BEWARE THE BATMAN “Hunted” SERIES PREMIERE Review

Beware the Batman, the latest entry in the Dark Knight’s growing list of television series, premiered on Saturday on Cartoon Network’s DC Nation block. Beware the Batman marks the first ever Batman series to be completely CGI, and before the series aired, received flak for it. People were also upset at the news that Alfred would have a radical character make-over, and that the series would be using more obscure and less conventional villains. But how does the first episode quality wise?

In this episode, Batman (Anthony Ruivivar) is faced against two eco-terrorists named Professor Pyg (Brian George) and Mr. Toad (Udo Kier). They have kidnapped a rich man who was involved in some kind of shady land deal. And they make it clear that they will be kidnapping even more millionaires soon. Meanwhile, Alfred (J.B. Blanc) is concerned over Bruce Wayne’s well-being.

First off, concerning the elephant in the room: the animation isn’t that bad at all. Yeah, yeah, it is different than the other Batman shows, and it by no means perfect, but geez! C’mon guys! You would think that after Green Lantern: The Animated Series, people would have learned that some CGI shows can actually be very high quality. Admittedly, I think Batman’s head looks a bit…weird, but everything else is fine.

Movement is fluid, fights scenes are pretty intense (thanks, TV-PG), and lip-movements don’t look to “fishy”. Also, the human designs look pretty realistic, unlike some other CGI series.

The voice acting is pretty solid. Anthony Ruivivar is pretty solid as Batman, he almost sounds like Kevin Conroy back in the day. J.B. Blanc as Alfred nails the new hardened version. Speaking of, I like this new Alfred. Former MI6 agent, eh? I guess he’s the new James Bond! But hardened or not, this Alfred still cares for Bruce, and this comes across pretty clear.

Professor Pyg and Mr. Toad, unfortunately, didn’t make for very interesting villains at all, but the voice actors do a good job (especially Kier as Toad), and they have some weird but subtle chemistry.

Some Batman fans might not like how Batman is easily defeated in one scene, but remember, this is a younger Batman who is less experienced. Keep that in mind.

The episode didn’t “WOW!” me, but it was all around a good effort, and I will keep watching. DC continues to make more solid series than Marvel (sorry, Marvelites) and I’m excited to see where this will go!

Some notes: Katana! Is that Mr. Terrific? And I love the new design for Wayne Manor! Also, BTW, I don’t think that I’ll regularly cover Beware the Batman, but I will still be watching.