| Review When the final two episodes of The Batman’s first season aired, I was
blown away with their quality. The writing had improved, I
loved the animation, and most of the character designs really popped. Designer
Jeff Mattsuda’s slight changes to Batman’s costume really worked. When that
finale aired, I thought the show was finally coming together. Then I read the first episode of season two would be a team-up between Catwoman
and The Penguin. I got worried. Was the quality going to just fall right down
again? Thankfully, the answer is no. While the episode isn’t “Batman Returns,”
it’s thankfully not “Batman & Robin,” either. This episode, “The Bat The Cat and
The Very Ugly,” also picks up on plot points left dangling at the end of the
first season. Catwoman and Penguin team up, make kissy faces, and steal two statues that –
when together – harness the power of sun and light. With these two statues,
Gotham could be destroyed in an instant. Penguin wants to hold the city ransom,
but Catwoman just wants one of the two statues for herself. This doesn’t fly
with The Penguin, causing problems between the two new partners. The plot isn’t
extraordinary, but it serves the series just fine. If I have any complaint about this episode, it’s Catwoman. Her design is quite nice and faithful to the comics, but the voice work of Gina Gershon is so hard to take. The horrible puns
and over sexualization of her dialogue is laughable and hard to take. There’s no
charisma to her voice at all. On the other hand, Rino Romano is starting to really come along as The Batman
now. He sounds more confident and stable, making even the clunkiest bit of
dialogue work. I will always think of him as Spider-Man, from Spider-Man
Unlimited and the popular Playstation games, but he’s doing a good job leaving
his mark on this character. |
