Matthew Turner | On 31, Oct 2021

Director: Butch Lukic
Cast: Roger Craig Smith, Troy Baker, Khary Payton, Chris Diamantopoulos, Will Friedle, Yuri Lowenthal, Kari Wuhrer, Fred Tatasciore
Certificate: PG
Where to watch Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem online in the UK: Sky Cinema / NOW / Apple TV (iTunes) / Prime Video (Buy/Rent) / Rakuten TV / Google Play / Sky Store

On Sunday mornings, we like to watch cartoons. So we’re working our way through animated superhero cartoons. We call it Superhero Sundays.

Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem is the second in a series of three animated Batman movies (the other two are Animal Instincts and Mechs vs Mutants) based on a line of action figure toys made by Mattel. To that end, the Unlimited movies are a lot more kid-friendly than other Bat-properties, but at least they deliver plenty of Bat-action and Bat-humour while trying to sell you Bat-toys.

Set in the future (mostly so that the police can have flying cars), Monster Mayhem opens with Bat-villains Solomon Grundy (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) and Silver Banshee (Kari Wuhrer) breaking out of Arkham Asylum on Halloween, where they’re swiftly joined by Clayface (Dave B. Mitchell) and Scarecrow (Brian T Delaney). It then transpires that this Frightful Four have actually been recruited by The Joker (Troy Baker), whose latest scheme involves stealing an Artificial Intelligence program and a strong power source, with a view to holding Gotham City hostage by cutting the power to all technology. Fortunately, Batman (Roger Craig Smith) has Bat-friends Red Robin (Yuri Lowenthal), Green Arrow (Chris Diamantopoulos), Nightwing (Will Friedle) and Cyborg (Khary Payton) on hand to help save the day.

This is the best of the Batman Unlimited movies, thanks to some inventive, non-stop action and a nicely structured plot that builds steadily before revealing The Joker’s scheme. Admittedly, calling the movie Monster Mayhem is a bit of a stretch, since the only real monsters are robots, computer programs or Clayface in disguise, but at least the film is set at Halloween, plus the Frightful Four are made up of some of the creepier members of Batman’s rogues gallery (Killer Croc is conspicuous by his absence).

Director Butch Lukic (a DC animation regular) keeps the film moving at a cracking pace, delivering multiple action sequences and infusing them with a level of imagination that makes them stand out from the other two films. For one thing, Clayface’s shape-changing powers are put to much better use here than they have been elsewhere, but there are also some inspired hero-villain face-offs, not least when The Joker turns the heroes’ own tech against them. If you’ve ever wondered who would win in a fight between Batman and the Batmobile, this is the movie for you.

On a similar note, the introduction of the AI program and a games designer character (Gogo Shoto, voiced by Noel Fisher) allows for an inventive sequence set in an AI world controlled by the Joker, wherein Batman and the Joker both morph into different things (eg. the Joker becomes multiple pterodactyls) and Batman is eventually able to conjure up a robot Bat-dinosaur that the Joker dubs a “B-Rex”. That sequence is further heightened by a great electronic score by composer Kevin Riepl, although it’s a shame it isn’t used elsewhere in the film.

As the Bat-dinosaur suggests, this is very much a movie designed to sell a range of Bat-toys to kids. In addition to the B-Rex, there’s a giant Joker robot – it’s not called the Jokerbot, but it should have been – a Joker Cycle, and a souped-up Batmobile and Batplane, as well as Batman’s Wolf Cycle from the previous Unlimited movie, Animal Instincts. (“A Wolf Cycle?” comments The Joker. “Oh, Bats, sometimes I think you’re crazier than I am.”)

Animation-wise, the action sequences are smartly choreographed and entertaining to watch, while the character design work is strong. That’s particularly true of Solomon Grundy, who’s essentially DC’s evil Hulk, something that’s underlined by having him voiced by Tatasciore, who is to animated Hulk voices what Kevin Conroy is to animated Batman voices. We also get a look at the Batman Unlimited version of Bruce Wayne this time round, who’s surprisingly youthful-looking considering the film is set in the future.

The humour is a little more successful here than it is in the other Unlimited movies too, largely thanks to Grundy, who gets a number of funny moments, including telling Commissioner Gordon (Richard Epcar): “When we played hide and seek, I let you win.” Red Robin and Green Arrow also get their fair share of wisecracks, although there is also a blatant steal (by Scarecrow) of the “The camera adds ten pounds” / “Just how many cameras are on you?” joke from Friends.

There’s a handful of decent Bat-mythology stuff when Nightwing is subjected to Scarecrow’s fear gas and his greatest fear is revealed, plus the script makes decent use of the technology / video game angle through the Gogo character – first, when he programs a billboard to act as a makeshift Bat-signal, and second, when Red Robin distinguishes him from Clayface’s double by asking questions about how to defeat video game characters.

That’s not to say there aren’t a handful of flaws. Scarecrow and Silver Banshee are so under-used that they might as well not be in the film. There are at least three elements that are maybe inappropriate for a film aimed primarily at kids, whether it’s Silver Banshee’s slightly too form-fitting costume (and some decidedly objectifying angles in her early scenes), Commissioner Gordon effectively tricking Grundy into firing a bazooka at buildings multiple times (there are explosions but no visible damage) and, weirdest of all, Batman grabbing The Joker by the throat – an odd move for kids’ film, which stands out because of its strangeness. No strangles, Batman – you’re not in The Dark Knight Returns now, you know.

 

Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem is available on Sky Cinema. Don’t have Sky? You can also stream it on NOW, as part of an £11.99 NOW Cinema Membership subscription. For the latest Sky TV packages and prices, click the button below.

 

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