Taking in Amazon’s new Batman: Caped Crusader series one thing is clear. The producers made character changes for the sake of making changes. The alterations don’t enhance any of the characters or build them up so one wonders why they went to such great lengths to do so? It is especially mind-boggling why they would ruin the looks of many of them. Their depictions were way better in Batman: The Animated Series or The Batman.
It appears to be another trip to South Park’s Panderverse but any fan of the original live action Batman TV series saw many characters change over time. Most notably, the Catwoman was played by Lee Meriwether, Eartha Kitt and Julie Newmar. Frank Gorshin and John Astin both played The Riddler. George Sanders, Otto Preminger and Eli Wallach were Mr. Freeze at different times.
If one can get past the character swapping there are some good stories to take in and that’s because Bruce Timm and J. J. Abrams are at the helm. Timm was the producer, the creative force behind some of the greatest animated series including Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League. Unfortunately, Cape Crusader falls short of those landmark shows simply because it cannot get out of its own way. It often tries to do too much, cram too much into its 25 minute episodes and often the focus is off the title character for unreasonable amounts of time. There some good stories here but there aren’t enough of them and they aren’t particularly mind-blowing either.
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