who ran him off the road those years ago. I liked how this episode gave us another flashback into Bruce's life and also gave use that reinforcement that every night he going to avenge his parents' murder when the man with the gun becomes Mr. Freeze. This is how you do a hero origin without doing an actual origin episode—sprinkle little bits and pieces of the story in there when it fits the situation. As Bruce struggled with what The Batman is in the eyes of the semi-inept law we got to see inside his head. Clancy Brown does a good job with his material as Mr. Freeze. This version is more inherently evil than his misunderstand predecessor and Brown's low bass coupled with his voice change from Fries to Freeze makes the change in the character a less rough transition. For the most part I could have done without the ice puns though. At least Freeze wasn't making up words that had "ice" in them though, so while not good, I suppose it could have been worse. And in a history making event this episode might also be the first time ever that an action figure variant has actually shown up in the series! I don't know if "Arctic Chill Batman" is available yet, but be sure to look for it in the toy aisle soon. [ Back to Reviews ]

 

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