Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts

[Decepticonus]

Hold up... the box says for ages 13 & up. Really? REALLY? This looks perfectly fine for my 4 year old nephew.

 

[godisawesome]

Well, either the toy needs the recommendation, they feel they have to suggest it's PG13 to get attention, or it actually has enough violence and adult bonus humor to raise it. Probably one of the former two.

 

[Mandon Knight]

I'm thinking it's for the Bat based toy that comes with it and could be a choke hazard for younger viewers.

 

[Decepticonus]

I'm thinking it's for the Bat based toy that comes with it and could be a choke hazard for younger viewers.

Really? That's usually ages 5 and up for children, unless they think all children under the age of 13 are idiots.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Is this a new animated movie or series?

 

[StarLord]

It's a movie based off the 'Batman Unlimited' toy line, I think.

 

[Lencho01]

[YT]nsFodzeNKpE[/YT]

 

[Lencho01]

Friedle Talks Bringing Nightwing to Life for "Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts"

 

[godisawesome]

Friedle Talks Bringing Nightwing to Life for "Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts"

Will Friedle is Nightwing?!?!

That.....is perfect casting.

We need to see him do this role again and again.

 

[Lencho01]

[YT]tSUG4aLqVOQ[/YT]

 

[Destructus86]

um.....so...i'm almost ashamed to admit it but I actually want to see this. It reminds me of the Justice League Unlimited days as far as animation/art style...which I LOVED.

 

[godisawesome]

Watched it. Liked it. Tone was kind of like an odd throwback to early BTAS with the setting of Batman Beyond. Penguin was a little one dimensional, but that dimension did include a strong reasoning for him being the way he is. Nightwing and Friedle are a perfect match; seriously, they need to keep that casting in some upcoming movie and let him handle the character.

Did anybody else think this movie almost looked like its Green Arrow was just an older version of the one from the DC Nation shorts?

And as a Tim fanboy, it's so good to see him with an awkward, geeky sense of humor, cowl, and bo staff. And he acted like Tim in the Red Robin series, albeit still predominantly as a sidekick.

I'd love it of we got to see multiple Batgirls all stat-maxed in the next one.

 

[Lencho01]

I thought this was ok. Not as fun as JLA Adventures. Of course, Batman sounded better to me than the regular animated films they're doing.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Let's not be under any illusions regarding this latest Direct-to-DVD effort from Warner Bros Animation. All of the teenagers and young adults who sit on these message boards anticipating the latest DC product and dissecting every little detail, including designs, voice actors, cover art and even complaining about the crew that's been assembled, mean very little to Warner Bros. This is a movie that's so clearly constructed around that 6-11 demographic, that you could almost have a checklist on hand whilst watching it and tick off all the familiar tropes that cater to that audience.

And honestly... what's wrong with that?

As with most WB productions, Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts is expertly made, with a fun little story and perfectly fine animation, producing a slick final product. Is it one of their best? Absolutely not, but it does its job and does it well. After all, who could blame WB for going down this path with one of their most beloved characters. Beware the Batman crashed and burned (I'm still missing that great show) and any other action adventure show they've tried simply hasn't worked on television. There's been a lack of promotion on CN's part, lack of retailer interest in any merchandise and a fan base that seems to be dwindling all the time.

So what would any smart business do? Push a generic, easily malleable BATMAN toy-line on the shelves, with an equally generic name (Unlimited: when in doubt, huh?), that allows them to utilize the character's expansive library of villains and sidekicks, while also incorporating wild robotic animals... because, you know, kids love that stuff. Then create formulaic and ''toyetic'' DTV's and online shorts that promotes the toy-line, exposes the character some more and all the while keeps it within WB's own sand-box, where they don't have to worry about ratings or network meddling.

But I digress, back to the movie at hand... Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts is a passable and somewhat entertaining Batman adventure that fills it's 77 minute runtime nicely. As mentioned, the storyline is merely in service of the toy-line, but Heath Corson does a fine job of at least keeping it entertaining and not too juvenile. Batman alongside Nightwing, Red Robin and WB's two newest stars, Green Arrow and The Flash to take down The Penguin and his ''Animilitia'' (Silverback, Cheetah, Killer Croc and Man-Bat). Batman and Co. must prevent The Penguin's nefarious plan of changing the trajectory of a gold asteroid, in order for it to destroy Gotham and all who mocked him living within it, thus allowing him to have his revenge and the fragments of gold left behind. Action, suspense and a little bit of comedy ensue.

The dialogue is fine for the most part and the characterizations are mostly true to the spirit of the comics. Batman is handled particularly well, sporting his usual stoic personality and serious demeanour without coming across as snarky and brash. Credit has to go to Roger Craig Smith for delivering a highly effective vocal performance as the Caped Crusader, who as others pointed out, is like a less raspy Kevin Conroy. Overall, Wes Gleason has assembled a wonderful, experienced cast who knows what they are doing and never falters. It was a joy to hear Alastair Duncan back as Alfred Pennyworth, as I always thought he was one of the better elements of the old The Batman show and he more than deserved this little reprieve (even if it was a short one).

Speaking of The Batman, the design work seemed highly reminiscent of Jeff Matsuda's work to me and it worked wonders for the movie. This product didn't need that quasi-anime style thing that Phil Bourassa is currently going for, but rather, the more simple and streamlined work of a Bruce Timm or Glen Murakami. Once you get past Batman's need for multiple outfits (In stores now, kids!), the whole aesthetic works pretty well, even if the chin guards seem slightly superfluous. I loved the Batman Beyond inspired backgrounds which simply added a new flavour to Batman animation. Bruce Wayne in a Batman Beyond setting? Why not? It's different. The animation itself was serviceable, with some nice staging and effectively blended CGI elements.

The music was just... there for me. I guess it doesn't help that I watched a few episodes of Batman: The Animated Series the night before. Shirley Walker and Co. spoiled us all.

All of which brings me to my final point. Naturally, I'm recommending this movie as it's fun, vibrant and a great Batman adventure for the younger ones in the audience, but remember when animation strove to reach as wide an audience as possible? Back when WB and other companies didn't feel like delineating between children's animation and ''adult'' animation? Back when I was growing up, being highly entertained by smart, sophisticated and challenging shows like Batman: The Animated Series, Gargoyles and many, many others, there seemed to be less of a need to wrap us in cotton wool and shove a Batman riding a mechanized dog in our face to make us appreciate the works that were on the screen. Kids haven't gotten less intelligent, so I'm guessing something else happened in the last 10 years.
[FONT=&quot]
Anyway, I'm going to go wallow in nostalgia, but everyone else should go and pick up Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts. It's fine Batman entertainment and is at least worth one watch. Here's to Monster Mayhem.[/FONT]

 

[LastActionHero]

It kinda reminds me of the animated justice league show on cartoon network. It's nothing spectacular but you won't be entirely bored either. It's... entertaining.

 

[StarLord]

I watched Animal Instincts earlier this afternoon and enjoyed it, quite a lot actually!

The action kicks off pretty much from the get-go and never really stops, I guess the demographic is a big part of why it's so non-stop but that didn't bother me as I was hooked the entire time. The super villain animal-based group aka ''Animilitia'' were cool, soft spot for Cheetah , and it was also neat to see The Flash and Green Arrow in the mix too.

Recommended for fun. It's Batman! What's not to like?!

 

[Grommers]

It's a very simple story - still enjoyable. Nothing too mind blowing, but just enough too be reminiscent of the JL t.v. show.

 

[BH/HHH]

Have just watched this for this first time, from the opening I got huge Batman Beyond vibes, then we see Batman in what is essentially the Batman Beyond costume. Must admit that was very cool to see. Kind of made me wish he'd stayed in that and not switched to the grey at all but the film was obviously made to sell toys so the more different costumes the more action figures they can produce the better for business. I'm unsure how I felt about Roger Craig Smith as Batman/Bruce Wayne, maybe it's just because I wasn't used to it but it didn't quite sound right. I did live the Batmobile, whoever chose that design chose correctly it might be my favourite animated Batmobile.

Batman and his (young) Justice League was actually an idea Bruce Timm had back in the late 90s (maybe early 2000s), it's nice to see that idea fully realised in the form of an animated film (I'm yet to see the second one). I actually really like this idea and I think they did a good job with it.

It awesome to hear Will Friedle voice Nightwing, I loved Nightwing's design too. Speaking of the designs I wasn't keen on The Flash's design, the goggles looked off and the ears. They did some awesome sequences with his speed too that looked great. The best thing though was to hear Charlie Schlatter reprise the role from the Flash's appearances on Superman the Animated Series and The Batman, he always does a stellar job. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Nightwing and the Flash too, made for some great ,On my way! ts of humour.

Green Arrow I really liked, although in design hood was a little strange but I thought the voice was terrific and I like that he's the other experienced hero alongside Batman in this team. I live Yuri Lowenthal and he was great as Red Robin, whose design I actually liked. The Penguin in both design and voice wasn't to my liking but it made sense for the story especially the scene with the thugs and his overall public facade. The rest of the voices and designed were fine.

I guess the story was serviceable although the Penguin wanting acceptance I liked, kind of took me back to Batman Returns. The fight scenes hit a little repetitive but some of the sequences were very cool.

Overall though I thought the animation was superb but I wasn't a huge fan of the musical choices at times. The Batman Beyond vibe was a huge plus for me and really helped my enjoyment. It was obviously more of an animated film for kids but I still dug it. I would say I think it could have been a bit shorter, maybe just a straight 60 minutes but honestly the film's running time issues are in the early parts of the film. It's biggest strength is it actually gets better as the film goes on.

I don't think it's fair to compare this to the DC Animated Universe films (although in all honesty it was far better than any of the latest Batman entries in that universe) but I would compare it to something like JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time (seriously why have we not had a sequel?) and it falls a little short of that but it's still a decent movie and I'd rate it 7/10

 

[superhero]

if you like this movie they got another Batman Unlimited called monster maytham:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5509uVpIR_Y