Batman: Caped Crusader Review | Bruce Timm returns to Gotham in excellent Noir-inspired animated series

Batman: The Animated Series creator Bruce Timm, J.J. Abrams and The Batman director Matt Reeves team up for a new animated Batman series in Batman: Caped Crusader.

Batman: Caped Crusader takes the noir feel even further by setting the series in 1940s Gotham. In many ways, Batman: Caped Crusader feels like a prequel to Batman: The Animated Series. A terrific voice cast, grounded tone, and willingness to dive into the Dark Knight’s rogues gallery led to Batman: The Animated Series being the best animated comic series of all time. Batman: Caped Crusader carries over these same elements.

The voice cast is fantastic across the board. Hamish Linklater takes on the titular role. He does a great job distinguishing between the Bruce Wayne and Batman personas. However, while Batman is certainly a key player, he spends a surprising amount of time in the background, letting the villains and Gotham Police Department take the spotlight.

Eric Morgan Stuart and Krystal Joy Brown shine as Jim Gordon and Barbara Gordon. In this iteration, father and daughter are on opposing sides. Jim, the hard-nosed cop trying to put criminals away. Barbara, the defense attorney trying to give these criminals another chance. Barbara often butts heads with District Attorney Harvey Dent (voiced by Diedrich Bader).

Meanwhile, Gordon is fighting battles on multiple fronts. He’s facing pressure from the mayor to capture Batman while trying to corral the corrupt tendencies of Detectives Harvey Bullock (voiced by John DiMaggio) and Arnold Flass (voiced by Gary Anthony Williams).

Luckily, he has the loyal service of Renee Montoya (Michelle C. Bonilla), who is incorruptible. Montoya and Dent are the best characters in the series. One of the standout episodes involves a murder investigation, during which Montoya tracks down leads while Batman surveys from the shadows. Dent’s story picks up in the final two episodes of the series. Bader is outstanding in capturing Dent’s duality.

The storytelling, voice work and setting are terrific, but a few issues place Batman: Caped Crusader below X-Men ’97 in the 2024 slate of animated spiritual successors. The icy cold relationship between Bruce and Alfred makes it challenging to connect with Bruce. Bruce refers to Alfred as Pennyworth and is pretty condescending to his longtime caretaker.

Batman: Cape Crusader‘s emulation of the ’90s style includes the animation, which sadly feels like it’s from a bygone decade as well. There’s not a single great action sequence in the series. Fortunately, the character moments make up for most of these shortcomings.

Overall, Batman: The Caped Crusader continues 2024’s top-tier animated comic book series slate.

After the overview and rating of Batman: Caped Crusader 8.5 out of 10 (Great), let’s dive deeper into best episodes, Dent’s descent and the people fighting for and against the decay of Gotham. Batman: Caped Crusader is streaming on Prime.

Best Episodes of Batman: Caped Crusader

The penultimate and finale are the best episodes of Batman: Caped Crusader, but they are an exception to the rest of the series as each installment builds to those two episodes. Figuring out which of the building blocks represents the top three best episodes is difficult. Episodes two, six and eight are favorites of the season.

…And Be a Villain, written by Greg Rucka, comes in at No. 3 in the rankings. This is in the 2nd episode of the series, which centers around a murder mystery investigation. Renee takes center stage while Batman watches from the background. The investigation involves a missing actress. Basil Karlo is a terrific actor with an unremarkable face. After being rebuffed, he turns to a makeup artist for help. The compound allows him to shape his face into anyone. This serious take on Clayface is terrific and the focus on Renee sets up the series focus on the supporting cast.

The Stress of Her Regard, written by Halley Gross, comes in at No. 2 in the ranking. This is the 5th episode of the series and centers around Harley Quinn. Dr. Harleen Quinn first appears in episode three as Bruce’s therapist, but this is Quinn’s episode. Quinn is frustrated over her patients’ inability to change. She adopts a jester-like persona and subjects her uncompromising patients to torture to correct their behavior. The other highlight is the start of a relationship between Harley and Renee which is quite sweet.

Night Ride, written by Marc Bernardin, is the best episode of Batman: Caped Crusader. This is the 6th episode of the series and forces Bruce to confront the supernatural. For the first time, Batman faces a villain he can’t punch or use logic to defeat as he faces off against an actual ghost. Jim Craddock is the ghost, and he’s hell-bent on stealing from the poor and giving it to himself. Bruce is forced to turn to Linton Midnite, a familiar Constantine presence, to help bust this ghost. Alfred plays a significant role in capturing the ghost and nearly dies. The other highlight is this episode is the beginning of Dent’s arc of working with crime boss Thorne to fund his mayoral campaign.

Two sides of a coin

Episode eight is another compelling episode that paves the way for the excellent penultimate and finale episodes centering around Dent. Most of the episode centers around the supernatural, with children disappearing at a fair. However, the B-story centers around Dent and his struggles with Thorne, his biggest campaign donor. Thorne asks Dent to drop the charges against a client. Dent reluctantly agrees, but in the courtroom, he reverses course and moves the case forward. Thorne orders an attack that scars one side of Dent’s face.

Episode 9 kicks off the Two-Face saga. Dent loses the mayoral race and is dealing with immense trauma due to his injuries. Bruce tries to help him with a night on the town, but his paranoia worsens the situation. Dent’s demented side takes over and he goes after Thorne. After Batman intervenes, Dent’s guilt-ridden side takes over. He willingly agrees to go to Arkham. His former nemesis, Barbara, signs on as his lawyer.

The finale shows Barbara and Dent working together to avoid Thorne’s inside men in the GCPD Bullock and Flass. It’s a terrific finale that shows Dent’s journey going full circle and Batman finding a new motivation for the battles ahead. Like Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight, the ending teases Joker in a sinister fashion.

Batman: Caped Crusader Final Thoughts

Outside of some stiff animation and the cold, largely unexplored Bruce-Alfred relationship, Batman: Caped Crusader is a terrific return to Gotham.

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