Freeze | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Batman/Mr. Freeze – SubZero

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Darren

Surprisingly, not all films featuring Mr. Freeze are terrible. Batman/Mr. Freeze: SubZero doesn’t quite live up to the best of the animated Batman movies or even animated television shows, standing in the shadow of both Mask of the Phantasm and Return of the Joker, but it’s still a surprisingly solid adventure that offers a much better showing for the Caped Crusader than either of the Joel Schumacher Batman movies.

Things are heating up…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alfred, alfred pennyworth, Barbara, barbara gordon, batman, batman animated series, batman forever, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Boyd Kirkland, dc animated universe, Freeze, gotham city, jim gordon, Shirley Walker, tim burton | 3 Comments »

The Adventures of Batman & Robin – House and Garden (Review)

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Darren

This September marks the twentieth anniversary of Batman: The Animated Series, and the birth of the shared DC animated universe that would eventually expand to present one of the most comprehensive and thorough explorations of a comic book mythology in any medium. To celebrate, we’re going back into the past and looking at some classic episodes.

It’s amazing how thoroughly Batman: The Animated Series was able to explore Batman’s iconic selection of bad guys, demonstrating how remarkably deep and varied his villains are. Paul Dini was perhaps the strongest writer when it came to drafting these psychological portraits of Arkham’s countless denizens, even inventing characters like Baby Doll and Harvey Quinn for the show. (With Harley now an established and iconic character in her own right.) While Poison Ivy had a strong debut episode, and a run of strong appearances, House & Garden stands as perhaps the most thorough exploration of the villain’s psyche, building a relatively complex portrayal of her psychology and pathology in under half an hour.

House call…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Arkham, art, batman, batman & robin, batman animated series, ChristopherNolan, comic book, dc animated universe, Diane Pershing, Freeze, House & Garden, List of Batman animated episodes, mad hatter, paul dini, Poison Ivy, riddler, robin, Subtle, Venus Flytrap | 4 Comments »

Batman: The Animated Series – Read My Lips (Review)

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Darren

It’s really remarkable the kind of stories you can tell with Batman. The character has a remarkable and innate flexibility, lending him to a diverse bunch of genres. He can do mystery, suspense, adventure, horror, drama, action, crime and many more besides. Joe Lansdale’s script for Read My Lips does an excellent job demonstrating the wonderful flexibility of Batman as a character, telling a witty, off-beat noir story… with a dummy as the villain.

He ain’t no dummy…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Alan Grant, art, batman, batman animated series, Bruce, ChristopherNolan, comic book, dc animated universe, Freeze, List of Batman animated episodes, New Batman Adventures, Scarface, vhs, Victor Zsasz, zatara | 5 Comments »

Justice League Unlimited – Divided We Fall (Review)

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Darren

Divided We Fall makes for a fond farewell to the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. At the time the show was produced, the creators did not know that they’d get another season, and the season finale that followed Divided We Fall was dedicated to wrapping up the entire DC animated universe from Batman: The Animated Series through to Batman Beyond. So, appropriately, Divided We Fall focuses on the “original seven” members of the Justice League, offering one final climactic confrontation between the Justice League and combined forces of Lex Luthor and Brainiac.

Heroes for higher purposes?

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: alan moore, Amanda Waller, animation, art, batman, batman animated series, brainiac, comic book, Comics, dc animated universe, Dwayne McDuffie, Freeze, justice league, justice league unlimited, lex luthor, luthor, superman, Thing With Two Heads | 2 Comments »

Batman Beyond – Ascension (Review)

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Darren

Batman Beyond worked quite hard to establish its own identity, as distinct from Batman: The Animated Series. Sure, occasionally familiar villains and characters would make an appearance, and Terry had a fair share of his bed guys who were at least partially inspired by Z-list Batman baddies, but Batman Beyond managed to firmly establish itself as its own thing over its first season. Ascension is a finale that wraps up narrative threads that have been building since Rebirth, giving Terry some measure of emotional closure and also tying up some loose ends that have been dangling since the show began.

Not quite the healthiest form of green energy…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: art, batman, batman animated series, Batman Beyond, Bruce, Christopher Nolan, comic book, Comics, dc animated universe, Derek Power, Freeze, justice league unlimited, Terry | Leave a comment »

Batman Beyond – Meltdown (Review)

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Darren

I was less than impressed with Victor Fries’ last appearance on Batman: The Animated Series in Cold Comfort, written by Hilary J. Bader. So I’ll admit to being quite surprised when she produced the story for Meltdown, a fairly effective conclusion to Mister Freeze’s character arc. Perhaps it’s a result of the bold new setting, or perhaps Alan Burnett’s work on the teleplay, but Meltdown does a rather excellent job wrapping up all sorts of loose ends and fairly effectively using Freeze as an unlikely, yet effective, counterpart to Bruce Wayne.

He never lost his head, and he always kept his cool…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: art, batman, batman animated series, Batman Beyond, Bruce, bruce wayne, Christopher Nolan, comic book, dc animated universe, Freeze, Michael Ansara, Nora Fries, paul dini | 2 Comments »

The Adventures of Batman & Robin – Showdown (Review)

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Darren

Bruce Timm’s animated DC universe introduced me to a wealth of comic book characters I would never have encountered otherwise. While I was familiar with most of Batman’s iconic selection of bad guys, The Demon’s Quest introduced me to Ra’s Al Ghul. Later on, you could see Superman: The Animated Series making a point to introduce other iconic characters like the Flash or Green Lantern. However, Batman: The Animated Series also did its shared of universe-building. While Zatanna introduced the magician as a co-star with Bruce, Showdown is notable for introducing another DC hero with whom Bruce never directly interacts.

Showdownworks superbly as an introduction to the character of Jonah Hex. It certainly works much better than the recent feature film carrying the character’s name.

He’s a sharp one…

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Filed under: Movies, Television | Tagged: Al Ghul, art, batman, batman animated series, Bruce, Brucetimm, Christopher Nolan, comic book, Dark Knight Rises, dc animated universe, Freeze, jonah hex, justice league unlimited, paul dini, robin | 2 Comments »

The New Batman Adventures – Cold Comfort (Review)

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Darren

As wonderful as Heart of Ice was, offering a classic origin to a bad guy who would have otherwise been a footnote, there is a sense that the reimagining of Victor Fries hemmed the character in a bit. By giving him a moving origin story based around his wife, it meant that the character’s arc would be dictated by Nora. As such, it limits the story-telling opportunities, because there are really only so many stories you can tell. Fries can be seeking revenge (Heart of Ice) or striking a deal to preserve here (Deep Freeze) or responding to her loss (as here), but that’s pretty much it.

Cold Comfort is the first episode featuring the character without the direct involvement of writer Paul Dini. It certainly shows, as it feels like a fairly wasted chapter in the character’s arc.

Has Freeze flipped his lid?

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: arts, batman, batman animated series, Bruce, bruce timm, bruce wayne, Clayface, comic book, Comics, Dark Knight Rises, dc animated universe, Freeze, gotham, mad hatter, Michael Ansara, Nora, paul dini, Television | 4 Comments »

Batman: The Animated Series – The Clock King (Review)

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Darren

One thing I really liked about Batman: The Animated Series was the way that it was constantly rehabilitating all these classic gimmicky villains, the type of stereotypical one-dimensional comic book baddies that would inevitably serve as event fodder to prove just how serious the current big threat was. Mister Freeze is the most obvious example, with Heart of Ice really setting the standard for a Z-list villain rehabilitation. Surprisingly, I find myself returning to those smaller episodes more than I’d watch the Joker-centric adventures or even some of the more popular instalments. While not quite as definitive as Heart of Ice, The Clock King does an excellent job introducing the eponymous bad guy.

Like clockwork…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: alfred, alfred pennyworth, batman, batman animated series, Bruce, bruce timm, Christopher Nolan, Clock King, Dark Knight Rises, David Wise, Freeze, Gas mask, gotham, gotham city, Home and Garden, mad hatter, paul dini, riddler, Shopping, Temple, Walter Slezak | 5 Comments »

Batman: The Animated Series – Feat of Clay, Parts I & II (Review)

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate the release of The Dark Knight Rises, July is “Batman month” here at the m0vie blog. Check back daily for comics, movies and television reviews and discussion of the Caped Crusader.

One thing that always impressed me about Batman: The Animated Series was the way that it didn’t just restrict itself to the truly iconic members of Batman’s impressive pool of villains. Batman’s first-stringers are all iconic and brilliant characters in their own right. It would be easy enough to build a television how around characters like the Joker, Two-Face, the Penguin, Catwoman, Ra’s Al Ghul, the Scarecrow, Poison and the Riddler. However, the show didn’t do that. It didn’t restrict its airtime to those major-league bad guys. In fact, many second-tier villains actually received more compelling origins and development. Heart of Ice is regarded as one the show’s best episodes, despite featuring an almost forgotten nobody villain by the name of Mr. Freeze. So it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that the creative crew were able to build a tragic and moving back story for Clayface.