Batman - The Long Halloween

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Batman – The Long Halloween

This Deluxe Edition – combining the complete mystery with added mature content, is not only an early Halloween treat but something that all Batman Comic aficionados must surely have been waiting for! Seamlessly combining Part 1 and Part 2, this animated ‘whodunnit’ (derived from thirteen comics) will hold anyone’s attention thanks to a slick screenplay by Tim Sheridan.
Clocking in nearly three hours in all (each part coming in at just under 90 minutes) BATMAN – THE LONG HALLOWEEN has quite a few ‘edge of the seat’ moments. This is indeed dark and violent stuff – not really for kids at all (hence the 15 Cert) though one can’t imagine there would be many kids who wouldn’t love it, despite a rather intricate plot (thirteen issues, remember). Initially you may be forgiven for thinking that you chanced into Batman meets the Godfather. In crime-ridden Gotham City murders are being committed on a regular basis by an unknown assailant known as ‘The Holiday Killer’ – though things kick off on a slightly more straightforward note when the nephew of local mob boss Carmine Falcone is murdered on Halloween night and the killer leaves a carved pumpkin at the crime scene. Since murder victim Johnny Viti was about to turn state’s evidence against Falcone it seems clear to Police Captain Gordon that the mobster is responsible for dispatching Viti. Gordon asks Batman and District Attorney Harvey Dent for assistance without realising what a can of worms it will open…
Thing is, Falcone is actually genuinely very fond of millionaire businessman Bruce Wayne (and we all know Bruce’s secret identity) – it appears that Falcone (a Godfather figure indeed) was a friend of Bruce’s father’s. To make matters worse, Falcone prefers the broad shouldered Bruce to his puny passed over son Alberto and you can imagine how Alberto feels about this. Falcone has an even bigger surprise in store at the end. – Meanwhile, the ‘Holiday Killer’ keeps on eliminating members of Gotham’s underworld on certain holidays (Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, New Years etc), resulting in everyone distrusting everyone else and Harvey Dent’s fiancée Gilda feeling increasingly neglected. We have a number of suspects regarding the identity of the mystery assassin and as the bodies keep piling up the city’s super villains arrive thick and fast as well – from the Mad Hatter to the Scarecrow, from the Penguin to Poison Ivy to the Joker (now he really has some nasty Christmas treats in store for the citizens of Gotham), right up to Solomon Grundy and the clever Calendar Man… Of course, mad schizo Two Face (yes, Harvey Dent) is, if anything, worse than the lot of them.
Really, the almighty Batman needs more than strong wings to stay on top of things. That said, Selina Kyle aka Catwoman (voiced by the late Naya Rivera) is no longer a baddie but a far better crime fighter than the somewhat befuddled Caped Crusader while Poison Ivy, although at the opposite pole, also holds her own. It’s nice to see the female characters throwing a bit of weight around and the brilliant Catwoman always seems streets ahead of Batman, saving the latters ass on a number of occasions. Apropos weight: when it comes to weight just want until you meet Falcone’s daughter!
This is terrific and terrifying fun in equal measure and this Deluxe Blu-ray set has some generous Bonus Features on offer – including various episodes from ‘Batman – The Animated Series’ plus the new featurette ‘Evolution of Evil’. It looks great too!

Tags: Film-News.co.uk