Batman: Caped Crusader review: "A reinvention of a classic"

Ordinarily, it would be seen as bad form to begin a review by mentioning another show entirely. But Batman: Caped Crusader cannot be separated from the long shadow cast by Batman: The Animated Series (BTAS), the seminal ‘90s cartoon that helped mold the DC hero into the dark, tragic figure that still permeates pop culture today – connective tissue which found its way into everything from Rocksteady’s Arkham trilogy to Matt Reeves’ The Batman.

Fittingly, it’s Reeves – with fellow executive producer JJ Abrams and, predominantly, BTAS co-creator Bruce Timm – who is helping shepherd this reinvention of a classic in its initial 10-episode outing on Prime Video.

The first thing that will strike viewers is how much Batman: Caped Crusader looks and sounds like its predecessor. Everything from grunting gangsters to the angular, harsh outline of the Gotham skyline of this 1940s-set period piece is all present and accounted for.

Batman: Caped Crusader is no pale imitation, however. It may carry the same moody tone, art deco setting, and nuanced villains that made the original series such a hit on the Fox Kids block three decades prior, but it’s a formidable remix to a beloved formula – and one that may yet define Batman for a new generation of viewers.

Replacing a legend

If Batman: The Animated Series casts a long shadow, the untimely passing of Kevin Conroy – who voiced Batman for decades across TV shows, films, and video games – may cast a larger one still.

Anyone who steps into the cape and cowl of Gotham’s protector is already up against it, given it will instantly be compared to the iconic growl of Conroy’s vengeance-meting Batman. 

Hamish Linklater, though, delivers a capable performance as a more inexperienced Dark Knight surrounded by grounded villains, doing just enough to not draw attention to the massive loss hidden just out of sight.

In truth, Linklater’s Batman is slightly flat and veers into imitation territory in the early going, perhaps not helped by an Alfred (Jason Watkins) that takes a little more getting used to than most new iterations of familiar faces. Linklater's softly-spoken Bruce Wayne, however, is a triumph, truly encompassing what Conroy got right and what so many others failed to grasp: Bruce Wayne is the mask, and Batman is the continuation of the little boy left as an orphan all those years ago in Crime Alley.

It’s those aforementioned new iterations that really are Caped Crusader’s calling card. Its evolution of classic Batman characters, such as a female Penguin masquerading as a bawdy cruise ship owner and a firebrand Barbara Gordon working as a public defender at odds with her Commissioner father, all add further dimensions to tried-and-tested personalities in Gotham. 

Harley Quinn is perhaps the greatest beneficiary of this approach, being granted more agency and giving her star turn in the fifth episode an added dose of pathos rather than being played as a loudmouth joke machine. Bat-fans, too, will be overjoyed by the slight tweaks, subtle Easter eggs, and stellar character redesigns that are present throughout.

These reworkings are bolstered by other modern sensibilities, namely punched-up animation meshed with the rhythm and shape of more mature serialized narratives – all unburdened by sidestepping the censorship of the previous series (guns can actually be fired here, for example). 

That allows Caped Crusader to evolve, extending itself with more complex action sequences that exist simultaneously next to slower, more character-driven moments. The end result? Moments like the third episode’s dalliance with Catwoman (Christina Ricci) a sizzling high point laced with erotic tension, backed by an intriguing plot involving a therapy session with Harleen Quinzel (Jamie Chung) that gets picked up further into the season alongside Harvey Dent’s slow burn mayoral campaign. Caped Crusader is not always pedal to the Bat-metal – and it’s all the better for it.

If there is a downside to these changes, though, it’s that Caped Crusader doesn’t go far enough in some respects. Across its first season, the Prime Video series lacks a ‘Heart of Ice’, the instant-classic Mr. Freeze-led BTAS episode that transformed one of Batman’s rogues’ gallery from a punchline that deserved the cold shoulder to one of real emotional weight and gravitas.

Not everything else lands in Caped Crusader. While the weaknesses are largely insignificant, viewers might be turned off by the lack of a killer score and a slightly more toothless Batman, perhaps hamstrung by no real standout gadgets in the 1940s setting – including one moment where Bats escapes by literally running up a stairwell. Occasionally, it also feels like Batman exists on the periphery of some cases, with moments going on around him rather than the DC hero outright affecting things. 

Outside of the text, viewers with even the slightest base Batman knowledge – such as knowing Basil Karlo is Clayface, for example – will feel the tension drain out of a few of the more detective-focused cases.

Still, those are the sorts of issues that can be tweaked down the line. In truth, this is as solid of a base as you’re likely to expect from a Batman animated series in 2024 – little surprise, given the creatives involved.

Ultimately, Batman: Caped Crusader stops just short of taking Batman: The Animated Series’ place on the mantle of best animated Batman media. Yet, this is a tremendous first effort, one that has the potential to be mentioned in the same breath as its legendary forefather should it return for more Gotham escapades in the near future.

Batman: Caped Crusader is streaming on Prime Video from August 1.