Customer Reviews

Batman Beyond: Season 2

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I remember watching BATMAN BEYOND when I was a little child. I still enjoy it, and I can tell you that it is a great series. If you like BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, JUSTICE LEAGUE, JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED, STATIC SHOCK, and THE ZETA PROJECT...then you'll love this! While I have not seen all of the episodes, I have seen some. But, being the Season Two box-set, I already know what episodes are going to be in this - all of Season Two's episodes!

Here is a list of the episodes featured in "Batman Beyond: Season Two."

1. Splicers
2. Earth Mover
3. Joyride
4. Lost Soul
5. Hidden Agenda
6. Bloodsport
7. Once Burned
8. Hooked Up
9. Rats
10. Mind Games
11. Revenant
12. Babel
13. Terry's Friend Dates a Robot
14. Eyewitness
15. Final Cut
16. The Last Resort
17. Armory
18. Sneak Peek
19. The Eggbaby
20. Zeta
21. Plague
22. April Moon
23. Sentries of the Last Cosmos
24. Payback
25. Where's Terry?
26. Ace in the Hole

I hope you make a wise choice and purchase this item. Trust me, this is a true collector's item for any DC Animated Universe fan.

With Season One, "Batman Beyond" had gained a new following of Batfans by successfully expanding the Batman mythos with the introduction of new, younger Dark Knight Terry McGinnis. The presence of old Bruce Wayne as mentor to the new hero for a new era not only provided the series with a linchpin, but also allowed the producers to do something new with the character, but still stay true to the Bruce Wayne/Batman legend.

For Season Two, the series creators' intent, according to producer Bruce Timm, was to focus a little bit more on Terry and a little bit less on Bruce, believing [from focus groups they'd done with the series, and their own instincts] that the teenage kids watching the show were much more interested in Terry than in Bruce, given it was TERRY'S show now. To that end, Terry reluctantly gets his own confidante/sidekick in schoolmate Maxine "Max" Gibson (Cree Summer), a computer genius who stumbles upon his secret identity in "Hidden Agenda". "You call me Robin, and I'm outta here," Max warns. Terry coyly responds with "No problem...Alfred". To her credit, Max [at given times] proved to be quite useful to Terry: covering for him to girlfriend Dana, babysitting younger brother Matt, plus employing her technical skills. Also included in this set is "Once Burned" featuring the return of Melanie/Ten (Terry's own Selina Kyle/Catwoman) and the Royal Flush Gang; "Blood Sport", "Sneak Peek", and runaway robot "Zeta" which was spun-off into the short-lived series "The Zeta Project".

Batman Beyond - Season Two is a 4-disc (544 min.) set featuring all 26 Season Two episodes; Full-Frame (1.33:1) video; English Dolby Digital Stereo audio; Spanish, French subtitles; plus extras.

Disc One: Splicers, Earth Mover, Joyride, Lost Soul, Hidden Agenda, Blood Sport, Once Burned
Disc Two: Hooked Up, Rats, Mind Games, Revenant, Babel, Terry's Friend Dates A Robot
Disc Three: Eyewitness, Final Cut, The Last Resort, Armory, Sneak Peek, The Eggbaby, Zeta
Disc Four: Plague, April Moon, Sentries of the Lost Cosmos, Payback, Where's Terry?, Ace in the Hole

Special Features:
Featurette: "Inside Batman Beyond - The Panel": Batman Beyond Season Two panel discussion continues with Bruce Timm (Producer), Alan Burnett (Producer), Glen Murakami (Producer), Paul Dini (Producer) and Moderator Jason Hillhouse

Commentary: "Splicers" by Bruce Timm (Producer), James Tucker (commentator replacement for director Curt Geda), Glen Murakami (Producer), Andrea Romano (Voice Director) and Will Friedle ("Terry McGinnis/Batman" Voice)

Commentary: "The Eggbaby" by Bruce Timm (Producer), James Tucker (Director), Glen Maurakami (Producer), Andrea Romano (Voice Director) and Will Friedle ("Terry McGinnis/Batman" Voice)


Highly Recommended!

I've got to agree with other reviewers that, after Season One, Season Two is a letdown. You can get a sense of this from the Added Features that frame the 4-DVD set.

The first episode, "Splicers," gets good commentary from the actors and other interested parties, including Will Friedle's description of how he distinguished vocally between Terry and Batman. There are also appreciations of fellow voice actors in the series, including the late Paul Winfield. But "Splicers" itself is terribly derivative, an unimaginative imitation of Season One's "The Winning Edge."

Disk 4 gives us an interview with four of the series producers, who confirm that they were charged with (1) introducing a new character (Max), (2) making the stories more "high school" and Terry-centered, less "crime comics"/Batman-centered, and (3) reducing the reliance on corporate baddies. All these they did, with the result that the stories are, more often than not, vehicles for long-term character and relationship development.

That's not bad, if the characters are interesting, which often they are. But I don't hear much excitement from the producers, except when it comes to "Earth Mover," a "return from the grave" story reminiscent of EC Comics. There's also some talk about the younger cartoonists not knowing Jack Kirby's work. But does that really explain why the artwork is, in general, pretty slack in the second season?

In addition to Max, new characters in Season Two include Stalker (Terry's nemesis in "Blood Sport," his ally in "Plague"), the incapable-of-introspection schlump Howard Groot, and one real gem, Stanley "Mad Stan" Labowski, voiced to perfection by Henry Rollins. Catch him in "Rats" and "Eyewitness," two episodes that seem to have caught the imagination of artists, writers, and actors alike.

The season's emphasis on high school brings us some good comedy--best being "The Eggbaby"--and effectively shifts antagonism away from the corporate and toward the family. "Hooked Up," an addiction drama like "The Winning Edge," gives us affecting portrayals of troubled or neglected kids' compensatory fantasies. "Armory" shows what happens to the rich family of Season One's "Spellbound" when all-sufficient Dad loses his job. In "The Last Resort" family and corporation collaborate as betrayers and oppressors. In the better-drawn, better-imagined episodes, I get a fuller sense of who Terry and Max are: working-class kids living in the projects: architectural design can be traced to London's Barbican, and sometimes you can see the bubbles in the cast concrete, a reminder of Le Corbusier.

A final word. I like the dark, creepy side of "Batman Beyond," so my personal recommendations are "Mind Games" and "April Moon." The first is a take on the classic anime "Akira." The second is film noir, predictable, but with an ending almost as good as that of Season One's "Disappearing Inque." Looking forward to Season Three.

Batman Beyond is a bright spot among superhero cartoons. Unfortunately, this second season isn't quite as good as the exceptional first season. Nonetheless, this is a great show, with top-noch animation and voice acting. If you've enjoyed the first season, defnitely pick this up. Batman Beyond is a fantastic show that anyone who likes cartoons and comics will enjoy.

Batman Beyond's second season expands on the storyline first, developing the character of Terry McGuiness and exploring his universe. A great box set with 26 solid episodes Every Bat fan has to pick this one up.

While some viewers see the introduction of Maxine Gibson as a sidekick and the shift in focus to more high school centered storylines as decline in quality, I see it as part of the natural course in storytelling. Batman Beyond is the story of Terry's Batman, not Bruce. He can't spend all his time fighting corporate villains like Blight and juggling a full high school course load. To me the gradual shift in focus allows us to see how much Terry is growing into the role of Batman. Some viewers seem to forget that Terry is only 17, and he did have a life before donning the Batsuit. He has to reconcile his personal life as a son, a student, and a boyfriend with his present role as a superhero.

The entire season is great. Standout episodes include Earth Mover (If you like your Batman stories EXTRA EXTRA DARK this one is for you) Babel, (An episode with a wonderful parallel to I am Night) Eyewitness, (a great detective story) Terry's Friend Dates a Robot (Cheesy but I like the fact that it's just so funny) Rats (Just plain creepy) Armory (just a solid episode all throughout) and the noirish April Moon. Every episode is action packed and a lot of fun for both kids and adults to watch.

Batman Beyond's second season is a Shawn James Five Star essential box set. It's well worth the price and maybe a little more. If you're a fan of the Timmverse, you have to get this. While you're at it, pick up season 1 and the upcoming season three. And don't forget to pick up Return of the Joker to complete the set!

I have watched many animated series and nothing comes close to this. I am a music composer, producer and film student as well as a
multi media programmer and I have to say the studio work alone is well worth the purchase of this series.
The sound tracks and sound effects are perfectly done. This series was done very well and there has been nothing since to duplicate the quality of this series. The stories
are well written for the demographic this series is projected to. I've read other reviews and have to say some are right on the money while others over analyze and should stick
to reading statistics or counting beans. For me, being in the media creation business I am impressed with this series. The sound designing, animation and story writing are no easy task for
a specific demographic and this series does it very very well. This series is well produced, written and delivered as a finished product.. I have seen
nothing that even comes close to this series to this day in 2009. Either animation creators are lazy nowadays or this series was so great it
continues to crush the competition.

To sum it up, Great series, a must buy for any adult or child fan of batman.

I have three kids, and two of them are Batman fanatics. They got a lot of viewing time from this set (and season one, as well). The graphics are good and the storylines are usually better than average for this genre. A good entertainment option.

Season 2 lacks some of the artistry found in season one, though it has inspired moments. "Earthmover" is a fantastic episode, and the music in "Sentries of the Last Cosmos" is awesome.

I don't understand why people did not catch on with this series. I think maybe many in the audience could not comprehend the original Batman being an old man, and having a newcomer take his place but from Series Theme(WHAT A GREAT FANTASTIC BATMAN THEME, I play it loud all the time.) to the writing is exceptional. I wish people would take a chance on this great animated series.

I just finished watching the last episode of Batman Beyond, Season 2. I thoroughly enjoyed all 13 episodes of Season 1 and could not wait to get my hands on Season 2. But now that I have, I'd have to agree with reviewer Eric's opinion (on this page) that the show seemed to lose focus in the second season.

I disagree (mostly) with his suggestion that it is due to the introduction of the Max Gibson character; I like Max's character and the 'energy' that she brings to the show. Besides, the creators are always visibly at pains to remind us that, unlike his predecessor, Terry is only a fragile teenager and has to deal with the pressures of adolesence on top of battling supervillains. It seems pretty plausible that he would need someone to lean on to ease the weight of his secret, more than a Bruce Wayne would. That said, I still found it ironic that two of the better episodes - 'Payback' and 'Ace in the Hole' - happened to have little or no involvement of Max's character.

Eric was right on the money, though, in arguing that the season's ills had to do with the lack of an underlying storyline to hold everything together, and even moreso with the weakness of this season's villains. UGH! I always found that the strength of this show lay in the coolness of its supervillains. The element of science fiction always separated it from Warner Bros' previous Batman and Superman installments. But several of the villains in this season were lame and weak, and in the case of 'Eggbaby', just downright cheesy. I loathed the 'Joyride' episode.

I think that overall the creators struggled to find new and convincing storylines - maybe it was all of the pressure and stringencies from the network. The action becomes annoyingly predictable in certain instances. I was also struck by how inept they seemed to make Terry's Batman in this season; in several instances, he gets jammed after he simply attempts to walk straight into the villain's hideout (see 'Ace In The Hole' for a classic example). So much for stealth...maybe he should keep that cloaking device switched on permanently!

Still, there are high points here:

- 'Mind Games' features one of the best action sequences I've ever seen in a cartoon.
- 'Eggbaby' has a great storyline, despite the cheesiness of the villain(s)
- Payback would've/could've been a great villain, if not for his immaturity and the one-time nature of his character.
- 'Ace In The Hole', I found, also brought something fresh and new to the table in terms of plots for animated action series.

Overall, you may be able to tell that the strength of this season is not in its concepts or in the action. Buy this if you're a fan of the series; otherwise cop Season 1, and wait for Season 3.