Batman vs. Two-Face

As with "Return of the Caped Crusaders", I kept procrastinating my viewing of "Batman vs. Two-Face". Because this is Adam West's last film role though, I committed to seeing it at some point. Upon finally sitting down and taking in the show, it was just as good as its animated predecessor. I think of it more as a stand-alone sequel actually. The plot is better than "Return of the Caped Crusaders" but the sense of nostalgia is not as strong as before, something that can't be helped as a sequel.

Unlike the some of the other villains in this animated film, there is no live action 60's TV counterpart for Two-Face. The character was considered for the original Adam West show with Clint Eastwood in mind (if only...if only). This gave the animation team license to create a Harvey Dent that bears a strong resemblance to the actor who voices him in this film. The origin of Harvey's coin is original for this film if I'm not mistaken. I thought Hugo Strange's assistant looked familiar and apparently on the Blu-ray version of "Batman vs. Two-Face", we get another scene regarding that. This film has some great moments such as "the slap". It is a perfect blend of 21st Century humour with a 1960's-style film. Another hilarious moment was the line "Go to your room." I can't believe Adam West performed it as hilariously as he did. The tone he used is so fatherly that you almost die laughing when he says it. The filmmakers also found use for the giant coin. As mentioned, the filmmakers had a better story in this film than in "Return of the Caped Crusaders" and the plot twist was a large part of that. I had to rewind to see how I was fooled. There was a plot hole however when Two-Face hit Robin from behind. Another flaw was how Two-Face survived plane crash and could run away from it. These two animated "Bright Knight" films are all about exploiting clichés and characteristics of the 1960's TV show and film but since then, it has become too cliché for Batman to use Two-Face's coin against him. When that happened in this show, it did negatively affect my enjoyment. At least the movie concluded with yet another great line.

The best quality of this animated film is that it features two titans of 60's television with William Shatner as the voice of Harvey Dent and Two-Face. I think we can all agree that Adam West's last film role needed to be something like this. He became famous as Batman and has now concluded his career voicing the same hero. The other returning cast members did their jobs well. "Batman vs. Two-Face" contains some drama just like its precursor but I think the story was a bit better this time. I enjoyed the nostalgia more in "Return of the Caped Crusaders" though. I am grateful to DC Entertainment for making these unintended sendoffs to a much-loved incarnation of the Dynamic Duo.

3.5 Stars out of 5