Now spring has just arrived, or as some people call it, Allergy Season. Although I don’t have allergies, the onset of spring has apparently triggered my own Cold Season. So, while many students were recovering from their colds, attending classes, going to Spring Break and coming back to school after possibly visiting someplace more exotic than Iowa (or Fort Dodge at least), I was stuck in the boring little town of Humboldt with a couple dozen packages of cough drops, a box of tissues and my movies. Yes, perhaps you were fooled, perhaps not, but yet again I bring you another movie review.
Let’s face it: when you’re sick, there isn’t much you feel up to doing. You’re hot, you’re tired and that kitchen seems so far away that you don’t even feel like eating anything. More often than not, the choice location in the house is the couch in the living room right in front of the TV.
Although there’s always channel surfing (that remote makes the TV seem closer, doesn’t it?), some of the best movies to watch while you’re sick are comedies and dramas. Shows that are easier to understand are usually more enjoyable because your mind is already clouded by drowsiness, frustration and possibly even a fever. Cartoons make one of the best types of shows to watch because the plots are usually very simple. Shows focused toward children and younger teenagers are also a good example.
Okay boys and girls; let me show you my inner child. You know I’m a Batman fan (why else would my nickname be Batgirl?) and this particular Batman movie I’ve watched maybe a dozen or more times in the past three weeks. It was the first DVD I ever owned and I have many of the scenes memorized, making it probably my favorite of close to 300 movies that I own.
Bruce Wayne is Batman. Dick Grayson was the original Robin and then became Nightwing. Tim Drake took his place and Barbara Gordon is Batgirl. Together they fight crime in Gotham City. Just about anyone who knows even a little about Batman knows all that. I know the comics go into a little more detail (there’s another Robin in there somewhere and a paralyzed Barbara Gordon becomes Oracle), but I don’t read many of the comics. In this movie, however, things are a little different.
About 40 years into the future, Bruce Wayne no longer protects Gotham City as Batman. He doesn’t even have an active role in his family’s company. Batman is now a teenage high school student by the name of Terry McGinnis. There is no Robin. There is no Batgirl. Just Terry with Bruce to guide him.
The story starts out with a gang of Jokerz (copy-cats of the original villain, The Joker) stealing high tech equipment. Batman stops them but doesn’t understand why they’re going after complex machinery as opposed to the normal cash cards. It isn’t until a banquet welcoming Bruce Wayne back to active leadership of Wayne Enterprises that Batman and the rest of Gotham find out that this particular gang is being led by what appears to be The Joker himself. Thus the name of the movie: “Batman Beyond: Return of The Joker.”
Now normally this would be the point where I tell you what happens through about half of the show, but I just can’t bring myself to do it this time. If you’re not a Batman/Superman/Justice League fan, this movie will not change your opinion. It may even confuse you a little bit because it’s not part of the original Batman storyline.
What I will say I that alike the television series, “Batman Beyond,” it is well written and something I often sit down to watch with my six year old cousin. Anymore it’s rare to find a show that is acceptable to both young children and us older ones.
Now admit it; when you have a cold, you’re a big baby. So feed that baby and settle down with a good cartoon like “Batman Beyond.” (Note: other good Batman cartoon movies include “Mask of the Phantasm,” “Sub-Zero” and “Mystery of the Batwoman.” These three movies are part of the “Batman and Robin: The Animated Series” storyline.)
