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Writer's pictureKen Silvers

Batman: The Long Halloween Part 2


Back in July I discussed "Batman: The Long Halloween Part 1", and now that part 2 of the animated film has been released it's time for a follow up. If you saw the ending of the first film you know the villainess Poison Ivy (voiced by Katee Scakhoff) took control of Bruce Wayne (voiced by Jensen Ackles) leaving fans anxious for the concluding chapter of the film. The fist film featured a battle between two Gotham City crime families, and one of the families, headed by Carmine Falcone, has Poison Ivy forcing Wayne to sign his wealth over the the Falcone dynasty. Before Bruce signs over his holdings to Falcone, Catwoman comes to the rescue and thwarts Ivy's efforts. While Bruce was out of commission, the Holiday killings of the first film have continued in the new film, this time happening on Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day and April Fool's Day, and have targeted both the Falcone and Maroins crime families. Once Bruce has been freed, he can once again investigate as Batman, and when the Dark Knight is back in action, a new murder occuring on Mother's Day. The same evening of the murder, the Scarecrow (voiced by Robin Atkin Downes) escapes from Arkham Asylum, and has a fight with Batman. The fight does not end well for Batman who ends up being injected with a fear toxin courtesy of Scarecrow. Batman ends up in Crime Alley in a fear induced state, and is once again rescued by Catwoman (voiced by the late Naya Rivera). Thank goodness Catwoman has been around to rescue Bruce from two perilous situations. While the Holiday killings continue on Father's Day, the Fourth of July, and Labour Day, other characters show up, including Falcone's daughter Sofia, and the Mad Hatter, who teams up with Scarecrow. Meanwhile, the story line of Harvey Dent as his eventual change into the villain Two-Face is carried over from Part 1, and his relationship with Batman and Commissioner Gordon becomes strained. Dent's story, as Batman fans know, is tragic and is made even more so when we see his often strained marriage. The film also features Solomon Grundy (voiced by Fred Tatasciore), a zombie-like character who dwells in the sewers of Gotham City. Grundy has helped various inmates of Arkham escape, and they plan an attack on Falcone's building. Poison Ivy, Mad Hatter and Scarecrow attack part of the city to distract the police, in order to allow Grundy, the Joker (Troy Baker), and the Penguin (David Dastmalchian) to capture Falcone and supposedly kill his daughter Sofia. There is a lot of mystery and intrigue occurring in this film, with characters galore adding to the fun. Of course in the end the identity of the Holiday killer is revealed, and is a bit shocking. The film ends, as it began, on Halloween night, and this time the ending is happy with Bruce and Selina watching Alfred hand out some candy to trick or treaters. Don't miss the post-credits scene, which sets up a follow-up film which I strongly feel will be a Justice League effort. I remember when I read the original 13-issue comic back in 1996(!), I felt the storyline would make a great live-action or animated film. Thankfully many years later we have an animated version of the popular and critically acclaimed story line. I do find it odd the first part of the film was rated PG-13, but the second part is rated R. I supposed the heightened violence of the second part led to the rating. Nevertheless, when taken as a whole film, "Batman: The Long Halloween" Part 1 and 2 is one of the best efforts from the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series. On Blu-ray and streaming on various outlets including Apple TV. (Rated R)

5/5

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