Batman: The Telltale Series

Having played a few other Telltale games I can confidently say this one is the best. Excellent art, voice acting and branching plots that really give player agency make this a beautiful game, especially since the writers weren't afraid to have a different take on this Batman universe. 

Over two "seasons" with five chapters each (get the "Shadows" edition to get them both) you'll encounter many familiar faces from the rogues gallery and while there's a bit of QTE combat to be had (which is on the easy side of things) it's the timed dialogue choices that will really get your brain working. Excellent game and highly recommended! I only wish there was more of it! 

Injustice 1 & 2

Its DC fighting time!

This fighting game is like Street Fighter, except with characters from the DC roster such as Superman, who has become a ruthless dictator, and Batman who is running the insurgency against the Kryptonian. In the second game, Braniac comes along to mess with things but in both cases the stories start and end strong but have lots of "filler" in the middle, looking for any excuse to fit as many one on one fights as they can. 

Right on target!

The graphics and controls are ok (though both are improved in the second game) but some of the fighting stances are strange and the power hits make for hilarious moments where someone like Catwoman can single kick an opponent like Doomsday UP and THROUGH multiple floors of a building! Or even, Catwoman can just face tank punches from Superman. Things like that.

Outside the story the first game has an interesting STAR Labs trial mode which challenges you with various game play modes and/or outright unfair situations. The second game drops this in exchange for a leveling and loot end game system which is basically a stock standard series of fights. That's maybe the only part the first game did better for me. Anyway, if you like DC characters and want to watch them pummel each other silly then these games are right up your alley. 

The Penguin and Honey Bunny

TV Series that additional content to their respective franchises.

The Penguin

This crime drama is as dark as "The Batman" movie which it continues from. Here we follow Ozwald Cobb (wonderfully played by Colin Farrell) as he weasels his way from being a lowly underling to the crime boss better known as the titular Penguin. While there aren't so many action scenes the plot, acting and effects are very well done making this so far single season show really easy to recommend. You don't really have to know anything about Batman, Penguin or the movie preceding it to enjoy it either. Big thumbs up!

Honey Bunny

This is actually the second spin off for Citadel, but unlike the first one this is a prequel series set in India and they won't let you forget it with all the synth music tracks and silly Indian humor peppered through out. In it we follow a struggling actress who gets into the spy game and while there are some good action sequences in here the story itself is weaker than its peers. Combined with the fact that its all happened in the past makes it a bit of a non starter. Feel free to skip this one.

The Flash (2023)

After the events of Justice League, the Flash (Ezra Miller) is left feeling like the "Janitor" of the team until he works out that he can travel back in time to try change the past and change his and more importantly his parent's fates. It's almost like someone read my review of the Justice League and took the "use cameos instead of an ensemble cast" to heart and for the most part it works, the only issue being that some of those cameos are more interesting / better acted than the protagonist.

While I enjoyed Ezra's goofiness and humor that might not be everyone's cup of tea, but a bigger problem here is the CGI quality which is odd since most superhero flicks have amazing budgets for this. It might just be that due to the excessive CGI required in the movie there are noticeable aspects especially when it comes to people. Especially when compared to say Star Wars that's doing magic for the human faces some people here would be closer to video game quality.

Lastly, this was clearly made with DC movie fans in mind as there are a lot of inclusions that a regular movie goer wouldn't catch or simply be puzzled over. That's great news for someone like me, but I suppose someone going in blind will just have to take everything at face value spectacle. All up, despite me expecting a bad movie this was actually fine. Not amazing, but still enthralling enough to keep us glued to the screen rather than doing anything else.

Guardians of Justice and Batman: the Doom that came to Gotham

Variations on DC comics...

Guardians of Justice

This one season show isn't really from DC, but makes use of super heroes that mirror those in the Justice League. In the opening episode Superman Marvelous Man commits suicide on world wide TV, throwing the world into chaos so it's up to Batman Knighthawk to investigate why he would do that, or if indeed it was a murder instead. Interesting hook, but the use of mishmash media including live action, animated, pixel art, and claymation is very strange as is the subpar plot and acting though that may be intentionally for comedic effect. Not recommended.

Batman: the Doom that came to Gotham

In this 1800s version of Gotham someone decided to mix in some Lovecraftian lore for a story about cultists opening a gateway for some elder horror that will doom the world while the well known characters from the Batman franchise try to deal with it. As it is an Elseworlds tale this frees up the plot to freely maim, kill, and drive insane just about all of the cast which leads to a ... strange but unique story. The animation, like everything else is simply OK, but at the end I'm not sure this is worth a watch either. Not recommended.

Decluttering Day 5: Old iron.

FUBAR and Gotham Knights (TV)

Season 1 reviews of a pair of weak shows.

FUBAR (Season 1)

In this action comedy (with a heavier weight on comedy) a father / daughter pair of CIA agents (played by Arnold Schawrznenegger / Monica Barbaro) just learns that they each work for the same company, and unload their baggage of disapproving each others life choices at the worst possible times (on the job) now that they don't have to pretend to be something else. Weak acting and weak jokes make it hard to like the series but at least it improves as the characters gain a modicum of depth (but not a lot). Hopefully it gets better in the already confirmed Season 2.

Gotham Knights

This one season superhero show begins with a bunch of random minor criminal teens framed for the death of Bruce Wayne aka Batman. Also framed is Wayne's adopted son Turner, who decides to join forces with said teens to clear their names, and maybe do some good on the side while they're at it. While the character development arcs are pretty decent, the main plot is not great and the action scenes while for the most part are OK its strange to see said teens be able to take down more experienced (and in some cases super powered) enemies in hand to hand. I would have liked a Season 2 for this one, but it couldn't dodge the cancellation axe.

The Batman (2022) and The Invisible Guest (2016)

Two crime solving movies!

The Batman (2022)

When a smart (and ultra sneaky) villain starts murdering people and leaving riddles addressed to the Batman, the police quickly involve the in/famous masked vigilante (played by Robert Pattinson) to help solve the case. This dark and gritty Gotham is nice as are the peppering of action sequences throughout but the movie is far too long for its ultimately average plot. There are so many scenes that linger too long for no purpose and regardless of the setting or time of day, everyone aggressively whispers to each other instead of talking like normal. I also felt the music composition was a bit weak. Only recommended for Bat or R-Pat fans who might be able to endure the long running time.

The Invisible Guest (2016)

In this Spanish mystery thriller film, a man (Mario Casas) accused of murder talks to his lawyer to try establish a defense for his upcoming criminal case. There is almost zero action here and the plot makes heavy use of flashbacks yet it is leagues better than the Batman, as you get invested quickly as the plot moves at a good pace and the "puzzle" of the crime does get your mind thinking throughout. Highly recommended.

Injustice

It's Batman vs Superman. Again.

Things go badly when Superman becomes the victim of one of Joker's schemes, which apparently is possible on this version of Earth since their heroes are a bit stupid. I do like that the main plot basically puts heroes against each other, that the fight animations are quite good, and that people are dying left and right to some of the silliest things. 

Foolish alien outsmarted by a clown.

Definitely enjoyable if you just turn your brain off. The only other thing that bugged me was that they draw knuckles as black rectangles... very distracting. Anyway - if you just want to see DC heroes fight and die against each other then definitely watch this, otherwise you aren't really missing much.

Batwoman and DC's Legends of Tomorrow

Two more Arrowverse shows have come to an end.

Batwoman

This heavily LGBTQ+ three season show features the titular Batwoman as the ladies that take the mantle try to juggle fighting randomly assorted villains while maintaining a drama filled personal life filled with occasionally stupid friends and acquaintances who combined have around two inches worth of depth. The villain Alice (Rachel Skarsten) is the stand out, but that is no where near close enough to gain a recommendation from me. It's ridiculous how so many shows keep tip toeing around Batman too. If you want a Batman inspired show, just make a Batman series?

Both are silly but only one is good.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow

After a floundering first season of finding their feet, the remaining six seasons really hit the right note for me with absurd humor and a pretty regular rotating door of characters, aboard a time ship of all things, mainly led by the wonderful Sara Lance (Caity Loitz) and contains surprisingly great fight choreography and occasional moments of heavy feels. Obviously the humor will be the main hit or miss factor for each viewer, and while this had become my favorite Arrowverse show others might find it totally stupid as it is the least serious of the Arrowverse catalogue. Test out the waters if you like, all I know is I'll definitely miss this one.

Spectral Travelers Batman Ninja

Two movies and a TV show where weird things happen!

Spectral (2016)

Having strange encounters with spectral beings in war torn Moldova, the US Army brings in a specialist engineer (James Badge Dale) to help investigate the phenomenon as it soon proves deadly - a trait befitting that of a horror movie. Only it's not really that scary. Given that it can't even be seen without special gear (great way to save on the FX budget btw) makes some serious scenes hilarious. The plot demands some stupid decisions too, even from the entities that fail to realize their full abilities.

I do have to give credit to the entity design though in that it is a unique one, and for all my dissing above it is actually a pretty entertaining movie. If you like the combination of horror and war, this will probably be right up your alley. I give it two and a half cameras out of five. Not sure I'd watch it again though.

Travelers (TV Show)

When the only way to try prevent a grim future for humanity is time travel, you know things are going to get strange really fast. The writing is superb and we found each episode to demand our full attention, not because our brains were melting trying to connect the pieces (though there is some of that) but more because we really loved all the characters and each mini-cliffhanger just wanted us to hit play on the next one.

It's now easily one of my favorite shows.

This is how you make an epic TV show. I only wish there were more than three seasons of it! Highly recommended to everyone, even those who aren't of a sci-fi slant. I'd would watch this entire series again and give it five messengers out of five.

Batman Ninja

When Grodds time machine sends Batman and a number of other well known Arkham regulars back to ancient Japan crazy hijinks ensue. How can Batman possibly survive as his toys run out? How did the Joker get so good at close combat? How much more absurd can the story get? Well, I can definitely answer the last one: A lot more absurd.

With most of the best story arc in act I, it only gets worse from there and it is surprisingly reflected in the art: mostly it is realy stylish high quality CGI but there's a segment in the middle where its like they ran out of budget and just went with line drawing, crayons, and stills. Why? It's not even one of those 10 second comedy bits that Japan likes doing. It's an entire segment that actually matters to the ridiculous story. All up, even as a Batman fan I disliked this one and give it one banana out of five. Not recommended as it just makes a monkey out of Batman.

Nightmare of the Wolf, Soul of the Dragon

Two animated movies, one set to the Witcher and the other to Batman!

The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf

Focusing on a young Vesimir, this tale encompasses flash backs from Vesimir's pre-Witcher days all the way to why Kaer Morhen is the way it is in the time of the more widely known Geralt. The art and animation are good with gore aplenty and the story has some welcome surprises. If anything, my only question would be "where does Vesimir get all his hair gel?" but in this world of potions and sorcery I'm guessing he just makes it... from monster goo. :P All up a decent film especially for Witcher fans. Three medallions out of five and yep, I'd watch this again.

That would be a strange fight.

Batman: Soul of the Dragon

When super spy Richard Dragon discovers that bad dudes have gotten their hands on a dangerous magical gate, he seeks help from his old time friend and martial arts classmate in Nanda Parbat: Bruce Wayne. Set in the era of bell bottoms and funky groove, this interesting take is heavily focused on martial arts and has the animation to back it up. Obviously it's still a Batman / superhero show though so don't expect realism in any extent, but the story is still quite entertaining as Bats is paired up with characters who are regularly considered villains and each of those get equal screen time to the caped crusader. As I didn't expect much going into it, I was pleasantly surprised and would definitely watch this again. Three soul breakers out of five.

Joker

Everything in Gotham is dark, even its comedy.

Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) just wants to bring laughter into the world. Unfortunately being poor in Gotham and afflicted by mental illness leads him to be victimized by so many scum bags, until one day... he breaks and becomes more than a little murderous. Joaquin does a great rendition of this soon-to-be Batman villain, and old, dirty Gotham is done well cinematography wise.

Being retarded doesn't make you cool or exclude you from the LAW!

There's also enough difference from the usual Joker origin story to be interesting without being different enough to become alien. Obviously the tone of the whole thing is very dark, especially as so many Gothamites are such scum. Definitely one Batman fans or Joaquin Phoenix fans will enjoy, but for everyone else your mileage may vary. I give it 3.5 knock knock jokes out of 5, but would probably not watch it again.

Borderlands 2: Just Take It

[Part of the Wasted Land story]

While the leaders of Sanctuary plan a counter attack, we three amigos first go to distant Lynchwood in search of a "cursed gun", which Jim finds is really cursed since it prevents movement while drawn. Lynchwood is home to the bunny bandit army though, with respawning bad guys regularly -pooping- popping out from every shack. They are definitely allied with Hyperion too so we blow up their train and railroad, rob their bank and kill their female sheriff!

Turns out she was Handsome Jack's girlfriend so he's not very happy that I put a rocket in her mouth. He's even less happy when we go to the site of his nearly complete utopian city "Opportunity" and wreck the place for fun - destroying his statues, flooding build sites, exploding construction equipment and oh yeah... murder all his laborer bots and engineers!

The size of said rocket.

Since we're already in the process of destroying his hopes and dreams we then join the Sanctuary army to take the fight to their main base and assisted by Slab buzzard air support, battle through the soldiers, destroy their flying bunker and kill his evil suicidal bitch siren daughter! Just as we are about to take the artifact like taking a baby from their candy, Roland and Firehawk show up and make a mess of things, getting killed and abducted in that order. Uh, I mean, respectively! Yeah.

So Jack gets away with everything and we are left with nothing. While Slabby and Mordecai the birdless plan the next move, we kill some time hunting a giant skag, fighting in Moxxi's Ore Chasmic arena (against Hyperion), and nearly falling for Jack's traps by going to check on his grandma as well as nearly jumping off a cliff for money. He's a sly one this Jack fella. Good thing DL and Jim managed to hold me back!

Finally Slabby gives us a mission to get some supplies (and by supplies I mean bombs) from another gang called the Sawtooth. Shouldn't it be Sawteeth? Well it doesn't matter. They don't have teeth or eyes or bombs anymore. We took em. We took em ALLLLLL!

Insight: The most upstairs part of the flying bunker fight (just before the water) is a good spot to fight as the structure there provides a lot of cover.

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Blaugust Bonus: "Tell us about some of your favorite protagonist(s) and explain why. Or talk about characters in which you can recognize yourself or parts of yourself." -Endalia

John Constantine, because he gets things done often via the hard choice even at the expense of his friends. Not seen so much with the Keanu Reeves movie version but every iteration voiced or played by Matt Ryan does this. Also, Batman because even if he keeps people alive, most of his allies end up disliking/hating him since "the mission" comes first. I don't have their gear nor talent, but if it comes down to sacrificing popularity or people for my own goals - you bet!

LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham

Somehow, less Batman is more awesome? What!?

A major improvement from the last game, this one sees you control the entire Justice League as they do their hero thing. It also fixes the problems of having the Batman theme on loop (he's not around as much) and being able to carry only one suit at a time. In this game, if you have a suit unlocked it and its abilities are always available to you.

This does make the game slightly harder as you have more options for puzzle solving which don't always make sense: such as Batman's ice gun being able to put out fires EXCEPT these fires which look exactly the same which can only be crossed by someone holding a shield. Uh, sure.

Suicide Squad go!

The game also comes with nice extra levels (the Arrow one is great, thanks Stephen Amell!) and the side missions are more enticing to participate in. Definitely a step up from the last outing, I give it 3 shrunken cities out of 5.

Insight: Not sure where to go? Follow the trail of ghost lego!

LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes

Batman is more violent and destructive than ever!

Unlike the first game which just kept crashing for me, this one has the fantastic improvement of being playable, and more than that - is quite enjoyable given the low difficulty and decent story. In it you play (mostly) as the dynamic duo, puzzle solving their way through levels.

Yes, Superman is in it too...

Make no mistake, this is a puzzle solving game more than anything. Obviously this is tuned for kids though, and possibly selling many lego toys and mini figures. It's quite interesting that Batman and Robin get a number of different suits with various puzzle solving abilities, but you can only carry one at a time (which is irritating).

Also as cool as the cartoon Batman theme is, you might get sick of it as it plays almost non-stop throughout the levels. Lastly the story only gets you 20% completion of the game, with the remainder being the exploration of Lego Gotham if you so choose, but there's no real motivation to do so.

This results in an OK game, but not one I would actively recommend. I give it 2 bat suits out of 5.

Insight: When in doubt, hold the button down.

Gotham (TV Series)

It was crazy long before Batman.

Set years before Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) takes up the cowl, this series stars Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) as a rookie detective. Passable effects, crazy plots and plot armor are a mainstay  in this interesting pre-batman tale.

Most of the cast are villains!

It flounders quite a bit in season one but picks up afterwards when the writers realized that showcasing the villains and how they become who they are makes for entertaining viewing. This is the best part of the show.

Everything else it does an OK job at, but not fantastic like some of the other superhero series out at the moment. Still, I think Batman fans should give this 5 season series a try. If you make it past the balloon man episode then you probably like it. :P

Batman: Arkham Knight

I hope you like driving games.

With Gotham evacuated thanks to a terrorist threat from Scarecrow, the streets are now filled mostly with goons of the regular rogues gallery and an invading army of soldiers who are mostly there to hunt Batman. Fortunately, Bats has a new toy in this game - the Batmobile - a powerhouse which will either make of break the game for you.

Why? Because as cool as the car is, it's like 70% of the games' focus suddenly shifted to it. There are multitudes of races, chases, combats, and puzzles (yes, damn you Nigma) that can only be solved with it. If you like driving games, then this should be good news for you. If you hate driving games like I do, then it becomes a tedious chore.

Punching the Riddler is one of my fave moments.

It's a pity because the rest of it (other than the ending which I disliked) is great, especially the bits where you can play as other characters... if only you didn't need the damned car most of the time. I give it 2.5 "non-lethal" exploding bat-rockets out of 5.

The Equalizer

It's always the quiet ones.

Robert (Denzel Washington) is a quiet man who keeps to himself and has trouble sleeping, which leads him to reading books at a local cafe where he slowly befriends a girl who is in all sorts of trouble. Eventually this "trouble" becomes too much for him to just sit idly by and he decides to do something about it. Violently.

While the overall plot has nothing too surprising, it is definitely entertaining - including the slow paced start. The surprises are more from answering how are all these goons going to die? I quite enjoyed that some kills just "happen", where bad guys are suddenly already dead and/or implied to have suffered. Basically Robert is Batman, without that rule of no killing.

I wonder if I can kill people... faster...

I obviously enjoyed this movie and would definitely watch it again, but stay away if vigilante righteousness is not your thing or if you want some depth to your plot. I give it 3 rolls of razor wire out of 5.

Batman Begins

Currently the best Batman origin film.

Opening with Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) in a foreign prison makes for an interesting start of this superhero film. Indeed, the first act which deals with his history and how he slowly becomes Batman is the strongest part. Ironically when he does start showing up as Batman the plot seems to loosen up a bit (in a bad way), adding some tiny scenes that aren't necessary and strange flaws like added dialogue in inappropriate sections or a mobile vehicle seat that seems extremely inconvenient.

Jack Gleeson is in it too!

The theme of fear is what ties the movie together but it also makes the "fight" scenes one sided (but cool). Fight is in quotes there because there is no real fighting except for the start/end of act one and the finale. Just people getting their asses handed to them. That's not a bad thing, but it could be if you were expecting more beat em up instead of stealth take downs.

Despite the negatives I'm listing I still highly recommend this film. Acting wise everyone is great, the music is superb and as far as I'm concerned this is one of the best Batman films to date, only outdone by it's sequel - the Dark Knight. I give Batman Begins four blue flowers out of five.

Justice League

DC still has a hard time catching Marvel.

When a cookie cutter bad guy with no depth suddenly appears to collect dangerous artifacts it's up to Batman and Wonder Woman to assemble a small team of superheroes to save the day. The effects are great, the funny bits work well and bonus points for the music which incorporates bits of recognizable themes.

It's like Aquaman was an after thought. As usual.

Alas, there are more than a few plot holes here and while I get why this needs to be an ensemble team, some could have just been cameos rather than main parts. All up it's a decent enough action flick, but I feel it could have been better / done more with what they had and leaves an odd sensation that the entire movie was "filler", which it shouldn't be. For that I give it 3 parademons out of 5 and am not so keen on watching it again.