Merry Little Batman Review

1 00:00:00,930 --> 00:00:07,792 This is a Dynamike Network podcast. Hey everyone, Johnny DC here at the top of the episode. With 2 00:00:07,812 --> 00:00:12,915 the approaching holiday season, we're officially underway with this year's Holiday Charity Drive 3 00:00:13,295 --> 00:00:18,557 in lead up to our charity dual episode this month, which is going to be Alfred Pennyworth 4 00:00:18,637 --> 00:00:25,060 vs Edwin Jarvis. This year, all donations will be going once again to Pop Culture Classroom, 5 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:31,115 a non-profit organization that delivers educational resources. to school districts, teachers, and 6 00:00:31,135 --> 00:00:37,159 community organizations using comics, graphic novels, and related pop culture media. Their 7 00:00:37,219 --> 00:00:43,403 mission is to inspire a love of learning, increase literacy, and build community through the tools 8 00:00:43,443 --> 00:00:49,687 of popular culture and the power of self-expression. To donate, visit our official store through 9 00:00:49,747 --> 00:00:56,612 dynamicduel.com, where you'll find two donation options, one if you're Team DC and one if you're 10 00:00:56,652 --> 00:01:05,175 Team Marvel. Or go directly... to dynamicduel.com slash donate DC one word or dynamicduel.com 11 00:01:05,855 --> 00:01:10,917 slash donate Marvel, which are linked in our show notes. We're making the charity drive 12 00:01:11,037 --> 00:01:17,338 a competitive duel this year, except the only stat is which side can donate the most. Everyone 13 00:01:17,358 --> 00:01:23,460 who donates will receive a digital poster featuring original art of Alfred and Jarvis drawn New 14 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:29,402 Yorker style by me. One lucky random winner will also win a framed print of the Alfred 15 00:01:29,442 --> 00:01:34,684 vs. Jervis art that we'll announce during that December duel episode. Which fanbase will be 16 00:01:34,704 --> 00:01:40,327 the most charitable? Team DC has actually pulled ahead since last week. Who's the slackers now? 17 00:01:40,607 --> 00:01:45,769 Marvel guys, it's you. Keep up the good work, Team DC. On with the show. 18 00:02:06,262 --> 00:02:11,785 Hi, welcome to the Dynamic Duel Podcast, a weekly show where we review superhero films and debate 19 00:02:11,805 --> 00:02:17,349 the superiority between Marvel and DC by comparing their characters and stat-based battle simulations. 20 00:02:17,809 --> 00:02:23,453 I'm Johnny DC. And I'm his twin brother, Marvelous Joe. And in this episode, we are doing a review 21 00:02:23,733 --> 00:02:30,078 of the Amazon Prime animated feature film, Merry Little Batman. I actually got the opportunity 22 00:02:30,138 --> 00:02:35,982 to see this film in the movie theater with my family, and I loved the heck out of it. Yeah, 23 00:02:36,042 --> 00:02:40,826 I mean, it's probably one of the better like holiday releases that Marvel and DC have ever 24 00:02:40,866 --> 00:02:46,370 produced, right? I mean, there's not many, so it's not hard to do. But yeah, this is the 25 00:02:46,450 --> 00:02:51,535 best of anything holiday related that Marvel or DC has put out. We're going to talk all 26 00:02:51,555 --> 00:02:55,078 about the movie later on in this episode. But before that, we're going to break down the 27 00:02:55,098 --> 00:03:00,042 comic book movie news items from the past week. There's not many news items. We did learn, 28 00:03:00,062 --> 00:03:05,754 however, that Sean Gunn has been cast as Maxwell Lord in the DC universe. and we got a couple 29 00:03:05,814 --> 00:03:10,755 of video game trailers, one for Suicide Squad Killed the Justice League, and the other is 30 00:03:10,875 --> 00:03:16,117 a teaser trailer for a new Blade video game. As always, we list our segment times in our 31 00:03:16,157 --> 00:03:19,938 episode description, so feel free to check out the show notes if you want to skip ahead to 32 00:03:19,978 --> 00:03:24,619 a particular topic. As our listeners may know, our duel simulator is so advanced that it's 33 00:03:24,659 --> 00:03:29,260 gained sentience and has named itself the Artificial Lifeform for Running Extensive Duels, just 34 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:35,297 a rather very intelligent simulator 9000, or Alfred Jarvis 9000. He has a quick message 35 00:03:35,317 --> 00:03:42,137 for our listeners, so listen up. Why hello there. Do you love listening and chatting about Marvel 36 00:03:42,177 --> 00:03:47,222 and DC? Then become a part of the dynamic dual community on Patreon, where you can choose 37 00:03:47,262 --> 00:03:52,928 from three tiers. The dynamic 2.0 tier lets you listen to this podcast without ads and 38 00:03:52,948 --> 00:03:57,353 gives you access to its Discord chat group, where you can chat with Johnny DC and Marvelous 39 00:03:57,393 --> 00:04:02,179 Joe. The Fantastic Four tier gives you that and more with two bonus episodes each month, 40 00:04:02,580 --> 00:04:06,742 including bloopers and top ten shows where Johnny and Joe count down your favorite Marvel and 41 00:04:06,762 --> 00:04:12,504 DC subjects. The X-Force tier makes you an executive producer of Dynamic Duel, where every month 42 00:04:12,544 --> 00:04:17,026 you help the host choose what to review and who to fight against each other. And finally, 43 00:04:17,206 --> 00:04:22,809 the Dynamite Podcast Network tier allows aspiring podcasters to create their own battle-focused 44 00:04:22,829 --> 00:04:25,030 show using this Monte Carlo simulator. 45 00:04:44,638 --> 00:04:50,360 Thanks AJ9K and thanks to everyone who supports the podcast. Be sure to tune in to the Max 46 00:04:50,380 --> 00:04:55,854 Destruction Podcast tomorrow which is part of the Dynamite where host Ken Dustin will let 47 00:04:55,874 --> 00:05:00,675 us know their thoughts on the holiday classic film Die Hard. Yes, it's a Christmas film. 48 00:05:00,795 --> 00:05:07,457 Everyone knows it's a Christmas film. If you disagree, then shut the hell up. Also just 49 00:05:07,497 --> 00:05:13,179 released yesterday was the latest episode of the Dynamite Network's newest show, Console 50 00:05:13,199 --> 00:05:18,200 Combat, in which hosts John and Dean find out who would win in fights between your favorite 51 00:05:18,220 --> 00:05:23,901 video game characters. Yesterday's episode, they speculated on who would win between Luigi... 52 00:05:24,346 --> 00:05:26,026 and tails. 53 00:05:51,746 --> 00:05:56,748 to listen to all of the shows in the Dynamike Podcast Network. But with that out of the way, 54 00:05:57,208 --> 00:06:03,690 quick to the NO Prize! A NO Prize is an award Marvel used to give out to fans. Our version, 55 00:06:03,750 --> 00:06:08,452 the Dynamic Dual NO Prize, is a digital award we post on Instagram and in our email newsletter 56 00:06:08,472 --> 00:06:13,034 for the person that we feel gave the best answer to our question of the week. Last week we asked, 57 00:06:13,354 --> 00:06:20,457 what is your favorite alternate universe slash dimension for Marvel or DC? We only got three 58 00:06:20,737 --> 00:06:25,460 answers. So we're gonna break down the two honorable mentions before revealing this week's no prize 59 00:06:25,500 --> 00:06:32,504 winner. Our first honorable mention goes to Travis Herndon who said, Hey guys, Travis here. 60 00:06:32,544 --> 00:06:38,207 So my favorite alternate universe or dimension would have to be the mangaverse. As a person 61 00:06:38,247 --> 00:06:42,649 who loves anime and manga, I really like what they did with some of the characters in that 62 00:06:42,769 --> 00:06:49,673 universe. Like Spider-Man being a ninja, Wolverine a samurai, Hulk being a kaiju, Godzilla monster 63 00:06:49,693 --> 00:06:55,473 do. It seemed like a pretty cool universe and honestly, Marvel should make that into an animated 64 00:06:55,533 --> 00:07:00,797 series like they're doing with Suicide Squad. So yeah, Mangaverse for me. Fantastic answer. 65 00:07:00,837 --> 00:07:05,820 Yeah, I remember when the Mangaverse for Marvel came out in the early 2000s. It looked super 66 00:07:05,860 --> 00:07:12,044 fascinating. There was the Spider-Man series, X-Men. There was an Avengers title, if I remember 67 00:07:12,064 --> 00:07:17,948 correctly, and it was like an Iron Man Mecha style subgenre of Manga. And yeah, there was 68 00:07:18,088 --> 00:07:24,129 the Hulk who was a 70 foot. Kaiju monster. It was a really cool universe. I remember like 69 00:07:24,509 --> 00:07:29,614 Punisher was like a lady samurai assassin type character. It was pretty sweet. Good stuff. 70 00:07:29,654 --> 00:07:33,497 Good stuff. If you haven't checked it out and you're into manga and you're into Marvel, definitely 71 00:07:33,537 --> 00:07:37,861 do that. I actually don't know anything about this. I mean, I know about Spider-Man manga, 72 00:07:38,281 --> 00:07:42,905 but I don't know about any of the other characters and that all sounds pretty fricking awesome. 73 00:07:42,925 --> 00:07:46,729 I'm not going to lie. Yeah, that's a fantastic answer. A fantastic other universe. If you 74 00:07:46,749 --> 00:07:51,264 guys are into manga, then you should also probably be listening to the Send Your World podcast 75 00:07:51,304 --> 00:07:55,268 as well. Great answer Travis! Our next honorable mention goes to... Miggy Mathengian who said... 76 00:07:55,288 --> 00:07:57,289 Hey what's up guys this is Miggy and I'm gonna go with the first one, which is my favorite 77 00:07:57,309 --> 00:08:08,839 ultimate mention. It's the one where DC is like medieval and there's like knights and dragons 78 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:12,682 and stuff like that. It's a pretty good story, better than I thought it'd be. I wasn't really 79 00:08:12,742 --> 00:08:21,752 expecting much from medieval. alternate universe, but Tom Taylor knows what he's doing. So, thanks 80 00:08:21,772 --> 00:08:26,554 guys. Yeah, Dark Knights of Steel is a comic book series written by Tom Taylor, who's also 81 00:08:26,594 --> 00:08:31,916 known for writing the Injustice comic as well as Deceased. It's a high fantasy adventure, 82 00:08:32,016 --> 00:08:37,738 kind of like Game of Thrones, but with DC characters. I actually haven't read anything from it. I 83 00:08:37,778 --> 00:08:43,100 just know of it, and I gotta say it looks incredible art-wise. And Miggy, who's an executive producer 84 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:47,903 of the podcast, is an avid comic book reader. And I totally trust him when he says that something 85 00:08:47,943 --> 00:08:52,107 is really good. If he recommends Dark Knights of Steel, that probably means I should be reading 86 00:08:52,287 --> 00:09:00,755 it along with everyone else. Not me, even you. What? Yes. Great answers, guys. But that brings 87 00:09:00,815 --> 00:09:07,201 us to the winner of this week's no prize, Andrew Shunk, who said, Hey, guys, Andrew Shunk here. 88 00:09:07,802 --> 00:09:17,243 My favorite alternate universe. Is. Marvel because Marvel rips everything off of DC. Thanks. Have 89 00:09:17,263 --> 00:09:22,504 a nice day. And yeah, this gets the win because Andrew Shunk admitted that Marvel is his favorite 90 00:09:23,064 --> 00:09:28,426 and it's a great answer. Yeah. It should be your favorite because it's amazing. Um, I liked 91 00:09:28,466 --> 00:09:33,607 this answer not only because it admits that Marvel is a rip off of DC, but I've also always 92 00:09:33,627 --> 00:09:40,769 held the theory that Marvel is just earth six one six. Like they say it themselves. DC says 93 00:09:40,809 --> 00:09:47,623 we're earth one. Marvel says they're 616. Of course DC is the true universe, the prime universe. 94 00:09:48,183 --> 00:09:51,924 It doesn't matter what's the true universe, it matters what is his favorite and he clearly 95 00:09:52,024 --> 00:09:57,786 is a member of Team Marvel. So I will be changing his name to Red on the Discord. Go Team Marvel. 96 00:09:58,246 --> 00:10:02,067 Great answer Andrew Shunk, you win this week's no prize. If you the listener want a shot at 97 00:10:02,087 --> 00:10:06,008 winning your own no prize, stay tuned to later on this episode when we'll be asking another 98 00:10:06,288 --> 00:10:09,689 question of the week. And now that that's done, on to the news. 99 00:10:15,426 --> 00:10:21,210 Alright, so a couple of days ago we learned that Sean Gunn, James Gunn's brother, has been 100 00:10:21,250 --> 00:10:29,277 cast as Maxwell Lord in the DC universe. James Gunn, of course, being the new CEO of DC Studios. 101 00:10:29,637 --> 00:10:34,441 Now this is pretty interesting because we recently saw Maxwell Lord as a villain. He was played 102 00:10:34,461 --> 00:10:40,787 by Pedro Pascal. And I thought Pedro did a pretty good job, even though the character was fairly 103 00:10:40,847 --> 00:10:46,703 different from who Maxwell Lord is in the comics. Now this isn't the only role that Sean Gunn 104 00:10:46,783 --> 00:10:53,307 is going to be playing in the DC universe. He also plays Weasel in Creature Commandos. He's 105 00:10:53,327 --> 00:10:58,230 supposed to be playing that character in both live action and do voiceover work for animation. 106 00:10:58,351 --> 00:11:02,053 Well he also played the character in the Suicide Squad movie too. Right, he did mocap work for 107 00:11:02,093 --> 00:11:06,556 it and I believe he was also the voice for the character. Sean Gunn of course is no stranger 108 00:11:06,596 --> 00:11:12,163 to playing multiple roles within the same universe. He did mocap work for Rocket Raccoon in Guardians 109 00:11:12,203 --> 00:11:17,886 of the Galaxy, and he also played the live-action version of Kraglin in the same franchise. Do 110 00:11:17,906 --> 00:11:23,309 you typically view Maxwell Lord as a villain or as a hero character? I typically see him 111 00:11:23,549 --> 00:11:28,732 as a villain. In the comics, you know, he's a benefactor for the Justice League, or he 112 00:11:28,772 --> 00:11:33,995 was at one point. But overall, I would say throughout the character's history, he's primarily been 113 00:11:34,155 --> 00:11:40,082 a villain. I think this is casting very much against type. Sean Gunn tends to play roles 114 00:11:40,382 --> 00:11:46,804 of characters that aren't quite bright, usually. So for him to play a character like Maxwell 115 00:11:46,844 --> 00:11:51,865 Lord, who is supposed to be hyper intelligent, you know, he's a telepath, a mind reader, a 116 00:11:51,885 --> 00:11:57,987 mind controller, is something that I never thought I would see Sean Gunn play, honestly. So this 117 00:11:58,027 --> 00:12:02,548 casting to me is actually pretty surprising. Well, I mean, he's a good character actor, 118 00:12:02,748 --> 00:12:07,469 but a role like Maxwell Lord would give him an opportunity to showcase his range, you know? 119 00:12:07,714 --> 00:12:12,796 So I can see why they did this. It's gonna be hard not to chalk this up to nepotism, which 120 00:12:12,816 --> 00:12:18,199 a lot of people have been accusing James Gunn of ever since, you know, casting his wife as 121 00:12:18,219 --> 00:12:23,482 a character in the Suicide Squad film and, you know, Peacemaker series. That said, Sean Gunn 122 00:12:23,542 --> 00:12:27,725 is not a terrible actor. You know, he's actually pretty good. And I'll be looking forward to 123 00:12:27,765 --> 00:12:32,587 seeing what he does with the role of Maxwell Lord. It's rumored that while he's not going 124 00:12:32,648 --> 00:12:40,093 to appear in Superman Legacy, he will be name dropped at the very least. I wouldn't be surprised 125 00:12:40,133 --> 00:12:44,717 if we saw Maxwell Lord in something like the Amanda Waller television series or maybe Peacemaker 126 00:12:44,757 --> 00:12:49,380 2. We're not sure yet, but if he's been cast, I'm sure they'll be announcing what project 127 00:12:49,421 --> 00:12:53,704 he's a part of relatively soon. I like to think that if I ever directed a movie, Jonathan, 128 00:12:53,744 --> 00:12:58,268 I'd give you a part. Hey, man, if I'm the lead making the big bucks, I'll do it. No, you wouldn't 129 00:12:58,288 --> 00:13:03,833 be the lead. God, no. What? I mean, all right. Maybe I don't want to be a part of your movie, 130 00:13:03,873 --> 00:13:09,634 then. I'll let you star in my movie, it's gonna be called Joseph Sucks. It's gonna be about 131 00:13:09,654 --> 00:13:17,161 how much you suck. Well, at least I'll be the star of that one. Yeah, you will be. But speaking 132 00:13:17,222 --> 00:13:22,427 of how James Gunn has taken one of his Guardians of the Galaxy actors and cast them in a DC 133 00:13:22,467 --> 00:13:25,009 role, that brings us to our question of the week. 134 00:13:29,494 --> 00:13:34,837 What other actor from the Guardians of the Galaxy would you like to see cast in the DC universe 135 00:13:35,117 --> 00:13:40,261 and in what role? Record your answer at dynamic duel.com by clicking on the red microphone 136 00:13:40,301 --> 00:13:44,103 button in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, which will prompt you to leave us a 137 00:13:44,143 --> 00:13:49,147 voicemail. Your message could be up to 30 seconds long. And don't forget to leave your name in 138 00:13:49,187 --> 00:13:54,190 case we include you on the podcast. We'll pick our favorite answer and award that person a 139 00:13:54,250 --> 00:14:00,318 dynamic duel no prize that will post to Instagram and our email newsletter. Be sure to answer 140 00:14:00,358 --> 00:14:05,620 before December 13th. We're recording the next episode a little bit earlier, so you guys don't 141 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:11,302 have as much time this week. Yeah, get your answers in right away. In other DC news, Suicide 142 00:14:11,323 --> 00:14:17,365 Squad Kill the Justice League recently released a new trailer titled the official Justice League 143 00:14:17,425 --> 00:14:22,027 trailer. Of course, it seems like we've been waiting for this game forever. I've personally 144 00:14:22,167 --> 00:14:25,809 really been looking forward to this because just the concept of it is really interesting. 145 00:14:25,849 --> 00:14:30,450 The fact that the Justice League characters are going to be possessed by Brainiac and be 146 00:14:30,490 --> 00:14:35,952 the bad guys is kind of awesome. And we got some really good looks at them, some for the 147 00:14:35,992 --> 00:14:40,453 first time in this trailer. Yeah, the Suicide Squad is going to be going up against Green 148 00:14:40,493 --> 00:14:46,495 Lantern, the Flash, Batman and Superman and also Wonder Woman. Although it looks like she's 149 00:14:46,555 --> 00:14:51,436 not possessed by Brainiac in the same way that the others are, at least initially. What intrigues 150 00:14:51,456 --> 00:14:56,557 me about this is that this game is supposed to be set in the same universe as the Arkham 151 00:14:56,577 --> 00:15:04,439 video games. And yet, spoiler alert, Batman died at the end of Arkham Knight. So it kind 152 00:15:04,459 --> 00:15:09,903 of seems like this game takes place before that. I don't know, there's like a big demon version 153 00:15:09,943 --> 00:15:14,427 of Batman sporadically throughout this trailer. Maybe that has something to do with it. Like 154 00:15:14,527 --> 00:15:18,290 the Suicide Squad goes to hell or something like that. Oh shit, Batman's in hell? That's 155 00:15:18,330 --> 00:15:23,474 crazy. Yeah, dude, he beats up poor people. Of course, that's a one way ticket to hell. 156 00:15:23,915 --> 00:15:28,030 Wow. I hate Saturday Night Live. They suck. 157 00:15:31,132 --> 00:15:36,615 There's quite a bit of gameplay footage in this trailer and it still looks as awesome as ever 158 00:15:36,655 --> 00:15:41,197 did. Apparently, the game is in beta testing right now. One of our executive producers, 159 00:15:41,298 --> 00:15:47,101 the host of Sanjo World, Zachary Hepburn, is actually playing the beta right now. And he 160 00:15:47,141 --> 00:15:51,584 says it's just incredible. And I'm inclined to believe him. It does look like a fun game. 161 00:15:51,624 --> 00:15:57,186 I like how each player has their own kind of gameplay style. where Harley Quinn almost feels 162 00:15:57,206 --> 00:16:02,649 like a Spider-Man type game. You know, King Shark is your bruiser. Deadshot is like your 163 00:16:02,669 --> 00:16:07,030 third person shooter. And then you have Captain Boomerang, who's like, I don't know, like the 164 00:16:07,090 --> 00:16:10,472 speedster. Everyone's gonna have their favorite character to play with. It looks like it's 165 00:16:10,492 --> 00:16:15,154 gonna be a blast. And actually it's not gonna be limited to just these four characters. Data 166 00:16:15,174 --> 00:16:19,776 miners have been going through the code of the game and found out that you can play as Killer 167 00:16:19,816 --> 00:16:24,454 Croc as an alternate skin for King Shark, I believe. That's pretty cool. Yeah, it really 168 00:16:24,474 --> 00:16:28,095 makes me wonder what other alternate skins you'll get to play as. Which member of the Justice 169 00:16:28,115 --> 00:16:32,697 League do you think is going to be the hardest boss to beat? It should be Superman. He should 170 00:16:32,737 --> 00:16:36,899 be like the final boss. Absolutely. And I think they kind of imply that much just with like 171 00:16:36,939 --> 00:16:42,221 the Suicide Squad's reaction to him in this trailer. That said, the giant demon version 172 00:16:42,281 --> 00:16:47,504 of Batman does look like it's going to be hella tough to get through. The new official release 173 00:16:47,564 --> 00:16:53,839 date for this game is February 2nd of next year. I'm. somehow going to have to get my hands 174 00:16:54,099 --> 00:17:01,064 on a Xbox or PlayStation five before that time or a PC. Yeah, no, that's not happening. I'm 175 00:17:01,084 --> 00:17:07,008 an Apple guy. So here's hoping that I've been good this year and Santa brings me one. Well, 176 00:17:07,028 --> 00:17:11,150 I hope you get it. I hope you have a lot of fun with it. Rocksteady is a solid studio for 177 00:17:11,191 --> 00:17:17,235 video games, as is Bethesda, who just announced that they are working on a Blade game. Now, 178 00:17:17,275 --> 00:17:23,294 Bethesda is the video game studio behind such titles as The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, 179 00:17:23,734 --> 00:17:29,516 Dishonored, a bunch of great, well-received games. And so this is some pretty exciting 180 00:17:29,576 --> 00:17:34,177 news that they're working on a Blade game. The announcement trailer is not really much of 181 00:17:34,297 --> 00:17:39,199 anything. It's basically just Blade getting a shave and then some kind of alarm goes off 182 00:17:39,299 --> 00:17:43,080 and he's like, the knife's just getting started and he, you know, looks like he's going to 183 00:17:43,100 --> 00:17:45,921 take out his sword. The style of it is pretty cool though. There's some pretty interesting 184 00:17:45,981 --> 00:17:52,319 music in it and the graphics look pretty damn good. Yeah, the world that they establish just 185 00:17:52,359 --> 00:17:58,422 in this teaser reminds me very much of the very first Blade movie, with like the time lapse 186 00:17:58,763 --> 00:18:04,666 of the skyscraper, skyline shadows moving across the city. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know what city 187 00:18:04,686 --> 00:18:09,909 this is. It does appear to be some kind of European city, which makes sense because the character 188 00:18:10,069 --> 00:18:14,131 of Blade, Eric Brooks, is from London. I'm always a little bit disappointed when they don't give 189 00:18:14,151 --> 00:18:17,913 the character a British accent. He does not have a British accent in this trailer. It's 190 00:18:17,933 --> 00:18:22,191 definitely American. But yeah, it looks like he's going international with his vampire hunting. 191 00:18:22,612 --> 00:18:26,835 Yeah, whatever city it is, it's definitely a melting pot. You have like Spanish, you have, 192 00:18:27,015 --> 00:18:32,839 I believe Arabic. You have a number of languages scrawled across the city walls. But it also 193 00:18:32,879 --> 00:18:38,022 seems like vampires have taken over the city and the government has issued like a curfew 194 00:18:38,282 --> 00:18:43,486 for people to be indoors once the sun sets. So that's an interesting setup for the story. 195 00:18:43,646 --> 00:18:47,168 Yeah, people in this world definitely know that vampires exist. It's not really a secret. They're 196 00:18:47,188 --> 00:18:52,500 not like underground or anything when Blade's barber nicks himself with the shaving razor, 197 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:56,663 he gets nervous that Blade is going to attack him. But of course, as Blade says, he doesn't 198 00:18:56,683 --> 00:19:02,467 fight. So there you go. Yeah, it's not much of a trailer and we have no idea what the gameplay 199 00:19:02,487 --> 00:19:05,869 is going to be like. I assume it might be like some kind of hack and slash thing like God 200 00:19:05,889 --> 00:19:11,513 of War or Devil May Cry. And that would be awesome. I'm already sold. Already sold. Well, I played 201 00:19:11,633 --> 00:19:17,857 a Blade video game way back in the day on the PS2. It was the Blade 2 movie tie-in video 202 00:19:18,674 --> 00:19:22,938 And man, that game was a piece of shit. It was so weird that the fighting system was bizarre 203 00:19:22,958 --> 00:19:28,883 because you would use the second joystick controller to attack. You just point it in a direction 204 00:19:28,943 --> 00:19:32,967 and he would like kick in that direction because in the game you would often be surrounded by 205 00:19:33,007 --> 00:19:37,932 vampires. So you wouldn't hit buttons to attack. The joystick literally would attack in the 206 00:19:37,972 --> 00:19:42,116 direction that you pointed at. So it was a little bit awkward. Maybe it sounds cool in theory, 207 00:19:42,236 --> 00:19:46,908 but it just didn't pan out in practice. Well, I feel like video games have come a long way, 208 00:19:47,028 --> 00:19:50,632 like, you know, with the Arkham games and that battle system. And, you know, I'm sure Spider-Man 209 00:19:50,672 --> 00:19:55,477 is very similar to it. Yeah. So I feel like for sure you could really nail a Blade video 210 00:19:55,517 --> 00:20:00,722 game nowadays. We'll see if we get the video game before the movie. It's cool to know that 211 00:20:00,822 --> 00:20:04,065 Blade really seems to be coming back into the spotlight now, though. Can't wait. 212 00:20:11,566 --> 00:20:15,549 Well, I think that does it for all of the news for this episode. So now let's move on to the 213 00:20:15,629 --> 00:20:21,773 main event where we review Amazon Prime's holiday animated film, Merry Little Batman. 214 00:20:37,086 --> 00:20:42,290 Alright, Merry Little Batman is an animated feature released on the Amazon Prime streaming 215 00:20:42,330 --> 00:20:48,115 platform just in time for the holiday season. Directed by Mike Roth of regular show fame, 216 00:20:48,315 --> 00:20:54,060 in his film directorial debut, the film follows Damian Wayne, Batman's son, as he aspires to 217 00:20:54,100 --> 00:21:01,867 become a superhero like his father during Christmas. It's super cute, super made for kids, but the 218 00:21:01,927 --> 00:21:07,626 best most nostalgic holiday films usually are. And that's what I like about it. If you're 219 00:21:07,646 --> 00:21:12,548 looking for something new this holiday season to watch with the kids, I definitely recommend 220 00:21:12,668 --> 00:21:18,149 Mary Little Batman. And if you want to go in fresh with the family, I also recommend skipping 221 00:21:18,189 --> 00:21:24,191 this review altogether as it contains spoilers. Yeah, definitely check out Mary Little Batman. 222 00:21:24,211 --> 00:21:29,492 If you have Amazon Prime, it's an easy watch. It's a quick watch. If you like Batman or your 223 00:21:29,552 --> 00:21:34,979 family loves superheroes, I highly recommend it for this holiday season. gets a crisp 92 224 00:21:35,019 --> 00:21:39,721 minute film. So almost exactly an hour and a half. You won't regret it. Now the holiday 225 00:21:39,741 --> 00:21:45,045 season truly is the most wonderful time of the year for my two daughters. Their birthdays 226 00:21:45,085 --> 00:21:51,449 fall on December 22nd and 23rd. I tell people that in my family, it's like having four full 227 00:21:51,489 --> 00:21:56,392 days of Christmas each year. But honestly, the excitement and festivities for Christmas ramp 228 00:21:56,512 --> 00:22:02,892 up exponentially after Thanksgiving. beginning with holiday music on the radio and Christmas 229 00:22:02,932 --> 00:22:08,335 movies after dinner. Films like How the Grinch Stole Christmas Home Alone. These and more 230 00:22:08,435 --> 00:22:14,118 have become annual viewing traditions, as they are for many families, I'm sure. And after 231 00:22:14,138 --> 00:22:18,941 getting the chance to see Merry Little Batman on the theater big screen, my family all easily 232 00:22:18,981 --> 00:22:23,864 agreed that this movie should be a part of our annual rotation, which it's already become, 233 00:22:24,104 --> 00:22:28,482 because we've actually watched it again since it came out on Amazon Prime. Now the movie 234 00:22:28,502 --> 00:22:34,785 was inspired visually by the artwork of English cartoonist Ronald Cyril, who inspired the character 235 00:22:34,825 --> 00:22:41,489 design for quite a few animated films such as 101 Dalmatians and Despicable Me. This film 236 00:22:41,529 --> 00:22:46,812 though I think captures the charm and humor of his aesthetic more than any other film. 237 00:22:47,152 --> 00:22:52,755 From Alfred to Joker to Selena the Cat, the Cyril-esque character design is one of the 238 00:22:52,775 --> 00:22:58,058 highlights of the film. And watching the way these awkward bodies move... particularly in 239 00:22:58,078 --> 00:23:04,500 the case of the Joker, contributed to the humor of the film. Oh yeah, the art style is so silly, 240 00:23:04,660 --> 00:23:10,281 but perfectly in keeping with the whimsical attitude of the film. I was actually really 241 00:23:10,301 --> 00:23:14,842 impressed because I think that this is the best version of that art style ever done in a full 242 00:23:14,862 --> 00:23:19,764 length feature. Oh yeah, I agree. Everything from like the line work to even the coloring 243 00:23:20,044 --> 00:23:23,865 and the way it was like constantly shifting, almost like a little kid drew it. It was really 244 00:23:23,885 --> 00:23:28,343 charming. It was like an animated comic strip. And, you know, being a big fan of like Calvin 245 00:23:28,363 --> 00:23:33,387 and Hobbes and a bunch of other comic book strips growing up, I really appreciated that. Yeah, 246 00:23:33,407 --> 00:23:38,011 I thought it was fantastic. I'm actually kind of sad that this film debuted on a streaming 247 00:23:38,051 --> 00:23:42,055 platform and people didn't get the opportunity to watch it on the big screen, because I think 248 00:23:42,095 --> 00:23:46,699 this could have easily been a theatrical release. I think families would have got to see it. 249 00:23:46,899 --> 00:23:52,223 I mean, this past weekend, Miyazaki animated film The Boy and His Heron won the weekend. 250 00:23:52,584 --> 00:23:56,550 Like, if this would have been released at the same time. I think it could have been a contender 251 00:23:56,630 --> 00:24:00,953 to get the number one box office spot for this week. Yeah, I mean, like I liked this movie 252 00:24:01,013 --> 00:24:05,975 more than the Lego Batman movie, both in terms of story and animation style. So yeah, I could 253 00:24:05,995 --> 00:24:11,018 totally see this working in theaters. The movie is just silly and funny. And I think a lot 254 00:24:11,058 --> 00:24:16,841 of that has to do with the writers for the movie, Morgan Evans and Jace Ricci, who have written 255 00:24:16,921 --> 00:24:22,304 for Teen Titans Go and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, respectively. But there's 256 00:24:22,324 --> 00:24:29,099 a third writer as well. who wrote Tropic Thunder, and who I think leveled up the humor to a point 257 00:24:29,139 --> 00:24:33,842 where adults could find it funny as well. That's actually surprising to me because the humor 258 00:24:33,862 --> 00:24:39,464 isn't terribly adult, it's actually quite childish, but charming. I wouldn't say it's dumbed down 259 00:24:39,584 --> 00:24:44,547 for kids, but it's definitely not raunched up for adults or anything. It's at that perfect 260 00:24:44,567 --> 00:24:48,769 level where I think both kids and adults can enjoy it. I agree, it's like that sweet spot 261 00:24:48,869 --> 00:24:53,486 right in the middle, especially for a holiday film. The writers also injected tons of holiday 262 00:24:53,526 --> 00:24:59,528 homages into the film as well, from the obvious like Home Alone and how the Grinch stole Christmas, 263 00:24:59,768 --> 00:25:05,469 but also deep cuts like Die Hard when we see Damien shuffling through air ducts. For DC 264 00:25:05,489 --> 00:25:10,671 fans, there were also homages to Batman films of the past, primarily when it came to the 265 00:25:10,751 --> 00:25:16,833 villains, but also things like Batnipples and the Batpod. Yeah, I saw references to Batman 266 00:25:16,853 --> 00:25:20,990 and Robin, Batman Returns, The Dark Knight, yeah a bunch of them. And those are things 267 00:25:21,010 --> 00:25:26,511 that you could kind of appreciate as an adult, especially as an adult fan of DC Comics, because, 268 00:25:26,531 --> 00:25:30,853 you know, a lot of kids watching the movie aren't going to get the Batnipples reference. Now, 269 00:25:30,873 --> 00:25:35,934 while some can knock the film's unoriginality, I actually think that's the worst thing you 270 00:25:35,954 --> 00:25:40,476 could say about the movie. And ultimately, it was all put together in a funny, heartwarming 271 00:25:40,516 --> 00:25:46,657 package. Apparently, a spinoff series called Bat Family is in the works for Amazon Prime. 272 00:25:46,942 --> 00:25:52,046 with Mike Roth to serve as the showrunner. And I'm looking forward to it. Yeah, I could totally 273 00:25:52,066 --> 00:25:58,032 see a series based off of this. This type of content is perfect for an animated show. And 274 00:25:58,072 --> 00:26:02,376 the world that they built is so rich that it would be a shame not to continue it. Right, 275 00:26:02,416 --> 00:26:07,621 yeah, and I also think there were enough references to the larger world, like Damien's mom, for 276 00:26:07,681 --> 00:26:12,858 example, that there's enough to explore there for an animated series. I just want to make 277 00:26:13,058 --> 00:26:18,760 one more point that the songs used in this film were awesome. Like the opening with Father 278 00:26:18,780 --> 00:26:23,702 Christmas by the Kinks, All I Really Want for Christmas by Little John Later On, along with 279 00:26:23,802 --> 00:26:28,444 Don De Esta Santa Claus, and at the very end, just another Christmas song, This Time I'll 280 00:26:28,484 --> 00:26:34,046 Sing Along. These aren't typical songs you hear in family Christmas movies, but they had me 281 00:26:34,106 --> 00:26:38,648 dancing in my seat and singing on the car ride home. They were all great songs, yeah. And 282 00:26:38,688 --> 00:26:43,506 Patrick Stump from Followboy is the one who did the music. I knew I recognized that name 283 00:26:43,546 --> 00:26:48,448 from somewhere. That's awesome. I was listening to the score for this film earlier and yeah, 284 00:26:48,468 --> 00:26:52,890 it was really good. He's a great composer. Yeah, I didn't even know he did film work until this 285 00:26:52,930 --> 00:26:56,871 movie, but he's done some work for Marvel too, including the Spidey and His Amazing Friends 286 00:26:56,912 --> 00:27:01,653 television series. Did not know that. That's pretty cool. I definitely recommend checking 287 00:27:01,713 --> 00:27:06,675 out the soundtrack to this if anyone hasn't already. But moving on to the character breakdown, 288 00:27:07,196 --> 00:27:14,047 let's start with Damien Wayne, AKA Little Batman for this movie. Surprisingly not Robin. Yeah, 289 00:27:14,127 --> 00:27:19,570 surprisingly. I thought that was an interesting choice. The character was voiced by Jonas Kibrib. 290 00:27:20,050 --> 00:27:25,253 I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing that correctly at all. I'm not familiar with Jonas's work, 291 00:27:25,613 --> 00:27:30,116 but I thought he pulled off the role as perfect as you can get. You know, he nailed the emotion 292 00:27:30,296 --> 00:27:35,559 and the humor needed for the character. Just a great like little kid voice, essentially. 293 00:27:36,059 --> 00:27:40,481 Yeah, I was actually surprised at his level of range and comedic timing. Great delivery. 294 00:27:40,958 --> 00:27:46,241 Yeah, now this of course is not the first time we've seen Damien in animated form. We've seen 295 00:27:46,301 --> 00:27:51,665 him as Robin, of course in the past. But this is the first time that I can recall that we've 296 00:27:51,705 --> 00:27:56,948 seen him this young. You know, I have an eight year old and it's a pretty fun imaginative 297 00:27:57,149 --> 00:28:03,353 age. In this film, Damien imagines being like his father Batman, though he doesn't realize 298 00:28:03,393 --> 00:28:08,676 the hardship that comes with being a superhero because his father rid Gotham of crime when 299 00:28:08,716 --> 00:28:16,243 Damien was just a baby. Damien was told what to do in any emergency except for crime. So 300 00:28:16,283 --> 00:28:20,865 when the burglars break into his house, he's forced to jump into the role of a superhero 301 00:28:20,985 --> 00:28:26,866 on his own. When his utility belt, the gift his father gave him for Christmas, is stolen, 302 00:28:27,226 --> 00:28:32,628 he makes a vow to get it back. That's the focus part of the lesson his father told him, that 303 00:28:32,688 --> 00:28:39,603 crime fighting requires focus, responsibility, and sacrifice. By the end of Damien's adventure, 304 00:28:39,723 --> 00:28:45,907 he accepts responsibility for the chaos he caused across Gotham and sacrifices his prized possession, 305 00:28:46,188 --> 00:28:51,572 his utility belt, to make things right. The entire film, Damien was trying to prove to 306 00:28:51,612 --> 00:28:56,275 his father that he wasn't a baby and that he was ready to be a superhero and he thought 307 00:28:56,315 --> 00:29:01,439 that by losing his utility belt, his dad would think that he wasn't ready for that. But that 308 00:29:01,479 --> 00:29:06,998 wasn't going to prove anything, as the Bat Dad AI explained. It wasn't until Damien proved 309 00:29:07,038 --> 00:29:12,699 himself capable in battle that Batman rewarded Damien with a real utility belt and accepted 310 00:29:12,739 --> 00:29:18,501 him as his partner. I'm consistently surprised how many different ways writers can take the 311 00:29:18,521 --> 00:29:23,622 character of Damien Wayne, who is relatively new to the world of comics. But we recently 312 00:29:23,662 --> 00:29:28,124 saw an adaptation of Damien Wayne in an animated feature film as recently as last year in the 313 00:29:28,164 --> 00:29:33,385 Battle of the Supersuns, where he was also used to great effect. And then you see how he was 314 00:29:33,425 --> 00:29:37,770 done here, and you just... realize how versatile the character is, you can go super dark with 315 00:29:37,810 --> 00:29:42,492 him, you can go super light with him, it all works. Definitely one of the best characters 316 00:29:42,512 --> 00:29:46,693 to be introduced within the past couple decades. Yeah, he's sort of like his father in that 317 00:29:46,733 --> 00:29:52,034 regard. I know a lot of people don't like bright and cheerful Batman sort of like he was in 318 00:29:52,094 --> 00:29:57,916 this movie, but the character still works somehow in that regard. I definitely prefer my Batman 319 00:29:58,156 --> 00:30:03,637 very, very dark, but I also don't mind when they adapt him into like new worlds like this. 320 00:30:04,330 --> 00:30:09,693 Yeah, I mean, it just all depends on the world that he exists in, right? In a world as light 321 00:30:09,853 --> 00:30:16,158 and cheery as this one, a lighter, cheerier Batman makes sense. Right. Speaking of Batman, 322 00:30:16,378 --> 00:30:22,682 let's move on to him, aka Bruce Wayne, who is voiced by Luke Wilson. Now, Luke Wilson would 323 00:30:22,782 --> 00:30:28,482 never have been my first choice for Batman, but in this lighter I thought he brought the 324 00:30:28,562 --> 00:30:34,007 right amount of brightness to the role, along with familiarity. He's really the only voice 325 00:30:34,107 --> 00:30:38,090 you hear in this film where it's like, hey, I know that voice. Yeah, it's cool to hear 326 00:30:38,110 --> 00:30:42,874 him, especially considering we just got off of Loki Season 2, which stars his brother Owen 327 00:30:42,894 --> 00:30:46,837 Wilson. So to see the Wilson bros getting in on the Marvel and DC content is pretty neat. 328 00:30:47,237 --> 00:30:52,421 That is cool. That's really cool. Now, like I mentioned earlier, this is very much an Elseworlds 329 00:30:52,461 --> 00:30:58,450 Batman. which may in fact piss off fans of Batman, but I'm guessing those people don't have children 330 00:30:58,931 --> 00:31:04,836 or a life. In this film, Batman learns about Damien much earlier than in the comics and 331 00:31:04,876 --> 00:31:09,940 works overtime to rid Gotham of crime and villains so that the city is a good one to raise a child 332 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:16,366 in. Bruce is overprotective you could say, but as Alfred tells Damien, Bruce wants to give 333 00:31:16,406 --> 00:31:23,482 his son the one thing he never had, a childhood. which means Damien gets foam batarangs before 334 00:31:23,522 --> 00:31:29,704 metal ones. Bruce knows, however, that Damien's destined to take up his mantle one day, so 335 00:31:29,744 --> 00:31:35,986 it was nice to see that the master of prep time would be prepared with Damien's batsuit way 336 00:31:36,106 --> 00:31:43,009 early. A high-tech version that not only sizes itself to Damien's body, but also comes with 337 00:31:43,029 --> 00:31:48,418 a built-in artificial intelligence called Bat Dad. that was based on Bruce's mind so that 338 00:31:48,438 --> 00:31:53,560 his son would never be alone like he was growing up. Yeah that was really touching. The AI was 339 00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:58,042 cool too, I thought that was a pretty neat concept. Yeah, it's something I think that all fathers 340 00:31:58,082 --> 00:32:02,204 wish that they could leave their children in some way. When Batman returns to Gotham to 341 00:32:02,244 --> 00:32:08,314 help his son, initially he holds Damian back, protecting him from his villains. But the years 342 00:32:08,354 --> 00:32:13,458 without crime apparently made him soft because he gets knocked out only to witness his son's 343 00:32:13,578 --> 00:32:19,902 awesome ninja skills in action when he awakens and decides that Damien is a capable and worthwhile 344 00:32:19,962 --> 00:32:25,006 partner after all. That's pretty much his whole arc and it's nice that he found a way to connect 345 00:32:25,046 --> 00:32:31,558 to his son in a way that he was never able to with his own father, his parents. Basically, 346 00:32:31,718 --> 00:32:36,282 he comes to terms with the idea that his preconceived notions of his son aren't necessarily what 347 00:32:36,322 --> 00:32:42,367 he thought and he is surprised Which I assume happens a lot in parenthood Do you ever find 348 00:32:42,387 --> 00:32:46,590 yourself being like overly cautious only to realize that the kids are a little bit more 349 00:32:46,790 --> 00:32:51,614 Capable than you thought they were? Not really, honestly I'm surprised by them in ways that 350 00:32:51,654 --> 00:32:57,346 like when they draw a picture above the skill typical of their age range I'm surprised when 351 00:32:57,366 --> 00:33:01,868 you know, they know how to do something on their iPad that like, I didn't even know it's things 352 00:33:01,888 --> 00:33:07,351 like that. Right, right. I did get a roundhouse kick to the chest one time for my oldest daughter 353 00:33:07,652 --> 00:33:15,636 that actually hurt. I guess that was surprising. We were just horsing around and I think she 354 00:33:15,816 --> 00:33:18,337 didn't know her own strength or her dad's own weakness. 355 00:33:21,799 --> 00:33:27,594 I mean, who among you can take a roundhouse kick to the chest? Like a jumping one. It's 356 00:33:27,654 --> 00:33:34,238 not an easy thing to take. I do have to ask, what did you think of the bat beard? I like 357 00:33:34,258 --> 00:33:39,140 the bat beard. I think it was a way to distinguish the superhero Batman from the father Batman. 358 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:43,743 So it was clear that like this was not like Batman as he normally is. This is like Batman 359 00:33:43,843 --> 00:33:48,246 very much in dad mode. I understand why they did it. They just kind of wanted to show that 360 00:33:48,386 --> 00:33:53,909 Batman had become relaxed and more comfortable having not to deal with crime in some time. 361 00:33:54,469 --> 00:33:58,451 I didn't like it, though. I don't think I would hate it for Superman, but I don't think Batman 362 00:33:58,471 --> 00:34:05,736 should ever have any facial hair. Moving on to the Joker, he was voiced by David Hornsby. 363 00:34:06,216 --> 00:34:13,541 This was definitely more of a shrill Tony Hale-like performance than a menacing Mark Hamill, but 364 00:34:13,701 --> 00:34:18,844 again, it was appropriate for the project and actually pretty funny, I thought. Which like 365 00:34:18,884 --> 00:34:24,797 no matter the medium, if your Joker's not funny... Even in a dark, like, I can't believe I'm laughing 366 00:34:24,837 --> 00:34:29,302 at this kind of funny. I questioned whether it was a successful Joker. Yeah. And I like 367 00:34:29,342 --> 00:34:35,991 how this one loved the Jingle Bells Batman Smell song. I love how this one would just like do 368 00:34:36,031 --> 00:34:39,594 the most random things. Like he's talking to someone on the phone, then all of a sudden 369 00:34:39,614 --> 00:34:44,778 he's like typing on a keyboard, ha ha. That was a great gag. It was just bizarre. It was 370 00:34:44,798 --> 00:34:49,502 a bizarre Joker. I think that's, you know, I also made for a fairly good Joker as well though. 371 00:34:49,662 --> 00:34:54,246 In that he was like unpredictable. Now in this universe, the Joker seemingly retired from 372 00:34:54,306 --> 00:35:00,827 super villainy and has taken up residence in a candy making factory. In his own words, Joker 373 00:35:00,887 --> 00:35:07,110 grew lonely, missing the laughter he had with his villainous allies and crimes, so he concocted 374 00:35:07,230 --> 00:35:13,634 a plan to steal Christmas from Gotham and bring back crime to the city. Damien's actions, however, 375 00:35:13,914 --> 00:35:19,537 as a little Batman changed his plans, and upon realizing the destructive potential of Damien, 376 00:35:19,678 --> 00:35:25,641 Joker used him as a distraction for Gotham, while Poison Ivy, Penguin, and Bane stole everyone's 377 00:35:25,701 --> 00:35:32,155 presents. Joker thought he had another ally in Little Batman, but he was proven wrong in 378 00:35:32,215 --> 00:35:38,617 the end. Still, the pitiful nature of the Joker story here touched Damian's heart, and at the 379 00:35:38,757 --> 00:35:44,719 end, Joker ended up spending Christmas dinner with the Bat Family, which holy crap, that's 380 00:35:44,939 --> 00:35:49,760 nothing we've ever seen in the comics, but was a heartwarming touch to end the story with, 381 00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:54,581 sort of a love your enemies type of message. Well Batman clearly didn't want to be there. 382 00:35:55,054 --> 00:36:00,358 I think it was only done because of Damien's insistence. I liked how this is not only a 383 00:36:00,418 --> 00:36:05,082 funny joker, but also a smart joker. Like he was able to outwit this little eight year old 384 00:36:05,122 --> 00:36:10,707 kid and was always a few steps ahead of the game. It makes sense that he wouldn't be outwitted 385 00:36:10,847 --> 00:36:16,912 by a kid. Right. I like how he was able to manipulate Damien into villainy of sorts, because like 386 00:36:16,932 --> 00:36:21,415 in the comics, Damien is such like an asshole little kid that you're never quite sure if 387 00:36:21,435 --> 00:36:25,818 he's going to grow up to be like the world's greatest superhero. or worst supervillain. 388 00:36:26,318 --> 00:36:30,759 You've seen it go both ways, sort of like in the Injustice comics compared to like Deceased. 389 00:36:31,060 --> 00:36:35,041 In the former, he becomes fairly villainous and in the latter becomes like the greatest 390 00:36:35,101 --> 00:36:40,062 superhero. There's always kind of that flirtation with villainy, especially because of his mother 391 00:36:40,202 --> 00:36:45,384 Talia El-Ghul and Ras El-Ghul, his grandfather, the whole League of Assassins thing. I thought 392 00:36:45,404 --> 00:36:50,285 this was an interesting way to sort of play up on that ambiguity with the character. But 393 00:36:50,665 --> 00:36:55,696 yeah. Damien, Batman, Joker, those are really the three main characters of the movie. Of 394 00:36:55,736 --> 00:37:01,059 course, Alfred also plays a fairly major role, although there's not too much to discuss there. 395 00:37:01,279 --> 00:37:06,022 He was voiced by James Cromwell, who I didn't even recognize his voice in this movie. I thought 396 00:37:06,042 --> 00:37:12,845 he did a fantastic job in the role. He was an adorable Alfred, I gotta say. So cute! And 397 00:37:12,885 --> 00:37:18,468 very much inspired visually, I think, by the Alfred from the 60s television series. I think. 398 00:37:19,069 --> 00:37:22,937 At least that was the impression I got. But let's move on to the story highlights. 399 00:37:29,182 --> 00:37:34,124 Hey guys, Marvelous Joe here to tell you that time is running out to save 20% on Marvel MDC 400 00:37:34,204 --> 00:37:39,888 men's accessories at cufflinks.com, where if you use the code dual20, that's D-U-E-L-20 401 00:37:40,388 --> 00:37:45,411 at checkout, you can save on your holiday shopping this year. Just like I saved on the Guardians 402 00:37:45,431 --> 00:37:50,714 of the Galaxy Fair Isle red men's tie. For those who may not know, the Fair Isle style is how 403 00:37:50,754 --> 00:37:55,916 you would describe most ugly Christmas sweaters, and cufflinks.com has that tie in a style themed 404 00:37:56,017 --> 00:38:00,142 after the Guardians of the Galaxy. At my company holiday party this month while everyone else 405 00:38:00,163 --> 00:38:04,004 was wearing Christmas sweaters, I was wearing my Guardians of Herald Isle tie, being not 406 00:38:04,044 --> 00:38:08,526 only festive, but wrapping some of my favorite superheroes. And you could do the same, or 407 00:38:08,566 --> 00:38:13,368 shop for the other superhero fans in your life, by visiting cufflinks.com, shopping their geek 408 00:38:13,408 --> 00:38:17,970 merch using code dual20 at checkout, and just making everyone happy this year whether it's 409 00:38:18,030 --> 00:38:22,793 you, your gift recipients, or Johnny DC and I because you're helping support this podcast. 410 00:38:23,093 --> 00:38:30,901 Thank you guys so much. Playing superhero, Damien chases his cat Selena through Wayne Manor and 411 00:38:31,041 --> 00:38:36,004 ends up in the basement where his father Bruce reminds Damien that upon learning that he was 412 00:38:36,044 --> 00:38:40,968 going to be a father, Batman worked overtime to bring down crime in Gotham City, locking 413 00:38:41,048 --> 00:38:46,732 up all of the supervillains or forcing them to retire. Gotham City has since become a crime-free 414 00:38:46,772 --> 00:38:51,755 haven for the past eight years. The whole eight years without crime thing, that reminded me 415 00:38:51,795 --> 00:38:56,702 a lot of The Dark Knight Rises. It was the same amount of time. where Gotham was apparently 416 00:38:56,902 --> 00:39:02,625 like crime free. Now at breakfast on Christmas Eve, Bruce lets Damien open a Christmas present 417 00:39:02,785 --> 00:39:08,147 early, which turns out to be a utility belt full of safety gear, which Damien has mixed 418 00:39:08,187 --> 00:39:13,529 feelings about. When the emergency bat phone begins ringing, Bruce learns from the Justice 419 00:39:13,549 --> 00:39:18,391 League that he's needed on a case in Nova Scotia, though he promises Damien to be back before 420 00:39:18,451 --> 00:39:24,186 Christmas. After Damien gets caught trying to stow away aboard the bat plane, Bruce punishes 421 00:39:24,226 --> 00:39:29,889 Damian by taking back the utility belt, which he gives to Alfred. I like the items that Batman 422 00:39:30,069 --> 00:39:34,751 included in his utility belt, like band-aids, a whistle, things like that. Just things to 423 00:39:34,791 --> 00:39:40,053 protect him. Yeah, the way they animated the foam battering just like floating down, I just 424 00:39:40,073 --> 00:39:44,195 found that hilarious. I don't know why. There are also some other pretty funny things that 425 00:39:44,215 --> 00:39:49,017 happened during these scenes, like when Batman and Damian were fighting over the utility belts. 426 00:39:49,550 --> 00:39:56,251 And Damien accidentally knocks Alfred over and Alfred's like, Oh, my good hip. I was like, 427 00:39:56,271 --> 00:40:02,513 Oh no. To lift Damien's spirits, Alfred prepares a meticulous cup of hot cocoa, though Damien 428 00:40:02,633 --> 00:40:07,775 eats all of the marshmallows before it's completed, forcing Alfred to leave to the store and allowing 429 00:40:07,855 --> 00:40:13,716 Damien to steal back his utility belt. En route to the store, Alfred nearly has a car accident 430 00:40:13,736 --> 00:40:18,398 with a couple of burglars stealing Christmas presents from the neighborhood. while Damien 431 00:40:18,438 --> 00:40:24,742 trains recklessly throughout the mansion. Meanwhile, Batman becomes stranded on a Canadian mountain 432 00:40:24,762 --> 00:40:30,885 during a snowstorm after the Batplane malfunctions. I'm glad now that I have Alfred's recipe for 433 00:40:30,905 --> 00:40:36,309 hot cocoa. I thought it was hilarious how Damien was just eating all of the marshmallows. Like, 434 00:40:36,429 --> 00:40:41,331 marshmallows are not an easy thing to eat. I feel like after a couple, I just felt sick. 435 00:40:41,692 --> 00:40:47,748 So the fact that he was eating like entire bags full, I was like... Oh, that's, I felt that. 436 00:40:48,289 --> 00:40:54,375 He also like carb loaded during his training montage. All right. It's so gross. Yeah. Way 437 00:40:54,395 --> 00:40:58,459 too much. That was kind of like Home Alone 2. I was actually surprised when we saw the two 438 00:40:58,479 --> 00:41:02,923 bandits going around stealing from all the different mansions in the Wayne Manor area, because I 439 00:41:02,983 --> 00:41:06,927 didn't know they were going to have this Home Alone sequence where he actually went up against 440 00:41:07,067 --> 00:41:12,138 burglars, but that's coming up later in the story. Right. After Damien accidentally causes 441 00:41:12,278 --> 00:41:18,121 a short that disables the manor's main gate, he's forced to defend his home from the burglars. 442 00:41:18,681 --> 00:41:24,463 After succumbing to Damien's torture and traps, the burglars flee the mansion, albeit with 443 00:41:24,543 --> 00:41:30,546 Damien's utility belt to his dismay. Vowing to get it back, Damien races to the Batcave, 444 00:41:30,806 --> 00:41:35,908 where he finds an AI-powered bat suit that Bruce designed for Damien and programmed himself 445 00:41:36,028 --> 00:41:40,766 into in case he ever died and crime returned to Gotham. After stealing the suit and the 446 00:41:40,806 --> 00:41:46,589 bat pod cycle, Damien races into the city to find the burglars who took his utility belts. 447 00:41:46,909 --> 00:41:51,371 The burglar characters were hilarious, and Damien was such a badass during the whole scene where 448 00:41:51,411 --> 00:41:55,373 he was terrorizing him. Those are my favorite parts of the movie. Yeah, I went a little over 449 00:41:55,413 --> 00:42:00,875 the top with like the grease fire thing. I was like, holy shit. But I mean, I guess it was 450 00:42:00,935 --> 00:42:07,358 as bad as a Home Alone movie. Right. Yeah, he totally would have murdered these guys. I like 451 00:42:07,438 --> 00:42:12,300 when Damien, when the pre-recorded video of Bruce talking to Damien actually accounted 452 00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:18,804 for the possibility that Damien might be stealing the suit. That was pretty funny. He's like, 453 00:42:18,824 --> 00:42:22,346 either I'm dead or you're stealing the suit, in which case you're in big trouble, mister. 454 00:42:24,427 --> 00:42:29,210 Yeah, that was great. I also love how long it took to get into the Batcave. Like there was 455 00:42:29,230 --> 00:42:34,172 this whole really elaborate sequence that included everything from multiple elevators to like 456 00:42:34,252 --> 00:42:39,311 rappelling down the side of a waterfall. It was great. It went on longer than it should 457 00:42:39,351 --> 00:42:44,474 have, but that was the gag. I like the gag where he didn't know how to work the clutch on the 458 00:42:44,494 --> 00:42:50,037 Batmobile, but somehow he hit a button that ejected the Batpod. It was just hilarious, 459 00:42:50,077 --> 00:42:53,499 especially when he hit the turbo button. And basically, he was driving the motorcycle by 460 00:42:53,619 --> 00:42:58,843 barely hanging on to the handlebars. Yeah. All while listening to little John sing All I Really 461 00:42:58,863 --> 00:43:03,565 Want for Christmas was freaking great. Now, the burglars returned to their boss, the Joker. 462 00:43:03,926 --> 00:43:09,529 having lost all of the gifts that they had stolen except for Damian's utility belt. The Joker 463 00:43:09,569 --> 00:43:15,132 reveals that he was responsible for tricking Batman into leaving the city so that his henchmen 464 00:43:15,152 --> 00:43:21,036 could ruin Christmas. And after witnessing video evidence of the chaos Damian was able to cause 465 00:43:21,136 --> 00:43:27,040 to his henchmen while dressed as a little Batman, Joker recruits other villains to help Damian 466 00:43:27,080 --> 00:43:32,642 cause destruction across the city. Meanwhile Batman discovers Mr. Freeze was responsible 467 00:43:32,662 --> 00:43:38,024 for sabotaging his Batplane while trying to fix it. Now it's never really made clear how 468 00:43:38,064 --> 00:43:42,945 Mr. Freeze was able to sabotage the Batplane. There's a lot of instances in the film where 469 00:43:42,965 --> 00:43:48,667 I'm like, do the bad guys know that Batman is Bruce Wayne? It's never really made clear. 470 00:43:49,127 --> 00:43:53,729 Well you would think they would at least be able to deduce it at this point when they realize 471 00:43:53,849 --> 00:43:58,999 that the kid from Wayne Manor is little Batman. Well, I think Joker just thought it was a little 472 00:43:59,019 --> 00:44:04,385 kid in a bat costume. It's not until the very end that Joker learns that Batman has a son 473 00:44:04,445 --> 00:44:08,168 and even makes a point of scolding Batman for not telling him saying that, Hey, I thought 474 00:44:08,188 --> 00:44:12,713 we were friends at that point. I think they could have been able to deduce that Bruce Wayne 475 00:44:12,733 --> 00:44:17,317 was Batman, especially at the very end in the diner when Joker's having Christmas dinner 476 00:44:17,357 --> 00:44:24,050 with freaking Alfred. That's the big clue. That's true. Determining Santa Claus would know where 477 00:44:24,070 --> 00:44:30,092 his utility belt is, Damien visits Santa at the mall only to discover Santa is the villain 478 00:44:30,132 --> 00:44:36,994 Bane in disguise. Ambushed by Bane and Poison Ivy, Damien manages to accidentally bring down 479 00:44:37,034 --> 00:44:42,355 the city's giant Christmas tree, turning the press and public sentiment against him, while 480 00:44:42,375 --> 00:44:48,076 the Penguin manages to escape with the utility belt. The Joker, thrilled with Damien's success, 481 00:44:48,257 --> 00:44:54,927 expresses a desire to meet and speak with Meanwhile, Batman and Mr. Freeze face off in a blizzard 482 00:44:55,087 --> 00:44:59,930 in the Canadian wilderness, where Batman learns that Damien is taking on Gotham's villains 483 00:45:00,090 --> 00:45:06,213 as a little Batman. Isn't it strange that they aged up the villains so drastically in this 484 00:45:06,253 --> 00:45:10,916 movie? They were all almost geriatric. Poison Ivy had the white hair and the penguin was 485 00:45:11,036 --> 00:45:16,019 on a scooter and everything like that. I always assumed that Batman's villains were roughly 486 00:45:16,039 --> 00:45:20,801 around the same age as Batman himself, but here it appeared that they were like 20 to 30 years 487 00:45:20,901 --> 00:45:25,135 older. So this wasn't something I realized the first time I watched the movie. I thought the 488 00:45:25,175 --> 00:45:31,017 white hair on Ivy was just a design choice and the whole glasses thing on Bane's I thought 489 00:45:31,037 --> 00:45:35,699 that was just you know something that was left over from him wearing the Santa Claus costume. 490 00:45:35,779 --> 00:45:42,462 Penguin has always been old in my opinion but yeah I guess the characters were aged up to 491 00:45:42,482 --> 00:45:47,964 a point where I think it kind of almost justified them retiring from supervillainy and that's 492 00:45:47,984 --> 00:45:53,423 why they were like outside of Arkham to begin with. Yeah maybe. Damien and his Bat-Dad AI 493 00:45:53,463 --> 00:45:58,706 contemplate Bruce's relationship with his own parents at the Gotham Zoo before falling into 494 00:45:58,746 --> 00:46:04,489 a trap set by the Penguin, who taunts Damien with his utility belt. During a battle between 495 00:46:04,509 --> 00:46:10,752 the two, Penguin manages to damage the Bat-Dad AI before attempting to flee on a giant balloon 496 00:46:10,912 --> 00:46:17,276 during a Christmas parade. While in freefall, Bat-Dad sacrifices itself to save Damien's 497 00:46:17,336 --> 00:46:23,275 life by directing power to its inflation capability. With Gotham City on fire from the ruined parade, 498 00:46:23,556 --> 00:46:28,539 Commissioner Gordon turns on the bat signal. As Damien flees from the angry Gotham citizens, 499 00:46:28,639 --> 00:46:34,784 he has a panic attack, but is eventually discovered by Alfred, who offers him some cocoa. Now the 500 00:46:34,844 --> 00:46:40,248 panic attack scene was kind of weird. It went black and white and very grainy. It was kind 501 00:46:40,268 --> 00:46:45,792 of spooky. I initially thought this was the result of Damien being exposed to Scarecrow, 502 00:46:46,132 --> 00:46:52,023 but that turned out to not be the case. I like it for its artistic choice. Apparently an entirely 503 00:46:52,063 --> 00:46:57,987 different artist worked on this woodcutout style. I think it was just meant to visually portray 504 00:46:58,027 --> 00:47:02,349 Damien in his darkest moment. Yeah it was kind of dark. I'm glad it ended up being Alfred 505 00:47:02,489 --> 00:47:07,032 and not the Scarecrow because then things would have gotten a lot scarier. Now Damien encounters 506 00:47:07,152 --> 00:47:12,975 a balloon with a card from the Joker asking to meet. The card gases Damien and he wakes 507 00:47:13,075 --> 00:47:18,618 up at a candy factory where he finds Joker and his allies celebrating Christmas. The villains 508 00:47:18,658 --> 00:47:24,221 congratulate Damian on helping them bring crime back to Gotham. As the city was focused on 509 00:47:24,261 --> 00:47:29,924 little Batman's destruction, they were able to steal everyone's presence. As Damian languishes 510 00:47:30,024 --> 00:47:35,727 that he's become a villain, the villains present him with his utility belt, now armed with dangerous, 511 00:47:35,947 --> 00:47:42,331 sharp, and explosive gear. Taking responsibility for his actions, Damian throws his belt into 512 00:47:42,371 --> 00:47:47,193 the fireplace, blowing up the Joker's party globe before taking on all of the villains, 513 00:47:47,454 --> 00:47:53,015 single-handedly. This was probably the most important scene in that it's where Damien really 514 00:47:53,075 --> 00:47:58,277 came to take full responsibility for his actions and sacrifice the one thing that he really 515 00:47:58,337 --> 00:48:03,318 loved which was his utility belt even now that was equipped with all the things he originally 516 00:48:03,398 --> 00:48:07,259 wanted it to be equipped with. Yeah it was a great moment of character growth. During the 517 00:48:07,299 --> 00:48:13,161 fight Batman comes to Damien's aid and together they bring down the Joker and his allies. Though 518 00:48:13,201 --> 00:48:20,089 Batman is reluctant Damien improves himself during the battle and is rewarded with Batman's 519 00:48:20,329 --> 00:48:26,915 own utility belt. One of my favorite scenes in the movie for some reason was when the Batarangs 520 00:48:27,075 --> 00:48:32,259 miss the Joker and he forgets about it and then he gets hit with them and that sets off his 521 00:48:32,399 --> 00:48:37,604 rocket launcher that creates this massive explosion like way bigger than it should have been and 522 00:48:37,644 --> 00:48:42,588 he just like flies backwards in slow motion. Again it's a scene that goes on for longer 523 00:48:42,608 --> 00:48:47,398 than it should but because of that There's just a lot of humor in it. I found it quite funny. 524 00:48:47,878 --> 00:48:52,860 I thought it was really touching when Batman saw Damien protecting him. And like Damien 525 00:48:52,880 --> 00:48:56,221 was like, I'll protect you dad. And that moment of realization where you could tell he was 526 00:48:56,241 --> 00:49:00,682 really proud of his son for the little hero that he had become. It was just very touching. 527 00:49:01,102 --> 00:49:07,164 Yeah, honestly, all I've ever wanted my dad to tell me was, wow, sweet ninja skills, son. 528 00:49:08,564 --> 00:49:12,625 I have yet to hear that. And so I think that's why it was so touching when I heard it in this 529 00:49:12,705 --> 00:49:18,616 movie. There's still hope. Maybe. Now Batman, Damien, and Alfred use the Bat Jet to return 530 00:49:18,756 --> 00:49:24,459 everything that the Joker and his allies stole, flying across the city and dropping presents, 531 00:49:24,599 --> 00:49:30,382 returning Christmas to Gotham City. When Damien expresses pity over how the Joker simply expressed 532 00:49:30,462 --> 00:49:36,025 loneliness, they end up sharing Christmas dinner with him at a local diner, to Batman's chagrin. 533 00:49:36,425 --> 00:49:41,548 And that's the end of the movie. I gotta say, Gotham City is not Whoville. The citizens of 534 00:49:41,588 --> 00:49:48,328 Gotham are not Whovians. Because in the Grinch movie, the Hoos of Whoville realized that it 535 00:49:48,348 --> 00:49:52,930 was more than just the physical gifts that made Christmas, and it was the time spent together 536 00:49:53,211 --> 00:49:57,293 as friends and family. And, you know, they were singing around that Christmas tree at the end 537 00:49:57,513 --> 00:50:03,336 of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. But the citizens of Gotham were like depressed and down and 538 00:50:03,536 --> 00:50:09,600 really sad until the moment they got their presents back. So somebody needs to teach Gotham City 539 00:50:09,640 --> 00:50:14,370 the true meaning of Christmas or something. That's that's fair. I didn't even realize that 540 00:50:14,390 --> 00:50:21,256 until you said that. That's probably not the best lesson. But yeah, I mean, I walked out 541 00:50:21,276 --> 00:50:26,140 of the movie theater just really happy with this movie. And I don't know if it's just the 542 00:50:26,180 --> 00:50:30,804 holiday season or whatever, but I just enjoyed the heck out of it. Did you like the ending 543 00:50:30,844 --> 00:50:35,027 line, like the way it ended on the joke where Batman just says, I'm not your friend, it was 544 00:50:35,047 --> 00:50:39,414 a little bit abrupt for my taste. I thought it was fine. I mean, the music that came right 545 00:50:39,494 --> 00:50:45,197 after that line, I thought helped sell the joke a little bit and how abrupt it was. Yeah, it 546 00:50:45,217 --> 00:50:49,380 didn't bother me. I had fun with the film. It was time worth spending, especially around 547 00:50:49,520 --> 00:50:54,262 this Christmas season. You mentioned earlier how a criticism of the film could be that it's 548 00:50:54,342 --> 00:50:59,325 unoriginal because it borrows from so many other holiday movies. But I actually like that about 549 00:50:59,365 --> 00:51:02,907 it, how it kind of plays like a greatest hits of all these awesome Christmas moments from 550 00:51:02,987 --> 00:51:09,503 other media packaged in a cute little Batman film. I agree with that, that's why I think 551 00:51:09,523 --> 00:51:14,927 it'll definitely come on at least on an annual rotation in my household. But borrowing from 552 00:51:14,967 --> 00:51:20,371 nostalgic holiday classics, the film appeals to adults and children alike thanks to its 553 00:51:20,411 --> 00:51:26,236 charming visuals, fun action, and laugh out loud humor. I thought the movie was immensely 554 00:51:26,296 --> 00:51:33,954 fun and funny, and I'm giving it 4 out of 5 stars a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Yeah, 555 00:51:33,974 --> 00:51:38,215 I think four stars is a great rating. I actually like this movie more than the Guardians of 556 00:51:38,235 --> 00:51:41,916 the Galaxy holiday special that we got last year, which I believe I gave three and a half 557 00:51:41,956 --> 00:51:46,497 stars. I think if I remember correctly, my issue with the Guardian special was that it didn't 558 00:51:46,697 --> 00:51:52,199 evoke those feelings that the best holiday specials did, whereas Merry Little Batman, I think definitely 559 00:51:52,279 --> 00:51:56,280 does. Right. Yeah, I remember you saying that and I would agree with that. Like we said at 560 00:51:56,300 --> 00:52:02,810 the top of the episode, there aren't many holiday focused films from Marvel or DC. Merry Little 561 00:52:02,830 --> 00:52:08,832 Batman is obviously the most overt holiday project for the two companies. So there wasn't much 562 00:52:08,892 --> 00:52:14,414 competition in it being the best holiday project. But yeah, it definitely is. But that does it 563 00:52:14,434 --> 00:52:18,716 for this review. Let us know what you thought about Merry Little Batman by writing to us 564 00:52:18,816 --> 00:52:25,719 at dynamicduelpodcast.gmail.com or by visiting us on Instagram or X. You can find links to 565 00:52:25,859 --> 00:52:31,161 all of our accounts by checking out our show notes or visiting our website at dynamicduel.com 566 00:52:32,090 --> 00:52:35,051 And on our site, you could also find a link to our Patreon page where you could join our 567 00:52:35,091 --> 00:52:39,574 dynamic two tier and chat with us and fellow listeners are fantastic for tier, which gets 568 00:52:39,594 --> 00:52:43,876 you bonus content each month. 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So go to dynamicduel.com, 576 00:53:20,503 --> 00:53:24,804 check out the store, click the donation button for Marvel, and let's win this little charity 577 00:53:24,824 --> 00:53:30,666 competition. No, no, no. DC, guys, we know what DC really stands for. does charity. 578 00:53:40,614 --> 00:53:44,257 Absolutely. But that does it for this episode, we want to give a big thanks to our executive 579 00:53:44,277 --> 00:53:49,282 producers Ken Johnson, John Storowski, Zachary Hepburn, Dustin Balcom, Miggy Matanguian, Brandon 580 00:53:49,322 --> 00:53:54,848 Essergard, Nathaniel Wagner, Levi Yeaton, Nick Abonto, Austin Wazilowski, AJ Dunkerley, Scott 581 00:53:54,868 --> 00:54:00,533 Camacho, Adam Spies, and Andrew Schunk for helping make this podcast possible. We'll talk to you 582 00:54:00,553 --> 00:54:03,416 guys next week. Up, up, and away, true believers.