By Ed Sum
*Spoiler Alert
Perhaps the new character designs are not the only thing viewers should be wary of in Warner Bros. Animation’s sixth iteration of what Batman means to the masses. In Beware the Batman, the character of Anarky (a political activist/vigilante) will be pivotal to the series run and the animation style will take a while to get used to. The characters have a similar look to that of the cancelled Green Lantern: The Animated Series that not everyone took to right away. GL made use of bold colors and caricature. This style worked great when most of the story took place in alien worlds. But with a human world as a backdrop, everyone is going to look like an over-emphasized archetype.
Interestingly enough, the Bats looks like a well polished land turtle. From a distance, the material of his cape looks more like a polymer shell and the skin textures appearing more plastic than natural. This new animation looks like it took a few computer shading algorithms from the latest iteration of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles just so it can be quickly rendered. When drawn, the character designs looks great, but when enhanced by CGI, the detailing cannot be appreciated as much.
Continue reading “The Times They Are a-Changin’ in Beware the Batman, a TV Review”
Comic book films are very often a tough sell in a mass market that’s picky about what they like seeing. While Hollywood sees the medium as a readymade—a product that comic book readers are familiar with—to attract new converts requires a product that has to be easily accessible, if not understandable.
Spoiler alert
Actor Robert Downey Jr. will continue playing the multi-billionaire playboy industrialist character for two more 