REVIEWS

Episode #11 - Bird of Prey Original Airdate - February 12th, 2005 While Bruce Wayne is busy being the subject of a 'Day in the Life' segment of a TV magazine show, The Penguin pulls his latest heist - on the mansion of Bruce Wayne himself! Alfred is taken hostage and Bruce must now find a way to get away and become The Batman - away from the watchful TV cameras. Review by Gareb Media by Gareb Pans by Borg4of3 Credits Supervising Producer Duane Capizzi Supervising Producer Michael Goguen Producer Linda M. Steiner, Jeff Matsuda Associate Producer Kimberley A. Smith Written by Steven Melching Directed by Brandon Vietti Animation services by D.R. Movie Co., LTD. Music by Thomas Chase Jones Voices Rino Romano as The Batman Alastair Duncan as Alfred Tom Kenny as Penguin Kath Souchie as Mel Screen Grabs HD Images Pans Review I wasn’t a big fan of Penguin’s first appearance on the show; the show was trying to warp the character into something it just doesn’t naturally fit into. In Oswald’s (or “Ozzy’s”) place, he was supposed to be younger, spryer, and able to actually throw punches and fight The Batman without being immediately slapped down. This is fine—it’s cool to see the villains actually be able to be a challenge for The Batman instead of throwing bodyguards at him…but when Penguin’s two Kabuki Twins last barely any time against The Batman and the Penguin takes five or six times as long…I just don’t get it. Penguin’s not the body type to be doing all the flying and dashing and fighting he does, but he gets away with it anyway. That’s really my only problem with the character—I’m all for change, but only when it makes sense. Penguin peeves aside, this episode wasn’t all that terrible. It was neat to see more of the mansion (a study entrance that leads to the Batcave, via a clock), the kitchen and the same painting of Bruce’s father in two (or was it three) different areas of the house. Per usual, the episode doesn’t make a whole lot of sense; Penguin’s character is reduced to having a grudge against the Wayne family for a second time. His Kabuki Twins seem to have been severely powered-down, not nearly as acrobatic and nasty as they were in “The Call of the Cobblepot” and Penguin has a new array of umbrellas (ranging from a helicopter to a spinning, razor-sharp “top”), but aside from that, no characters get developed, nothing moves the story along—it’s just a generic and very pointless episode. Unfortunately, this is what season one has seemed to be: a bunch of clichéd plots, boring and pun-filled dialogue all wrapped up in some nice animation. I can’t say I recommend the episode to anyone, as it did nothing. If you like the show and what its doing, then chances are you’ll like the episode. Aside from some nice animation and money-shots, the show is just getting redundant and tiresome. [ Back to Reviews ]

 

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