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The seminal comic murder mystery by writer Jeff Loeb and artist Tim Sales exploring the early years of The Dark Knight is now available at Warner Bros. Batman: Tall Halloween – Part One (Ranked PG-13, 1:78:1 aspect ratio, 85 minutes, $29.98) and Batman: Tall Halloween – part two (Rating R, 2.39:1 aspect ratio, 89 minutes, $34.98).
This pair of direct Blu-ray editions, sold separately, offers an almost three-hour adaptation of the 1996 13-episode mini-series that takes viewers into the underworld of Gotham City and introduces a vigilante serial killer nicknamed Holiday.
In particular, friends, associates and relatives of mafia boss Carmine Falcone are systematically murdered. Halloween night for a year and after every big holiday.
It’s up to police Captain Jim Gordon, Batman, and his romantic interest, Catwoman, to investigate and stop the assassin.
Meanwhile, Gotham City’s criminal element is cleared by Harvey Dent, an ambitious young district attorney who becomes suspicious as he helps stop Holiday.
Life gets more complicated for all the heroes after the Joker escapes from Arkham Asylum. Later, a rogue gallery of Batman’s most notorious foes is also deployed by Two-Face and Solomon Grundy to wreak havoc on the city and confuse Batman and his team’s ultimate mission at hand.
Viewers will enjoy the simmering story and occasional violence as they learn about the origins of Two-Face and watch scenes like the Joker bombing Gotham and the fight between Poison Ivy and Catwoman.
Warner Bros. As someone who has always been against cartoon adaptations of Animation and DC Entertainment’s comic book series, I’ll quickly admit that the companies have a winner here.
Alongside a focused, well-defined plot that never strays too far from the original source material and some strong vocal performances by Jensen “Supernatural” Ackles as Bat, Naya Rivera as Cat, and Josh Duhamel as Harvey Dent, audiences get a visual style. It’s the perfect fit for this drama.
The animation offers a hint of the bodywork to Bruce Timm’s original, gothic vision of the early 1990s Batman universe, with upgrades offering character design similar to the television sitcom “Archer.”
In particular, the Wayne Mansion entrance, which looks like the gates of an abandoned cemetery; or the city skyline, buildings and alleys seem to have been wiped with sandpaper for an extra gothic grain of grit; and all behind the foreboding watercolor sky.
Dark lines drawn darkly around the characters and reinforced on their faces create a two-dimensional sharply shadowy appearance that leaps off the screen. The effect looks great in Batman’s cloak and hood in action, or watching characters like Falcone and age stripes, or the Joker’s crooked, stern look.
Some of the action also takes on a lively comic take on the slightly animated cutscenes that can be found in Mr. Sale’s library, most notably as the Mad Hatter and the Scarecrow ride a carriage through a cemetery.
The sum total of all the animated episodes really takes shape in moments like Batman jumping over rooftops with the full moon behind him, a Fourth of July fireworks display over Gotham where neon branches descend from a gray watercolor sky, and Batman’s fiery encounter with the Scarecrow’s fear toxin.
The animation looks better and more stylish than previous works, but viewers should still read the original source material to admire the beauty of Mr. Sale’s memorable and detailed images.
The best extras: First episode of Batman: Uzun Halloween” presents a 16-minute DC Showcase short animation introducing The Losers, WWII punks (Captain William Storm, Gunner, Henry “Mile-a-Minute” Jones, Sarge, Pooch, Johnny Cloud, and Chinese Special Agent Fan). Long) originally appeared in a DC Comics series created by Robert Kanigher in 1969.
The story involves the team exploring a mysterious South Pacific island inhabited by prehistoric monsters, and despite some bloody dinosaur battles and unexpected slaughter, it never comes to a satisfactory conclusion.
Then, a welcomed “From the Vaults” feature offers viewers two full 22-minute episodes: “Christmas with the Joker” (first vocals by Mark Hamill as the Clown Prince of Crime) and “It’s Never Too Late” – the classic “Batman: Animation” Series.”
“Batman: Tall Halloween — Episode Two” Blu-ray disc features a 16-minute DC Showcase animated short starring Golden Age comic book hero “The Blue Beatle,” as viewers team up with Captain Atom, The Question, and Nightshade as they battle Doctor Spectro.
His animation style is a refreshing homage to the old “Marvel Super Heroes” cartoons of the 1960s, featuring Grantray-Lawrence’s chirpy sound effects and a theme song. It offers a short, fun and welcomed visual nostalgia trip.
And equally worth watching, diving back into the vaults for the two-part “Two-Face” origin pair seen from 1992’s “Batman: The Animated Series.”
Both discs compile pretty useless preview features from past animation releases that were highly promotional, such as “Batman: Hush”, “Batman: Gotham by Gaslight” and “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns”.
But one of the highlights of the preview is an eight-minute look at “Injustice,” the upcoming animated movie based on the DC Comics franchise and the famous video game. The best part of the movie is hearing actor Kevin Pollack voice the Joker.
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