Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman
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| Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Curt Geda Sequence Directors: Jennifer Graves Tim Maltby |
| Produced by | Benjamin Melniker Michael Uslan Sander Schwartz Alan Burnett Margaret M. Dean Kathryn Page Curt Geda |
| Written by | Comic Book: Bob Kane Story: Alan Burnett Screenplay: Michael Reaves |
| Starring | Kevin Conroy Kimberly Brooks Hector Elizondo Elisa Gabrielli Kevin Michael Richardson Kelly Ripa Kyra Sedgwick David Ogden Stiers |
| Music by | Lolita Ritmantis |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | October 21, 2003 |
| Running time | 75 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman is an animated film based on the DC Comics character Batman and is the fourth film set in the same universe as Batman: The Animated Series. This movie was released direct-to-video and DVD in the U.S. in October 2003 and Britain in January 2004.
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[edit] Plot
Created by the same creative team as Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond, the movie follows the time period of The New Batman / Superman Adventures, and is set before the implications shown in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker have affected Robin. Initially, it seems a new hero has arrived in Gotham, but as the title suggests, it is a mystery to even Batman who this new Batwoman actually is. As the plot thickens, so does the mystery as Batman must figure out who Batwoman is and to stop familiar enemies Penguin and Rupert Thorne from selling illegal weapons to the fictional nation of Kasnia. At the beginning of the story, they employ Carlton Duquesne, a gangster, to provide protection and muscle. Bane also comes into the plot as a hired hitman to take out any person or persons in the way of business.
The non-mutant version of The Penguin reappears, as does his nightclub, although he now has a different voice actor. Thorne and Bane are both updated, with Bane in particular taking a far more menacing appearance, with red eyes and a frightening mask that no longer bears any resemblance to that of a wrestler. Thorne is the closest to his original design in Batman: TAS, though he has been streamlined and seems to have lost some weight in the transition. Carlton Duquesne is a new character introduced at the start of the movie. He is a large, powerfully built African American man, presumably in his late 30s-late 40s who apparently has established himself in Gotham City's financial elite. Bane is placed next to him in one particular scene and is seen to be even larger and stronger than Duquesne, further adding to his menacing aura in this movie.
Despite taking the symbol of the Bat as a sign of justice, Batwoman sullies the Bat prefix by taking out criminals with ruthless and dangerous techniques. In fact, moral qualms such as sparing lives do not even come into question. Batwoman's main focus is on illegal activity by the Penguin, Thorne, and Carlton Duquesne.
Much of Batman's time is spent trying to discover the identity of the Batwoman. Following various leads and discovering possible motives from a number of suspects, Batman is repeatedly frustrated in his investigation as several candidates are found and excluded. This leads to a plot twist concerning the "identity" of the Batwoman that emphasizes the deductive skills of the Dark Knight.
Batman, with Robin, sets out to stop the Batwoman from making mistakes as she tries to take out the villains. The newest gadget on display is a wind glider used by Batwoman that utilizies some of the most advanced technology ever seen in the Gotham City. Bruce Wayne, Batman's alter ego also becomes involved with a new lady in his life, the daughter of Carlton Duquesne.
The plot stays true to what fans enjoy as the team including Alan Burnett and Michael Reaves create the script and Kevin Conroy still plays the voice of Batman. The movie also shows further continuity between all the Dini created Batman shows. Barbara Gordon are shown to have had a romantic affection to Bruce, which their relationship had been alluded to in the series Batman Beyond, although the movie was set before Wayne beginning to have an affection to Barbara as shown that Bruce trying to avoid Barbara on the phone and was still seeing other people such as Kathy.
[edit] Audience reaction
Despite having its fans, this movie is considered by some to be the weakest outing for the Bruce Timm / Paul Dini tandem for Batman, with some accusing it of being "too upbeat". This is largely due to the fact that this is the only movie to match the newer animation style of The New Batman Adventures. The streamlining of character design, a brighter color palatte, and a number of scenes taking place during the daytime combine to make this movie significantly "happier" than Mask of the Phantasm and Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero.
Unlike previous Batman movies in the Bruce Timm universe, Mystery of the Batwoman behaves more like a summer blockbuster. Guest celebrity singer Cherie is animated as an attractive performer in Penguin's nightclub singing her real life single "Betcha Never" in a choreographed dance scene.
Since there are such a large number of new attractive female characters the audience is treated with more sequences of Bruce Wayne interacting with various women, usually in a social setting devoid of the dark undertones that many expected. This movie also was the first of the animated Batman movies where Batman "gets the girl" at the end, essentially giving the movie a happy ending.
Some fans attributed the difference between this film and the other feature film outings for the DCAU Batman to the fact that Bruce Timm himself was not actually involved in the production. As possible as that might be, everybody else involved with the film were old hands at the animated Batman: Alan Burnett, Michael Reaves, Andrea Romano and the cast, Curt Geda, Lolita Ritmantis and so on. Since these folks were equally as instrumental in the success of the original (including folks like Reaves, who hadn't been involved with the DCAU since the original B:TAS), other fans disagree with the reasoning.
As a way of insulting the film further, several fans also proclaimed the dialogue-free Paul Dini written short film "Chase Me", attached to the movie as an extra, was a better representation of Batman's tone and character than this movie was.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Kevin Conroy | Bruce Wayne / Batman |
| Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. | Alfred Pennyworth |
| Tara Strong | Barbara Gordon |
| Bob Hastings | Commissioner Jim Gordon |
| Robert Costanzo | Detective Harvey Bullock |
| David Ogden Stiers | Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin |
| Eli Marienthal | Tim Drake / Robin |
| John Vernon | Rupert Thorne |
| Hector Elizondo | Bane |
| Kevin Michael Richardson | Carlton Duquesne |
| Kelly Ripa | Dr. Roxanne "Rocky" Ballantine |
| Kimberly Brooks | Kathleen "Kathy" Duquesne |
| Elisa Gabrielli | Detective Sonia Alcana |
| Kyra Sedgwick | Voice of Batwoman |
| Cherie | Iceberg Lounge Singer |
[edit] Trivia
- While Bruce Wayne is roughly the same age as Carlton Duquesne, he engages Carlton's daughter Kathy Duquesne in romantic outings. This is the second time that Batman has been linked romantically to a woman that is basically half his age in any incarnation, animated or cinematic. The first time was with Carrie Kelley in Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again (though Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, is clearly being flirtatious with him in one scene).
- Furthermore, there is a scene in this movie where Bruce Wayne speaks with Barbara Gordon, who is apparently off to college, in a manner that suggests some sort of romantic relationship. This contrasts with Barbara being previously involved with Dick Grayson, the former Robin, now Nightwing, in the original animated series and the SubZero movie. This foreshadows the relationship between the two that was referenced in Batman Beyond.
- Pop singer Cherie has released two albums. Her album containing "Betcha Never" was aided significantly by the inclusion of the single in the soundtrack to Mystery of the Batwoman.
- Batwoman's costume is very similar to that of the future Batman's (from Batman Beyond). It's quite possible that in-continuity-wise Batman drew inspiration from Batwoman's costume when designing the Batman Beyond suit.
- In the short episode "Chase Me" (included in the special features of the movie) a person resembling the Black Canary (as seen in Justice League Unlimited) can be seen as one of the many girls that crowd around Bruce Wayne while he is attending a party.
- Kathy Duquesne (pronounced "du-kane") is named after Kathy Kane, who was the original Batwoman in the comics. In one of the featurettes, the writers revealed that they were originally going to call her Kathy Kane in this movie, but DC Comics made them change the name since Batwoman acted like somewhat of a villain in the movie.
- While this movie was animated in a widescreen format, it has only seen release in 1:33.1 aspect ratio.
- This movie marks Tara Strong's last performance as Barbara Gordon / Batgirl.
[edit] External links
- Warner Bros official site
- Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman at the Internet Movie Database
- Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman at Movie Tome
- Batman: Mystery Of The Batwoman @ BYTB: Batman Yesterday, Today and Beyond
| The Bruce Timm DC animated universe | |
|---|---|
| Television series: | Batman: The Animated Series | Superman: The Animated Series | The New Batman Adventures | The New Batman/Superman Adventures | Batman Beyond | Static Shock | The Zeta Project | Justice League | Justice League Unlimited |
| Feature-length films: | Batman: Mask of the Phantasm | Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero | Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker | Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman |
| Comic books: | Batman Adventures | Superman Adventures | Justice League Adventures | Batman Beyond | Gotham Girls |
| Web cartoons: | Gotham Girls |
| Video Games: | DCAU Video Games |
