For a lot of geeks, Batman: The Animated Series is the definitive depiction of DC‘s Caped Crusader. Bruce Timm‘s take on Batman managed to merge a lot of the lore together, both the silly and the scary, into one great amalgamation that was perfect for kids and adults alike. So, when Prime Video announced they were bringing back Bruce Timm for a new cartoon featuring Batman, you can bet a lot of fans were excited to see the result. Well, fans did get to see the result at the start of the month with the release of Batman: Caped Crusader.

Was it worth the wait? Well, I can only give you my opinion as I have watched all ten episodes of Batman: Caped Crusader.

But before I go to the review proper, I do have to warn that I will be talking about some MINOR SPOILERS from the show. These MINOR SPOILERS have been discussed about already in other reviews and I feel I have to talk about them because… I have my own thoughts on some of the changes Bruce Timm and Prime Video did with some of these iconic DC heroes and villains. So, yeah. MINOR SPOILERS ahead!

Batman: Caped Crusader takes place early in the Caped Crusader’s crimefighting career in Gotham City. He’s more of a legend and not many people can even say if he’s real or just a myth. The series essentially follows Batman and, more importantly, the citizens of Gotham City, including Commissioner James Gordon, public defender Barbara Gordon and the Gotham City Police on how to deal with this masked vigilante’s take on justice.

I guess one of the biggest problems I have with Batman: Caped Crusader is the surprising lacked of Batman. Like I said in the summary, a lot of the focus is on Commissioner Gordon, Barbara Gordon and the supporting cast instead of the titular character. This kind of reminds me of the old Gotham Central comics, which turned the focus on the Gotham City Police Department rather than the Dark Knight. As much as I enjoyed Gotham Central, I knew what I was getting myself into there. I knew we weren’t going to see much of Batman in Gotham Central. But when you name your series “Batman: Caped Crusader,” I expect the show to focus more on Batman!

I wouldn’t have minded all that much if the supporting cast, such as Commissioner Gordon, Barbara Gordon, etc. were, at the very least interesting. They have their little idiosyncrasies or something to make them interesting. But, sadly, they don’t. They’re mostly caricature characters to heavily emphasize who they’re supposed to be. The good cops are overly good and the corrupt cops are overly corrupt. No niceties to give them a little more personality than what they’re supposed to be.

The artstyle is definitely inspired by Bruce Timm’s original artwork from Batman: The Animated Series but tweaked and mixed in with the look of the Batman comics from the ’30s and the ’40s. This is really evident in Batman’s costume as the ears are much more pointy and obvious. I like the look but the problem is it’s too colorful and clean. The Gotham City depicted in the series is supposed to be a city engulfed by crime and corruption. Yet even the slum area are spic and span. The streets are always well lit with nary a dark corner for a mugger to hide in to be seen. It’s oddly safe looking for my taste.

I will say the action and fight scenes are well thought out, though. I do love how they make Batman a badass when taking out a slew of baddies and even cops, either through stealth or just brute force. I also did like how they busted out some of the really deep cuts for the series. I mean, most people are familiar with most of Batman’s supporting cast and villains. But how many casual Batman fans know about Onomatopoeia, Gentleman Ghost, Nocturna and Nightslayer? Maybe it’s Bruce Timm trying to show off by flexing his DC fandom by adding them to the show. I don’t care; I appreciate their addition here.

The voice acting in Batman: Caped Crusader is hit or miss. I do like Hamish Linklater‘s take on both Batman and Bruce Wayne as he does put some effort into making them sound like different people. I also like Jason Watkin‘s version of Alfred Pennyworth as well. He does make him sound like the dutiful butler but also hints at how he wishes Bruce Wayne would just live a normal life. Most of the rest of the cast do a fine job in general but I can’t say they do exceptional work as, like I said, they aren’t really given much but to sound like caricatures.

We now have to talk about the elephant in the room, which is why I mentioned there would be MINOR SPOILERS. If you don’t want to read the MINOR SPOILERS, skip the following TWO paragraphs.

There has been a lot of thoughts and comments with how Batman: Caped Crusader made some adjustments and alterations with some of DC’s more well-established characters. A lot of the focus has been put on The Penguin as Batman: Caped Crusader makes the character a female here. I don’t see the point of the change but, at the same time, I really didn’t mind this. It doesn’t fundamentally change the character and I did like how this version of the Penguin is more of a showoff. I actually could buy this version of the Penguin as someone you wouldn’t believe to be this violent crime boss. Still, the change feels unnecessary.

However, I really hated what they did with what they did with Harley Quinn. She’s still a psychologist but they removed her bubbly personality with a more obnoxious and chatty nerd while she’s pretending to be a normal person. When she gets all dressed up in the familiar jester outfit, she becomes this serious person and, honestly, it’s just not fun! I can kind of see what they were going for as they wanted this version of Harley Quinn to be much more scary but it didn’t work for me! In fact, I would go as far to say it doesn’t make sense why she would dress up in the harlequin get-up. Sure, she makes a quick quip about trying to laugh away your problems… but she never laughs while she’s in her Harley Quinn look! So, why?

Okay, MINOR SPOILERS over!

While I’ve been ranting about all of the stuff I didn’t like about Batman: Caped Crusader, I will say I enjoyed it while I was watching it. It’s only after I watched it and really thought about the show when I realized it’s just not as good as I thought it was. It’s only after I saw all ten episodes when I figured out the show lacks anything to really make me want to watch it again. While Bruce Timm and the folks at Prime Video tried to put a creative spin on the Batman mythos, it just lacks any inspiration or a hook to make it memorable. It makes me think that maybe Batman: Caped Crusader should have stayed hidden in the shadows a little bit more.

Have you seen Batman: Caped Crusader? What did you think of the show? Let me know in the comments section below!