Batman: The Telltale Series – An Exploration of the Wayne Legacy and Trauma

“Batman: The Telltale Series” was a game and story that was so close to being great. This is a story that has interesting twists on characters that makes them compelling (Penguin, Vicki Vale) and also explores Bruce and the Wayne legacy in a compelling manner. If you are interested in a really good Batman story you should really check this out. My only issues with it were a contrived love triangle and the fact that it felt like the decisions you make don’t matter as much as they could have. This was the first of the Telltale Batman games and I do intend to review “The Enemy Within” at a later date. I played the “Shadows Edition” which gave it a cool noir filter.

The game was developed and published by Telltale Games.

The story follows Bruce Wayne/Batman (Troy Baker) as he investigates the mysterious Children of Arkham when his childhood friend Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin (Jason Spisak) warns Bruce about the coming revolution.

SPOILERS ahead

The Pros:

Gotham – The city of Gotham is a compelling character in and of itself, as every Batman story usually explores to some degree. This is a city that has been dying and corrupt for a long time and in this game you get to see how far back it goes and just how the wealthy stayed wealthy in Gotham. This narrative and mystery is a good setup for why groups like the Children of Arkham would arise as you see the motives behind the leaders of the different factions that are vying for control of the city.

The Gameplay – The gameplay is a lot of fun and more complex than the quick time events of “The Wolf Among Us.” Here Batman gets to be a detective and connect objects around crime scenes and put together what happened with the holotech inside his cowl. This is a fun and there are more variety to quicktime events too as you can plan your means of attack.

The Characters – This a Telltale game and characters are what they usually excel at. Here there are a few characters I won’t go into simply because they have no complexity and those are Carmine Falcone and Mayor Hill. Both are just greedy murders who end up killed by the Children of Arkham. Everyone else is given dimension except for them and Thomas Wayne.

Renee Montoya – Renee starts out hating Batman for making the police’s job more difficult but comes around after you save her and help her be declared innocent for the murder of Falcone, who she had murdered when under Lady Arkham’s drug. She kind of disappears after getting her name cleared which is a shame as I was hoping she’d become the Question in this series.

James Gordon – Gordon goes from being a lieutenant to commissioner over the course of the game and is both Bruce and Batman’s stalwart ally. He has some great jokes too as his heart is in the right place but he is still cynical as hell. I wish he and Bruce or Bruce as Batman could have talked to him more. It is during his acceptance speech an assassination is made on Bruce but wouldn’t be surprised if Gordon had also been a target.

“John Doe” – “John Doe” is the proto-Joker of this series and he even looks like the Joker from the get-go. The difference is is that while Harvey Dent has you locked up in Gotham when you are drugged to attack Penguin after his takeover of Wayne Enterprises he is your only friend. You can obviously never fully trust him but he is helpful during your time in Arkham and helps you figure out how to stop Lady Arkham. He is shown at the end out of Arkham so I’m curious to see where that story goes.

Vicki Vale/Lady Arkham – Vicki Vale is a tragic figure who reminded me a lot of Scarecrow. Her aesthetic is fear, her mask even looks like a Scarecrow mask and her motives arose out of the abuse suffered under her foster parents the Vales, which was a similar motive (parental abuse) for Jonathan Crane. Her true name is Vicki Arkham and Thomas Wayne killed her parents. She is usually one step ahead of Batman as she is under her reporter guise through most of the game so is able to get information and turn the public against Bruce. I wish she could have been saved too.

Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin – This is my favorite version of Penguin outside of the one from the “Gotham” tv series. This Penguin is a fighter who has every reason to hate Bruce Wayne (Thomas Wayne killed and tortured his mother) and he believes in the cause of the Children of Arkham. He isn’t just using them to takeover Wayne Enterprises, that just ends up being one of the benefits. I wish the game would have let you change him in some way though as all he has left is his rage against Gotham and the Waynes. He also is one of the best fights in the game as you take him out in Wayne Tower as he uses the Children of Arkham and the Wayne Tech. against you. Jason Spisak did a fantastic job voicing him. I hope he shows up in the next game.

Alfred Pennyworth – Alfred Pennyworth is Bruce’s surrogate dad and a man full of regret for not working with Martha to stop Thomas Wayne and his crimes. He is always looking out for you and is the angel on Bruce’s shoulder when it comes to character choice. He is also balanced in his perspective too on where Batman or Bruce is needed. In the end you have to rescue him from Lady Arkham and it makes sense as he is the heart of the game.

Selina Kyle/Catwoman – Laura Bailey is great as the cynical thief Catwoman who ends up teaming up with Bruce and Batman on multiple occasions against the Children of Arkham. She starts out working for them until they turn on her and eventually leaves town. She can have a romance with Bruce, which I did and it is sweet and captures the characters well. I’m hoping it pays off in the later game as her and Batman make an awesome due. Them teaming up together were some of the best parts of the game. We figured out one another’s secret identities in our first conversation as Selina and Bruce too, which was pretty awesome.

The Children of Arkham and Trauma – The Children of Arkham were an activist organization protesting against the experiments done by the powerful and Thomas Wayne on the people in Arkham and to Mayor Hill and Falcone’s enemies. You can see why they want to free those trapped in Arkham and why they want to take out the corrupt. It makes them a compelling enemy they just took things way too far with murder when Lady Arkham took control of the once peaceful organization.

Bruce Wayne/Batman and his Family’s Legacy – This game is all about Bruce facing his family legacy as you learn about the trinity of corruption of Mayor Hill, Falcone and Thomas Wayne who experimented and murdered families to keep their power. Bruce’s arc is taking accountability for this legacy and taking action to show he is more than his father. You learn from Alfred that Martha and him were thinking of running away and trying to take Thomas Wayne and his corruption down, but it never happens as the murder by Joe Chill happened under Mayor Hill’s orders. I loved seeing Bruce’s arc here and I chose compassion whenever I could. My Batman was in many ways more like Peter Parker at his best, which was fun and it made his romance with the cynical Selina Kyle and sweet. I made my Bruce one who believes in people and will go as Bruce Wayne when he can and only as Batman when needed.

Okay:

Harvey Dent/Two-Face – Harvey Dent/Two Face has a great design and some good scenes with Bruce but he turns on you really quickly when you start losing the respect from the public and he still asks for money to fund his campaign. His desperation doesn’t fit because we never see the why. His takeover of Gotham as Two-Face was compelling though as he blows up a city block to fight the Children of Gotham which is one of the few fascist stories I can think of to come out this universe. In the end he burns the Wayne Manor and you can talk him down as Bruce or Batman but by the end Two-Face has fully taken over Harvey’s mind.

The Cons:

Harvey Dent’s Missing Past – Harvey Dent and the history behind his coin and split personality is never explored. In the comics he had an abusive father and it was his way of dealing, here we don’t get that so the setup of him becoming Two-Face isn’t as strong. It was the background needed for the character choices he makes to work.

The Love Triangle – Harvey, Bruce and Selina are in a love triangle and I hate it. It is used as the reason for Harvey becoming Two-Face which is lame as both Selina and Harvey were shown to be more mature than that as characters. I wish this had been cut out so that the Selina and Bruce relationship could have been given the time to develop it needed.

The Cliffhanger Ending – James Gordon is sworn in as commissioner and you arrive as Batman or Bruce (I chose Bruce) when an assassination attempt occurs. After it jumps to “John Doe” free from Arkham as he plans to see Bruce again, implying he might have been behind it. I hate this for a few reasons. “John Doe” was shown to be compassionate in Arkham so what changed and of course, the cliffhanger hurts the consequence of Bruce being accountable for his family’s past to Gotham.

Lack of Change – Renee Montoya is the only character who changes her mind based off Batman or Bruce’s actions. Penguin, Catwoman, Lady Arkham…none of what you does matters in the end as their decisions and characters are set in stone, no matter what you do.

I highly recommend this game to any fan of Batman and the stories surrounding him and Gotham. This game has so many unique takes and twists that I wanted it to do more than it did. It had so much setup that I wish we could have had more characters change their perspective. Lets see if that happens in “The Enemy Within” as the story isn’t over yet and I’m curious where the cliffhanger ending will lead.

Final Score: 8.8 / 10 Nearly great, just needed to develop or cut out a few things.

Batman (1989): A Flawed and Amazing Exploration of Revenge and Identity

   Tim Burton’s “Batman” was my introduction to DC and the Batman Universe outside of “Batman: The Animated Series.” It has also been years since I have watched this film so it was great coming to it with fresh eyes as even though it is a favorite film, it has a lot of glaring flaws that bring down my overall experience of the story. What those flaws are, I’ll get into deeper into the review. This is the film that really made Super Hero films a thing as it was the success of the Tim Burton films that made Hollywood more comfortable taking a chance with other Super Hero films, for that reason we really can thank the Tim Burton for helping jump start this whole entire film genre in the modern age…for his was the first big hit that showed films about comic book heroes could be profitable and franchises.

   “Batman” was directed by Tim Burton and written by Sam Haam and Warren Skaaren while being produced by Jon Peters and Peter Guber.

     The story involves the investigation into the vigilante Batman (Michael Keaton) by reporters Alexander Knox (Robert Wuhl) and Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger) while Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson) plots a coup against his boss so he can own the gangs, not knowing he’s already been betrayed.

The Pros: The Soundtrack – Danny Elfman’s fantastic score captures both the mythicness of Batman, the darkness of Gotham city and even the personal of the romance and relationships we see on the screen. This was my first introduction to his music and from here I fell in love with so much of his work.

The Cinematography – Roger Pratt does a great job capturing the Gothic feel of Gotham as well as the fear behind Batman and the Joker. There are great color contrasts in this film, from the Joker’s purple, white and green…to the black aesthetic of Batman, which really illustrates how they took the scars to their identity.

The World – Burton’s world of Batman is awesome! The city manages to have both a modern and old time feel to it (much like “Batman: The Animated Series”) which gives it an epic and comic book feel. This is a world that feels lived in and has characters outside of those we get to know, to explore.

Harvey Dent – Billy Dee Williams really should have had the chance to play Two-Face. The guy does an amazing job as the charismatic Harvey Dent whose hands are tied by the corruption around him and the power of the Joker and the mobs. The only con is I wish he could have got more screentime and had interactions with the Joker and Bruce Wayne.

Bob – Bob is the Joker’s second-in-command and is  lot of fun. He’s a man fully devoted to Joker and can even hold his own against Batman. Sadly when Batman takes Joker’s poison balloons Joker kills him in anger. Poor Bob, you were a great Dragon for the Joker.

Alfred – Alfred is great in this and I really like Michael Gough’s portrayal of him. He comes off as a grandfather figure who is trying to look out for Bruce as best he can, while still having a level of detachment because of his job. He’s great at connecting Bruce to his humanity though as he does all he can to make sure Vicki and Bruce are as successful relationship.

Jack Napier / The Joker – Nicholson’s Joker is very much a crazy mob boss, which works. Nicholson owns roles like this and he clearly had a lot of fun. His design manages to be opening yet threatening and he destroys Batman’s plane, breaks into Bruce Wayne’s home and nearly escapes Bruce at the end too. His moment of stupid besides using the chemical planet he was turned into the Joker in was his obsession with Vicki Vale and the fact that after he shoots down Batman’s plane, he doesn’t finish the job and instead chooses to retreat. After seeing him stand his ground multiple times, the moment of arrogance/fear/stupidity? cost the character his life. Also he is all about revenge and hurts Batman, kills the boss and girlfriend who betrayed him and even messes up Gotham. In this way he is an effective villain.

Bruce Wayne / The Batman – Batman like the Joker is a character motivated by revenge and ego. Neither really knows how to be around people and Bruce does that by giving and collecting while Napier just kills and destroys. In this Batman we really see how the death of his parents motivate him as he goes to where the shooting happens to give them roses and it is when Vicki finds out that he is finally able to feel real. Michael Keaton is an amazing Bruce Wayne and really illustrates his humanity better than Bale and the others. He feels like a man uncomfortable in his skin and in constant emotional turmoil. For this reason I get why his Batman kills. He’s a Punisher type Batman and wants to do all he can to prevent more Batman’s from being born (in the first scene we meet him he saves a couple with a child mirroring what never happened to him). For this Batman the Joker and crime isn’t just a duty, it is personal and how his crazy and anger comes out.

Exploration of Identity – Identity is key to this and both Napier’s and Wayne’s trauma transforms them into different identities that elevate their obsessions…from Napier’s disregard for life and obsession with people and art…to Bruce’s desire to hurt criminals the way they hurt him. This is expressed in their identities of Joker and Batman who give them permission to be those people and not have to answer to anyone for what they do.

Okay/Cons – Commissioner Gordon – The guy is invisible and wasn’t needed in this at all. I got the feeling they only put him in this since he was in the comics, Billy Dee Williams Harvey Dent was much more of an influence and punch when I saw Gotham’s leaders than the Mayor and Gordon.

Vicki Vale – Vicki Vale like Knox is largely there be rescued though Vicki gets it worse as she spends a good portion of this film kidnapped by the Joker or screaming…which is a shame. She is a character who could have been more as she was a reporter from a war torn region, yet once a psycho came around (the Joker) she froze and needed Bruce Wayne or Batman to rescue her.

The Mob Boss – He talks quiet and I never saw him as a threat. He owned one corrupt cop and that guys men but we never see him do anything but fail to kill Jack Napier. More could have been done to establish this guy as a threat.

The Cons: Damsel in Distress – Vicki Vale is saved so many times in this, this is distracting and I’d honestly expect more from a reporter who came out of a war zone. This con gets more obvious with each viewing. Vicki Vale is a love interest and something to be competed over with the Joker, not a character.

Obvious Plan – Joker uses chemicals from the place he was dumped into and that his boss had been tamed up with before…how did Batman not figure this out until the very end? This was a major dropping of the ball on his part.

    This is a movie with problems, but it is still one of my favorites and it is thanks to this film that one of my favorite animated series exists (“Batman: The Animated Series”) as well as the rest of Bruce Timm’s work from “Superman: The Animated Series” to “Justice League” and the spinoffs). Batman in all his variations and as a popular character today, probably wouldn’t have existed without Burton and Keaton’s Batman and for what they are…they are fantastic. The humanity of the characters is captured as well as the psychosis one must have to be a vigilante, and this lends power to the script and fills in some of the plot holes or weak characters that happen. This is a favorite film of mine and Keaton will always be one of my favorite versions of Batman.

Final Score: 9.6 / 10