The Lego Batman Movie (2017 Film) Review

 I remember a few years ago watching The Lego Movie after hearing a lot of good critical opinions and I was fairly impressed myself. It was cute, funny, and had a decent story. I'm not terribly shocked we now have The Lego Batman movie. I pondered about seeing it back in the winter, but decided to skip it until the Blu-ray came out. Unlike the original Lego movie, it's pretty much all Batman and DC with just a little bit more of pop culture mixed in. How was Lego Batman's movie in comparison to "real" movies based on Gotham's Dark Knight? 

Adam West Dead at 88

I was sad to hear that TV's first Batman has passed away at 88. He managed to have a mildly successful career many years after Batman especially if you count voice acting, and I will miss him. 

Batman: The Killing Joke (2016 Film) Review

Batman: The Killing Joke is based on the graphic novel comic of the same name from 1988. It's been almost 30 years since the comic impacted the world of Batman. Some one-story bits are non-canon but there is a moment that changed one character almost permanently in the future of Batman fiction. It was quite legendary with how well Batman fans liked the story which was written by Alan Moore who also wrote V for Vendetta and The Watchmen. Unlike some of Alan Moore's works, this was made into a animated cartoon as DC often does a lot of them like it. Did this graphic novel masterpiece translate well here?

Suicide Squad (2016 Film) Review

 While The Marvel Cinematic Universe (Avengers-related films) really has reshaped the way superhero movies are done and viewed, DC's attempt at mimicking Marvel's success has been iffy at best. The first two films of the DC Extended Universe were met with mixed results. Though Man of Steel fared a heck of a lot better with critics than Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Suicide Squad came out as a critical flop and I thought it was funny to see rabid DC fans accuse Rotten Tomatoes of Marvel bias even though Rotten Tomatoes doesn't actually review movies but rather collect and average out every legitimate critic. I will say DC was at least orginal going after a dark team of super "heroes" as Marvel will probably do the Dark Avengers as a film one day. The movie did better with fans but still a little worse than it should have done. Could it be the worst super "hero" movie ever?

Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016 Film) Review

 Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice was something I had looked forward to but I was a bit skeptical since hearing the concept of it. This is not the first time the super duo have been "foes" as it's the major end of the The Dark Knight Returns story-line by Frank Miller. But that took place decades after friendship, in this universe Batman and Superman haven't even met yet. It seemed too ambitious and really didn't try to hide that this was a Justice League movie with only half the team. Critic reviews were not very kind and fans were mixed on this one. I liked the movie Man of Steel while some did not, but did I like Batman vs Superman?

Fact of the Day: Robert Bat Man

While Batman fans obviously know the character's real name is Bruce Wayne, many don't know why he was named Bruce. The name comes from Robert the Bruce (officially Robert I) who was King of Scotland. He was a popular warrior-king who successfully led Scotland to defeat England in its War of Independence. 

Gotham (TV Series) Season 1 Review

 Gotham is rather new, so I'm not that late to the game this time around. Out of a DC's superheroes, Batman is my favorite and Gotham is his city. Before Smallville, they had originally planned to do a series with a much younger Bruce Wayne but that idea morphed to a young Superman instead of a younger Batman. Gotham is basically the same idea, but the hero is not Bruce Wayne/Batman but rather someone else. His name is James Gordon and in the Batman stories he will eventually be Gotham's legendary police commissioner and grand ally to the Dark Knight Batman himself. Bruce Wayne is present, but just as a kid. Can Batman be a great story without... you know Batman?

Justice League: War (2014 Film) Review

 Justice League: War is another in the long-line of DC Comics Original Movies. Most have been pretty good especially as they started to focus on one story-line from the comics instead of coming up with something original. This one is based on Justice League: Origin which was a comic story-line which rebooted the story of the famous super-team. I don't really care for origins stories anymore but since they're doing a major Justice League movie soon, I might as well get used to it I suppose.

Son of Batman (2014 Film) Review

While they've had bad ones before, most of the movies in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series have been pretty darn good. One of the reasons I like them so much is that the main movies on DC superheroes never go past much of the origin story-lines. This one is based on 2006's Batman and Son, which features a story-line where Bruce meets the son he never knew existed. Batman having a kid is certainly not in every Dark Knight story.

Fact of the Day: Adam West

The actor Adam West (best known for playing in the 1960's Batman TV show) was born William West Anderson. 

The Lego Movie (2014 Film) Review

I honestly never heard of The Lego Movie until after it came out in theaters. The idea itself sounded stupid, but it did remarkably well critically. It did so well that praise was almost universal. Is The Lego Movie worthy of its acclaim?

Batman: Arkham Knight (PS4/XboxOne) Unveiled

In rather surprising news, Batman: Arkham Knight was announced to be coming out later this year. The story is set after Arkham City with Scarecrow returning to Gotham to unite all of Batman's enemies against him. The really cool thing is that the Batmobile will now be drive-able!

Justice League: The New Frontier (2008 Film) Review

 Like many of you know, I'm a big fan of comic book heroes. DC has made a lot of great animated films in the past couple of years, and it's taken me quite some time to enjoy them all. While some were a bit disappointing, many of the more recent ones could rival their silver-screen counterparts. Justice League: The New Frontier was the first in the series to make a tale about DC's greatest team of heroes.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013 Film) Review

 Of all my favorite super-heroes, DC's The Flash is far from the top. I was a bit disappointed to learn that the new animated movie had him as the central character. Then I learned it's based on a popular comic book story-line that affected nearly all the people in the DC universe.

Ben Affleck is the New Batman

Since the new Batman/Superman film was announced, many wondered who would play the Dark Knight as Christian Bale said he wouldn't return after Dark Knight Rises. Apparently the role is now for Ben Affleck, though this isn't the first time he's played a super-hero. Back in 2003 he played the title role in Marvel's Daredevil film. Though many aren't sure of how well he'll do as Batman. Though I'd like to remind everyone of the skepticism they had when they heard that Heath Ledger was playing the Joker in The Dark Knight. 

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000 Film) Review

I originally didn't watch Batman Beyond when it first premiered over a decade ago. But I did enjoy watching the first season of it very recently. Though many of the original villains were very bland, and many of Batman's old enemies didn't show up in the future. Though the reason I wanted to watch The Return of the Joker was for the futuristic revival of Batman's greatest nemesis.

Batman: Gotham Knight (2008 Film) Review

 As many of you know I'm a big Batman fan. So I've been meaning to catch up on many of the Dark Knight's animated movies. I overlooked Batman: Gotham Knight as it's a collection of six (related) short-stories set between Batman Begins and Dark Knight. They also worked with a Japanese studio to give the animation an anime-inspired look.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009 Film) Review

 After watching Man of Steel, I was still in a mood for more DC comics movies and I decided to return to their (usually excellent) animated tales. Like most of its sister films Superman/Batman Public Enemies is based on a particular comic book story-line.

Injustice: Gods Among Us (360) Review

 Last year I didn't pay much attention to Injustice: Gods Among Us as when I heard the title I didn't realize this one was based on DC comic's Justice League heroes and their super-villains. I also wasn't shocked to learn that the people behind the Mortal Kombat games were behind Injustice. They had made Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe a few years ago, but this time they focus only on Superman and his friends.

Batman Beyond Season 1 Review

 As many of you know, I'm a big fan of Batman. Back in 1999 after the success of the classic Batman cartoons came to an end, a new show was to become it's successor. Set in the future where Bruce Wayne is far too old to be Batman anymore. I had long heard of it and had seen clips from years past, but I decided to give the series a shot.