Story by Grant Dillard, Staff writer
2016’s “Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders” was a surprisingly good and well put together animated film that hearkened back to the tone and style of the 1960s Adam West TV series. “Batman vs Two-Face” which was released a year later, continues that tradition; and while it isn’t exactly as fresh as its predecessor, it’s still a solid enough piece of “Batman” media.
After being physically and mentally scarred in a laboratory accident, District Attorney Harvey Dent (William Shatner) becomes the supervillain known as Two-Face and embarks on a massive crime spree. Eventually, Dent is captured by Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward) and seemingly cured of his injuries due to extensive treatment. Despite Dent being cured, however, Two-Face is still somehow at large. Batman and Robin will have to band together to find out whether or not an imposter is carrying out Dent’s criminal work, or if Dent really is behind everything.
What needs to be addressed, first of all, is the direction that the story goes in. Given that the film is the debut of Two-Face in the ‘60s “Batman” universe, one would think that the story would revolve around the supervillain making his first impression on the criminal underworld in Gotham City. Instead, the film bizarrely decides to showcase Two-Face’s various crimes in its opening credits, only to cut to Dent’s face being healed sometime later. This is easily the film’s most glaring issue, and is basically wasted potential for what could have been a better story.
That’s not to say that the story viewers get is bad; far from it, as it presents a decent mystery as to how Two-Face is still at large despite Dent being healed. Even if audiences can predict who exactly is behind the predicament, it’s still vague as to how the perpetrator is pulling the scheme off.
As for Two-Face himself, the film does a good job at showcasing how exactly he would work in the ‘60s universe. Rather than having acid thrown at his face, Dent ends up being halfway doused in a deadly gas from Hugo Strange’s Evil Extractor; which is a fairly decent and non-violent explanation for Dent’s hideous side, as well as his split personality. William Shatner was perfect casting for the role, as he seems like a logical choice for if the character was introduced in the ‘60s series. The character design also cleverly depicts how Shatner looked around the time the original show was in production.
In his final recorded role before his tragic death from leukemia, Adam West is still just as entertaining as the caped crusader. West unfortunately doesn’t speak any famous quotes from the comics or other movies like in the last film, but it’s still great to see him in the role one last time. The film even includes a nice tribute to the late actor after its ending credits. The rest of the returning cast including Burt Ward and Julie Newmar provided good voice work as well.
Although “Batman vs Two-Face” doesn’t have as many Easter eggs and references to other forms of “Batman” media as its predecessor, it still has its fair share of fan-service. Lee Merriweather, the second actress to play Catwoman after Julie Newmar, has a small cameo as a bystander who happens to look similar to Catwoman, which leads to a clever payoff later in the film. Along with Two-Face, this film also introduces Hugo Strange to the ‘60s universe, who casual fans may still recognize from the “Batman: Arkham City” video game and the “Gotham” TV series. Harleen Quinzel also has a brief appearance as Strange’s lab assistant in the film’s opening; and even though she never becomes Harley Quinn, Quinzel does still have a brief romantic tease with Joker.
It may not be as well put together and clever as its predecessor, but “Batman vs. Two-Face” still manages to be an entertaining film thanks to its clever writing and solid voice cast. The film shows that the amount of potential for adventures in the ‘60s series universe is still high; though it’s unlikely more films in this series will be made due to Adam West’s passing. Though as a send-off, the film does a good job. “Batman vs. Two-Face,” along with “Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders” can be watched on Amazon Prime Video.