I binged it this evening. It was mostly fine…but it also felt like a series that was trying to “have its cake and eat it too” in a number of areas.
But I need to make this bit known before getting into the nitty gritty of my thoughts: You guys know I’m a fairly liberal guy, so there’s a lot of “progressive” concepts that, on their own, I don’t mind. What I AM, though, is a stickler for accuracy and authenticity. For a show set in the 30-40s, characters of color and women would NOT be in positions of authority. The LGBT+ characters would NOT be so open about a relationship. Going to my initial statement, I have no problems with any of those in and of themselves. My problem comes from their insistence on being set in a “early 20th Century” and presenting those concepts. And unlike BTAS, the production design does nothing to build that “other reality” of contrasting concepts existing in the same world.
I felt the production design and direction were fairly sterile. Not BAD…but definitely unambitious. Aside from the cars, you could plop any of those background city shots into any DC Animated feature and they wouldn’t be out of place. There is no personality to most of the world, while the direction is competent, it never really plays into its own hype about being a “moody, pulpy” series. It’s not without its moments (The Gentleman Ghost episode being a standout), but it just all feels “competent”. Going back to that “authenticity” fuss I have, I was shocked at how “clean” the violence was. I’m not asking for a gorefest, but presentation of the violence was almost comically “safe”. Plus, being in the early 20th century, the lack of smoking (even for ambiance) was a noticeable omission.
They have a TV-14 rating, but it was damned hard to see its content push beyond TV-PG, if that at times.
In a broad sense, the series has a tendency to “minimize” Batman’s presence in his own series. While it got better, there were several early episodes where he seemed to be a more “reactive” element and it felt much of the actual story drive was being done by other character with Batman being a secondary character. The stories were also not short on Easter eggs, some of which got to the point of being distracting (especially episode 8 and its constant name drops of Robins). Some of these MIGHT pay off later, one was a great red herring, and most seem there for the indulgence.
All that said….
It WAS a generally enjoyable series. My complaints about authenticity and content oddness aside…the actual scripts were generally pretty good. Some of the changes DID make for some nicely compelling twists on existing characters. They new take on Harley Quinn didn’t do much for me, but the old school Clayface was great. I actually DO love what they did with Penguin. Mocking over the name aside, it was a fun reinvention that was still true to the nature of character. Barbara Gordon being a lawyer actually gives her agency in the plots.
And the voice cast were, broadly, excellent. The generic mob voice work got grating, but seemed to disappear after a few episodes. Linklater’s Batman is good, though his Bruce was bit more hit-or-miss. The principals were solid all around, but Bader’s Harvey Dent/Two Face was especially fine work. His take was fresh and compelling without retreading what Richard Moll did 30 years ago. It really was a fantastic run, and if nothing else, I’d recommend watching the last couple episodes to get the most of his performance.
I think what ultimately left me hanging with Caped Crusader was how…safe…the whole thing was. Compared to My Adventures With Superman, which took some chances and cast the show through an anime-esque vibe, Caped Crusader comes across as “Hey, remember that Batman cartoon you watched as a kid? Well here’s a new one done by the same guy, but now they curse and bleed!”.
It’s by no means a bad series. Several of the episodes are fun and the voice acting is generally on point (Again, Bader’s Dent is REALLY good). But it doesn’t tread any particularly new ground, it doesn’t really seem to take advantage of its setting (aside from limiting the tools Batman has) and is often anachronistic to it, and the production design and direction are often dull.
With only 10 episodes, it’s not a huge commitment but not worth paying for Prime to see it.
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