Episode 14: Batman vs the Wizard
"He can make himself invisible!"
Oh. My. God. The penultimate episode and we have the faint stirrings of... a plot.
This isn't immediate- after the most pathetic cliffhanger resolution yet, and that's saying something, we have scenes of the invisible Wizard having his escape made less easy by his sudden visibility, escaping but being grazed on the hand by a bullet. And then silly plot convenience sets in; both Barry Brown and Dunne turn out to have injured right hands. But, as our not-very-dynamic duo and Gordon rush to check the hands of the Professor and Carter, Carter is shot by an unseen hand- it seems we was the Wizard, if not for the fact we know that would be far too easy, and there's an episode to go. But things are actually happening, praise be.
I love how Batman realises the Wizard must be invisible by reciting the same technobabble nonsense...
One suspicious thing, though not to come across like one of those wankers who accuse disabled people who don't always use their wheelchairs of being frauds, is that we see the Prof walking in this scene which, I suspect, intended to cast suspicion. But the Wizard is not dead- dramatically, Barry Brown announces that the Wizard is to kill Gordon in his office at 2pm, and then gets strangled live on air by an invisible man. It's all happening.
So Gordon is going to make damn sure he's far away from his office at 2pm, right? Hell no; there's a cliffhanger to get through. But at least, for once, Batman- using a special infrared camera- actually wants Vicki to do her job as photographer.
Episode 15: Batman Victorious
"I'm ready to make a full confession..."
It's a surprising finale in that on paper it has a lot to wrap up in 17 minutes but, given that these fifteen episodes have been 99% set pieces and peril and only 1% plot, there isn't much to wrap up. It is, of course, convenient that the Wizard doesn't wear his mask while trying to shoot Gordon through the window, and did no one realise he might try that? Really? But we're getting somewhere. Confusingly, the photo shows the Wizard to be the late Carter, but from here the rest of the episode is a manhunt for an invisible but very alone Wizard, and now it's the final episode Batman and Robin are finally allowed to discover the secret passage.
We have a lot packed into the final few minutes as Batman and Robin burst into the Wizard's HQ and he run's away through a secret passage into the Prof's house. And here we have the clever and the absurd- the Prof was a red herring after all, his machine to make him walk and secret passage being just an unrelated scientific experiment. Yet the Wizard was Carter... and the "Carter" we've seen all along, and whom he shot dead, was his twin brother. Er...
We end with another crap scene where Vicki is persuaded yet again that Bruce Wayne isn't Batman, and it finally stops. And I can get on with The Sopranos and try and regain some of the brain cells I've lost while watching this.
A suggestion; let's give serialised Batman adventures a rest now for, say, about seventeen years. And, when we do bring it's back, let's mix up the set pieces with some camp humour, perhaps aving words like "THWACK!" or "BASH!" actually appear on screen. How about it?
Showing posts with label Jim Diehl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jim Diehl. Show all posts
Saturday, 5 October 2019
Wednesday, 25 September 2019
Batman and Robin: Episodes 10 and 11
Episode Ten: Batman's Last Chance
"We hae to square things with the guy whose car we took!"
You know the drill; this is a movie serial and thus has no characterisation whatsoever beyond the basics, nor does it have a plot beyond a loosely connected series of set pieces until the whole thing ends. This means none of the suspects are investigated as Batman and Robin are far too busy being peril monkeys to do any detective work, which by this point is making them look a bit thick. Indeed, after the outrageously cheating cliffhanger resolution- a new scene is inserted where our not-so-dynamic duo jump out of the car, Batman almost seems to admit to Robin that they’ve been a bit crap and he’s worried, especially as he’s asked the commissioner to let Jimmy go but not bothered to watch him. Although, of course, I’m probably overanalysing g; it’s not as though any of these characters have any interiority beyond pure plot function.
I have to wonder, though- the only movie serials I’ve seen have been this and (circa 1990) the earlier Batman with the wartime racism. Are they all quite like this?
Anyway, there’s more intrigue with Jimmy, who finally decides to help his sister, in a tall office block where the baddies have an exciting gadget that can see through doors. And Batman gets into a fight during which he opens a window in the umpteenth floor for no particular window, and plunged to his apparent doom. Sigh.
Episode Eleven: Robin's Ruse
"Can you prove it was Batman?"
Wow. This is actually a clever cliffhanger resolution- it was Jimmy in Batman’s costume, not Barman himself, who plunged to his doom, and we get a flashback. Just let’s not think too hard about why Jimmy would want to dress as Batman, or why a conscious Bruce would let Jimmy steak his costume- and see his face.
Soon, though, the Wizard and co dismiss the the theory that Jimmy was the Batman and alight on a much better suspect- Bruce Wayne, whom they decide to kidnap. Thus we have a whole episode based on Robin rescuing Bruce while (with help from a spandex-wearing Alfred!) he convinces them that Batman is with him. The Wizard and his goons are sufficiently stupid that even the bit-very-bright Batman and Robin can run rings around them, although they are still no closer Toni castigating any of the suspects they have, being far too busy with boys’ own set pieces.
Still, only four episodes left. Could we be about to get some actual plot...?
"We hae to square things with the guy whose car we took!"
You know the drill; this is a movie serial and thus has no characterisation whatsoever beyond the basics, nor does it have a plot beyond a loosely connected series of set pieces until the whole thing ends. This means none of the suspects are investigated as Batman and Robin are far too busy being peril monkeys to do any detective work, which by this point is making them look a bit thick. Indeed, after the outrageously cheating cliffhanger resolution- a new scene is inserted where our not-so-dynamic duo jump out of the car, Batman almost seems to admit to Robin that they’ve been a bit crap and he’s worried, especially as he’s asked the commissioner to let Jimmy go but not bothered to watch him. Although, of course, I’m probably overanalysing g; it’s not as though any of these characters have any interiority beyond pure plot function.
I have to wonder, though- the only movie serials I’ve seen have been this and (circa 1990) the earlier Batman with the wartime racism. Are they all quite like this?
Anyway, there’s more intrigue with Jimmy, who finally decides to help his sister, in a tall office block where the baddies have an exciting gadget that can see through doors. And Batman gets into a fight during which he opens a window in the umpteenth floor for no particular window, and plunged to his apparent doom. Sigh.
Episode Eleven: Robin's Ruse
"Can you prove it was Batman?"
Wow. This is actually a clever cliffhanger resolution- it was Jimmy in Batman’s costume, not Barman himself, who plunged to his doom, and we get a flashback. Just let’s not think too hard about why Jimmy would want to dress as Batman, or why a conscious Bruce would let Jimmy steak his costume- and see his face.
Soon, though, the Wizard and co dismiss the the theory that Jimmy was the Batman and alight on a much better suspect- Bruce Wayne, whom they decide to kidnap. Thus we have a whole episode based on Robin rescuing Bruce while (with help from a spandex-wearing Alfred!) he convinces them that Batman is with him. The Wizard and his goons are sufficiently stupid that even the bit-very-bright Batman and Robin can run rings around them, although they are still no closer Toni castigating any of the suspects they have, being far too busy with boys’ own set pieces.
Still, only four episodes left. Could we be about to get some actual plot...?
Saturday, 31 August 2019
Batman and Robin: Episodes 4 and 5
Episode 4: Batman Trapped!
"You're clever, Batman. But not as clever as the Wizard!"
Sigh. Spoiled with all this Stranger Things lately but tonight I return to this functional, "that'll do" nonsense, made for kids in the assumption that means not particularly trying. Still, t may be rubbish, but the constant action means it passes the time quite well, and sometimes its very rubbishness can be interesting or entertaining.
Is it me, or does Batman not at any time become trapped during these instalment? These titles have very little reference to anything that happens. And, again, there is absolutely zero focus on character with all that happens being strictly action and plot. The episode is a blur of chases, captures and escapes much as we’ve seen before. Batman, again, reacts to events and is a pretty crap detective. Morton is ultimately freed after some visually cool but ultimately failed hypnotism by the Wizard. But Barman and Robin arrive and seem to defeat them all and capture the Wizard.... alas, our charisma-free villain is just a screen, for there are eleven more episodes of chases and fistfights to go.
Once again we are reminded that newscaster Barry Brown seems to know an awful lot, and yet again Batman does sod all about it, and falls for a pretty simple trick of the Wizard’s to find out where the hospitalised Morton is hiring his formula. You begin to wonder why Commissioner Gordon gives the time of day to such a thick, incompetent Batman.
Oh, and I realise the crapness of ‘40s fashion was a sort of precursor to the ‘70’s, but Dick Grayson looks very ‘70s here.
Chapter 5: Robin Rescues Batman
“Jimmy!”
As far as I can see, at no point during this episode does Robin do anything of the sort.
Anyway, we begin with lots of chases and escapes as usual, including Barman flagging down a passing police car and jumping in the back. But then we turn into a subplot, with hood Jimmy, played by perhaps the worst actor I have ever seen, having been photographed in an incriminating way by Vicki Bale, Who happens to be his sister. He sets a rotten and transparent trap for her so the picture and negatives can be taken in a series of scenes which could have included a lot of character and pathos, but don’t, because action and plot are the only two things this script is allowed to do.
Fortunately Batman revives the charred film and is able to use something called “Ehrlich’s Red” to restore it. Is this a thing?
This episode also gives us more footage of the sinister Professor just to remind us of his existence, and pretty much gives away that he’s the Wizard, to no one’s surprise. And we end with a cliffhanger that actually isn’t rubbish- Batman and Vicki in water covered in oil which is set aflame..
"You're clever, Batman. But not as clever as the Wizard!"
Sigh. Spoiled with all this Stranger Things lately but tonight I return to this functional, "that'll do" nonsense, made for kids in the assumption that means not particularly trying. Still, t may be rubbish, but the constant action means it passes the time quite well, and sometimes its very rubbishness can be interesting or entertaining.
Is it me, or does Batman not at any time become trapped during these instalment? These titles have very little reference to anything that happens. And, again, there is absolutely zero focus on character with all that happens being strictly action and plot. The episode is a blur of chases, captures and escapes much as we’ve seen before. Batman, again, reacts to events and is a pretty crap detective. Morton is ultimately freed after some visually cool but ultimately failed hypnotism by the Wizard. But Barman and Robin arrive and seem to defeat them all and capture the Wizard.... alas, our charisma-free villain is just a screen, for there are eleven more episodes of chases and fistfights to go.
Once again we are reminded that newscaster Barry Brown seems to know an awful lot, and yet again Batman does sod all about it, and falls for a pretty simple trick of the Wizard’s to find out where the hospitalised Morton is hiring his formula. You begin to wonder why Commissioner Gordon gives the time of day to such a thick, incompetent Batman.
Oh, and I realise the crapness of ‘40s fashion was a sort of precursor to the ‘70’s, but Dick Grayson looks very ‘70s here.
Chapter 5: Robin Rescues Batman
“Jimmy!”
As far as I can see, at no point during this episode does Robin do anything of the sort.
Anyway, we begin with lots of chases and escapes as usual, including Barman flagging down a passing police car and jumping in the back. But then we turn into a subplot, with hood Jimmy, played by perhaps the worst actor I have ever seen, having been photographed in an incriminating way by Vicki Bale, Who happens to be his sister. He sets a rotten and transparent trap for her so the picture and negatives can be taken in a series of scenes which could have included a lot of character and pathos, but don’t, because action and plot are the only two things this script is allowed to do.
Fortunately Batman revives the charred film and is able to use something called “Ehrlich’s Red” to restore it. Is this a thing?
This episode also gives us more footage of the sinister Professor just to remind us of his existence, and pretty much gives away that he’s the Wizard, to no one’s surprise. And we end with a cliffhanger that actually isn’t rubbish- Batman and Vicki in water covered in oil which is set aflame..
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