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  • Warning: Spoilers
    Really, anyone on here who will rant and rage about how "It's for kids" really must be no fun at all because this movie comes out of the same mindset that brought us Transformers, Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe, Skeleton Warriors, Thundercats, Cow-Boys of Moo Mesa, He-Man, and perhaps the greatest thing to ever come out of the 1990s, King Arthur and the Knights of Justice: it was made to sell toys.

    Now, that's not to say it's bad, just a bit disappointing. On the one hand, the movie had the perfect opportunity to paint Oswald Cobblepot as a sympathetic villain, being a deformed man driven to villainy in a misguided attempt to garner fear and respect from those who shunned him. However, any sympathy I had for him quickly evaporated in the face of his "wipe out the human race" scheme. If they had made it more about the dilemmas he faced in high society, the movie might have been much stronger without sacrificing its toyetic animal robots.

    On the other hand, a lot of elements were at play that made this movie a ton of fun to watch. First, the time placement. The film doesn't state it outright, but I'm convinced that it takes place somewhere between Justice League Unlimited and Batman Beyond in terms of in- world chronology. Gotham City looks considerably more high-tech than usual, weapons are much more laser-like, and Batman's batsuit looks like the precursor to the one Terry McGinness would eventually don in Batman Beyond. Yeah, I know it's just more attempts to sell toys, but they didn't have to make said attempts with stuff that of old school Timm/Dini fans would recognize.

    Second, the cast. Even though Batman is on the front, the movie actually features half-a-dozen heroes. Aside from Batman, we also get Green Arrow (who also pulls a pretty cool stunt out-of-costume as Oliver Queen), Nightwing, Red Robin (Tim Drake), and Wally West as The Flash, further leading to my theory that this takes place after Justice League Unlimited. And there are an equal number of villains, leading to a lot of fun action scenes with various combinations of both sides facing each other.

    Really, the thing that everyone seems to hate about this movie is that it's not complex and is clearly made to sell toys. Well, I'll admit I'd prefer if they'd done a bit more in terms of story or at least giving one character an arc aside from Nightwing becoming friendlier towards Flash, but as a dumb, direct-to-DVD Saturday morning cartoon that never was, it's not bad, certainly not as bad as everyone seems to be making it out to be.

    And, like I said, something being made to sell toys isn't a sin. Hell, it's what gave birth to most of today's pop culture. The fun parts, at least. And, really, that's all I ask for from a movie like this.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    Batman-lite. For all those with kiddies who might have been traumatised by the recent spate of morbid Dark Knight flicks, this should provide a much sanitised breath of fresh air.

    No-one dies. There's plenty of jokes, mostly courtesy of the Caped Crusader's colourful support team of heroes. And the violence is on the same level of a Saturday morning cartoon. All in all, it's the perfect film to introduce them to arguably DC comics most popular superhero, without having to tolerate weeks of crying and bedwetting afterwards.

    The only other factors worth mentioning are the new futuristic setting for Gotham City (which helps it stand out from most previous reimaginings of Batman) and the radical new design for the Penguin, who now resembles a cyborg more than a deformed old man. At least it makes him a more formidable adversary for Bats, though.

    Personally I prefer a more noir-ish setting for the Dark Knight, but as long as other versions of his mythos are entertaining enough, I can live with the occasional concession to his younger fans. Not bad at all. 6/10
  • Anthonyjkb18 November 2018
    Obviously this isn't the best Batman movie ever but I wasn't expecting it to be. I expected it to be a decent animated Cartoon Network style movie, and that's what I got.

    The story is decent enough but the action/fight sequences could be better. Also, at times it felt like there was too many characters. Penguin wanted to destroy everyone so he could be rich, but that doesn't make any sense because there's no point in being rich if you're the only one on earth.
  • In the last 25 year, we've seen I believe four Batman animated series, ranging in quality from the Great ("Batman the Animated Series" from 1991) to the truly awful ("Beware the Batman"- a series so dreadful that the Cartoon Network buried it like radioactive waste. Twice.)

    This look like it is in the same vein, with Batman's team of Nighwing and Red Robin teaming up with the "Two Guys Who Have Popular Live Action Series Right Now But I'm Sure That's A Co-incidence". (That would be the Green Arrow and Flash, BTW, for the Sarcasm Imparied.) So there is a series of crimes being carried out by out of town villains and robotic animals, all being co-ordinated by The Penguin who really doesn't even bother to hide his complicity. His grand scheme makes even less sense than Batman Returns.

    Worth a watch? Sure. The animation looks nice. The voice work is good.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    It's a good movie, for any Batman fan. The reason I am voting it only 6 star is due to the fact that this title almost humiliate world most beloved superhero character known as The Flash!!! I hope many viewers will agree with me on this, even Green Arrow has good looking costume (may be this was inspire by CW TV series) and he was fighting alongside with Batman and his team equally. But The Flash is tag along with Nightwing and even he was showing Batman-like attitude towards Flash...which I don't like...But the overall movie was good...

    Villains played there roles pretty good. The whole Robotic-Mutant team-up Anamlaitia idea was cool..
  • This is one of several Batman Unlimited movies that also went hand in hand with a short lived television series of the same name.

    What sets them apart from the rest is the setting, the franchise is set in the future and has minor tweaks on the usual DC characters.

    In this one we see Batman, Green Arrow, Red Robin, Flash & Nightwing take on The Penguin, the super villians working for him and his army of mechanical animals.

    I really didn't like the setting, I'm very much not into this whole alternate universe thing. Top that off with this being very kiddie friendly and despite it being an award winning effort I was hardly impressed.

    I do like the concept of the Animalitia (Animal Militia) but some childish writing really ruined it for me.

    The Good:

    Cheetah was great

    The Bad:

    Nightwings hair, really?!

    Not keen on the future setting

    Dialogue is laughable in places

    Things I Learnt From This Movie:

    I found myself wondering how the DC Universe would have looked if they chose Manbat over Batman

    Batman doesn't look at explosions

    The Penguin has a fear of penguins, who knew?
  • Warning: Spoilers
    Live Reaction / Review for Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts (2015): I watched Batman Unlimited: Mechs vs. Mutants and I really liked it so now im gonna watch this one. Is this in the future? Gotham looks very futuristic. I wonder who controls these robotic animals. I like the batsuit, simple and slick design but later we see another batsuit which is good too. I thought it was Catwoman too but it is Cheetah, interesting. Nightwing's suit looks awful. Nice to see Killer Croc. Flash took a beating by Croc? I certainly didn't expect that. Man-Bat too? Damn everyone is in this. The penguin can fight, nice. Ok so the Penguin seems to be behind the robotic animals and Penguin's plan is kind of dumb in my opinion. The first 30 minutes are a solid 7/10 but sadly it gets worse after that point. I don't like that much the flash suit, especially the mask/cowl. Damn this fight scene was too long, kinda got bored. Batman gets a cool ironman suit for like 5 seconds. Ok so it wasn't bad but it wasn't great, just mediocre. I don't think I would rewatch, also Mechs vs. Mutants is much better. My rating is 6.3/10.
  • Eoraptor0231 May 2015
    This is just a rotten cartoon. I honestly don't think it would entertain anyone over the age of six.

    If you don't know what Batman Unlimited is, it's essentially a line Batman universe toys which, until now, didn't have any cartoon or comicbook to back them up. This movie attempts to do that for kids... but yeah, it's not even worth the $3.99 digital view price.

    The first thing you'll notice on viewing it is that, unlike previous Direct-to-DVD DC Comics cartoons, this one doesn't fly under the "Warner Premier" banner. Meaning it has none the writing pedigree or production values of movies like "Under the Red Hood" or "Batman: Gotham Knight." And that shows in how full of plot holes and contrivances this toon is; such as the bat-dog-robot-motorcycle and the clumsy attempt to tie in the Batman Beyond suit, which is instantly forgotten to move on to the next in a line of "neon street luge batman" bat costumes you get throughout the viewing. Villains are given no more reason to work together and no more plot than the fact that they share an animal theme, and one of the heroes just happens to be hanging around Gotham City despite not even having a connection to Batman ever mentioned.

    In other words, the movie is a 90 minute toy commercial, and it makes the original Thundercats and Silverhawks seem like Shakespeare by comparison.
  • The first of three DTV movies made to promote Mattel's action figure line of the same name. Batman, Nightwing, Flash, Green Arrow, and Red Robin team up to take on Penguin and his 'Animalitia' (Killer Croc, Cheetah, Man-Bat, and Silverback) and their plan to divert an asteroid known as the Midas Heart due to pass by Earth in order to get the gold at its centre.

    Much of the voice cast has a solid history with DC; Roger Craig Smith (Batman), John DiMaggio (Killer Croc), Will Friedle (Nightwing), Phil LaMarr (Man-Bat), Charlie Schlatter (Flash), Laura Bailey (Cheetah), Keith Szarabajka (Silverback), Yuri Lowenthal (Red Robin), and Alastair Duncan (Alfred). Animation is pretty good (there are a couple of places where the action seems to 'jump' a little), as are the costume designs (a prototype Batsuit featured at the beginning is an obvious nod to Batman Beyond!). Gotham itself has a Blade Runner/sci-fi look, rather than the more familiar BTAS/Burton type of design. Dialogue, although corny at times, is pretty snappy.

    This doesn't approach the depth of the DCAU, and it never claims to. It's just fun, with a feel of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, or the movie JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time. 7/10.
  • Review batman unlimited

    Remember those 1970s and 80s cartoons that were created just to con kids into buying toys? Well the trend is back, and Batman is jumping on the bandwagon. Sporting a brighter coloured new suit, a colourful supporting cast and equally multi coloured villains, BATMAN UNLIMITED: ANIMAL INSTINCT is based on the recent colourful toy line by Mattel. So colourful.

    You all know the drill: hero team vs villain team. In this case, heroic Batman and pals vs the evil "Animalitia" in a citywide caper that sets the "kindness to animals" campaign back by a decade or so. The Penguin, Silverback, Cheetah, Manbat and KillerCroc are evil and want to.......no cheating now, that would be a spoiler. They want to do crime, so enter Batman N Pals Nightwing, Robin, Green Arrow and the Flash. Each one sporting a sharp pointy new look with "cool" spiked hair and diamond sharp chins. Not exactly a kid friendly toy design but.........kids seem to like this sort of thing.

    A lighter tone and story for Batman can work if done well (see BRAVE AND THE BOLD). Unfortunately this is not done well. Whether intentional or not, the script sounds like it fits right in with the worst episodes of the 80s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sans the pizza. They might as well have left the pizza in though because the script is cheesy as heck. Jokes aren't funny, humour feels out of place, but the excellent cast do a fantastic job with the sub par material at hand.

    Roger Craig Smith reprises his role of Batman after having played the character in some of the "Arkham" series of video games. I like his batman voice. Almost like a young Kevin Conroy. What I did not like was the horrible character design of Batman (or most of the characters for that matter).

    Looking like some bad Gatchaman cosplay made with Power Ranger pyjamas, this new batman design is hilarious! The supporting cast ain't any better either; Everyone looks "stretched" and I already mentioned the silly hair. Everyone gets a cool weapon or gadget and the "money shot moment" where they get to show it off, while daddy gets another toy to add to junior's "Christmas wish list". Maybe it's not the production team's fault for the silly designs. Blame Mattel.

    It is the production team's fault for the sub standard art and animation. Characters barely have any shadowing or shading on them except in the extreme close-ups, just lazy flat colouring otherwise. The backgrounds have this techy futuristic vibe that reminds me of BATMAN BEYOND but they are equally flat and look worse off than Batman Beyond's lower quality episodes. The animation is barely better with its inconsistent nature. You have scenes that are smooth moving, an easy feat thanks to the simplistic artwork. But you have a good number of scenes that look like a flash animated internet browser game. Robot animals don't transform much less "melt" from animal to motorbike. And i absolutely hate that cheapskate tactic of blurring key frames to create the illusion of movement! Some parts seem to be drawing from the worst excesses of Japanese anime with the speed lines and freeze frames, just more lazy animation at work.

    Just because kids don't mind doesn't mean you give them animation on the cheap. If JLA TRAPPED IN TIME was the new millennium's "Superfriends", then BATMAN UNLIMITED is this decade's rehash of the 1970s "adventures of Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder". With production values of a TV series episode, perhaps this movie would be more suited as a pilot for a Saturday morning cartoon. Compared to other direct-to-video animation, this is ignorant fun for kids and a Cheesy, sub-par curiosity for adults who yearn for the nostalgic days of cartoons that sell toys.
  • This movie has a style that is different from most, if not all Batman movies so far. It is quite a bit lighter, brighter in the less serious sense. So if you're open to see something a bit different, you'll enjoy it. If you are hoping to see something that goes along with the previous Batman movies, you might feel that your expectations aren't met.

    Had this movie tried to merge its colorful, somewhat more cartoony style with a serious, dark narrative that is usually a common thing to expect, given that it plays in Gotham, it would have failed to do so and felt really out of place. Instead it takes events a bit less serious, mixing well written, witty dialogue that has some quite entertaining moments with a story that is simple, but serves its purpose, resulting in a combination that works - if you're open to see these kind of things (and don't expect to be surprised by intricate plot-twists - other reviews pick up on this). That also makes this movie quite easy to stomach for the younger audiences. Style, story and dialogue have been chosen to work together, which is nice to see.

    The animation quality is very much acceptable and up to the task, voice acting is very nice! No complaints there. The soundtrack is also good.

    Enjoyed!
  • Bad bad so very bad.

    I am a huge batman fan and watched every piece that has come from the franchise so far. This lackluster monstrosity to the batman name should have never been made.

    Watching the trailer it seemed like a great way of doing a new take on the batman. It failed. The plot was ridiculous in points (beyond normal superhero film levels), characters were boring and I am struggling to come up with one positive point except the animation was good about 30% of the time.

    Do not watch this and making your children watch this is child abuse.
  • dushyantk2 June 2015
    5/10
    Blah
    Warning: Spoilers
    5 Stars for the sake of making a Batman Movie.

    You will find the slowest flash here, he even forgot to leave a streak behind in his last scene. Some guerrilla is faster than him.

    Arrow's arrows are made of rubber and wood. They bounce off the crock's skin but can penetrate concrete.

    Gordon's here to say hi to Bruce and then witness the saving moment.

    So is Alfred, I mean why put someone there if he's not adding anything to the story.

    Penguin is stupid as ever, but in a stupid plot like this he makes a smart entry. But then invites everyone to a gala to introduce his tech. or alert and scare everyone?

    There's no logic to the story, Perspective is off and what not.

    I was so excited to see a new Batman title but man, am disappointed.

    On the positive side, graphics are sleek, and the Batman looks good.
  • The only reason I gave this entry to the DC animated universe a five is because it's Batman. That's it. What we have here is a futuristic Gotham with the ol' good guys against the ol' bad guys scenario. The basic plot has the Penguin recruiting many of the animal super-villains--Cheetah, Silverback, Killer Croc, among others--to help pull off a heist of, ahem, cosmic proportions. Naturally, the good guys have to stop them and you can guess the rest.

    First, the good points. Decent music, fast moving, some good fight sequences.

    And now, the bad. The animation looks like it's been scaled down significantly. I'm not expecting Pixar. I am expecting something decent. This wasn't. Batman's suit (light blue) hearkens back to the late 1960's take and it doesn't suit (no pun intended) this day and age. His gold get-through-the-force-field suit reminded me of some lousy Japanese anime...double ungood.

    As for the script, again, while War and Peace ain't on the menu, this makes Jack and Jill Go Up the Hill read like a masterpiece. Cheesy, poor humor, poorer lines...the one good thing was the voice cast that did what they could with their parts. I miss Kevin Conroy doing the voice of Batman. He had the bearing. His replacement sounds like a slightly younger version of him, but with no depth.

    The actress doing Cheetah sounds like a whiny child, and I got zero sense of menace behind any of the baddies. Not their fault, really; 'twas the script that done 'em in.

    Finally, all the old stereotypes of animals being what they are were trotted out, and quite frankly, that kind of thinking should have gone out fifty years ago.

    I heard this direct-to-DVD effort was to sell toys. My only question is: How many? Nothing wrong with selling goods to the kiddies, but this video is an insult to any comic book/cartoon fan.
  • This is awful Batman Story and they even manage to pull in to that black whole Green Arrow and Flash. For real this one of the worst animated movies I have watched to date and I felt that I wasted one hour and sixteen minutes all for nothing. Anyway I at least can warn you dear reader to not see it.

    I am pretty sure that the team behind that junk haven't read, watch or even work in a DC animated flick before for they would know who to do it if not excellent then in a respective manner. This flick is a huge marketing trick in order to get money by selling toys. Toy Story itself had less merchandise and it was about freaking toys for crying out loud. And my three out of ten shows how high I have this tactics in order for the studio make money!

    At this moment I feel bad for I saw again my favorite superhero been in bad flick after Batman and Robin for I though "It is almost two decades for his abomination ,everyone by now should have learn what to avoid".Well that film broke this belief in me. Also the cherry on top of this Pyle of horse dump has a lot of inconsistencies!

    In the end avoid it at all cost it doesn't deserve a chance of this flick is a insult to the comics' mythology!
  • I don't typically publish reviews, but after seeing so many negative reviews on this release I wanted to set the record straight. I grew up on Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Justice League, and the like, and have delved deeply into every DC Animated feature released since. True enough, this is not the dark, grim, graphic and violent Batman that our generation is accustomed to; but, in fairness, it's not meant to be. This film is meant for kids and their parents to enjoy together, and in that sense, I think it's awesome. I'll even go a step further, and say that this the first animated Batman film in quite awhile that I would say is kid-friendly for all age groups.There's action, there's comedy, there's loud noises and character development and robots and superheroes and just about everything a young batman enthusiast could ever want. If you're expecting Christopher Nolan's introspective take on the Batman or Scott Snyder's detail-oriented writing skill, you're looking in utterly the wrong place. But if you're looking for a fun, family adventure with the Bat Family, Green Arrow, and The Flash, look no further than this installment. Glad to hear that there's a sequel on the way!
  • Right, well I can't really claim to be much of a fan of the superhero genre in any of its many variations. But I do watch the movies, solely for the purpose of being entertained by watching a movie. However, I do not take the stories or characters to heart, as it is merely fleeting entertainment.

    I got the chance to sit down and watch the 2015 "Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts" animated movie with my 8 year old son. It turned out that he enjoyed watching it, as he found the villains to be entertaining - not that he cared much for the hero characters. I, on the other hand, wasn't overly thrilled by anything found in the entire animated movie.

    The story was adequate, taking into consideration what it actually is - an animated "Batman" movie. The plot was predictable and there weren't any plot twists along the way, which made it all a very monotone ride along rails with no curves or ups and downs.

    The characters in the movie were bland, in my opinion, and there weren't actually much of any character development. It was essentially just the heroes running around bringing the fight to the villains. Oh gee, like in every single other animated superhero movie before and after this one. So not much of anything new or innovative here.

    As for the animation, well I will say that it was actually the animated movie's most strong side. It was actually nice enough to look at.

    Not a particularly outstanding animated movie here. But if you are a fan of "Batman" or the superhero genre in general - or DC comics - then you might actually get a kick out of "Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts".
  • Warning: Spoilers
    Pure crap, I repeat. First time to watch Knockout animated, you know, the super powerful Fury runaway from Apokolips, virtually invulnerable, even to an atomic bomb and what happened? She was wounded by bullets or something like that. Total nonsense.
  • SnoopyStyle9 January 2024
    Gotham City is being attacked by 'animal' villains with animal robots. Penguin, Cheetah, Man-Bat, Killer Croc, and Silverback call themselves Animalitia. Penguin has created the robots and the tech with help from Dr. Kirk Langstrom. Batman, the Flash, Green Arrow, Nightwing, and Red Robin oppose them.

    This seems to be a random group of villains connected by a superficial characteristic. Even after the reveal, it's still not relevant why these are all animal-based villains. Without a good explanation, this is nothing more than a gimmick. They are really the zoo crew. The animation is ok. The premise just bugs me. Not bugs me. Animals me.
  • nogodnomasters21 September 2018
    Warning: Spoilers
    The setting is sometime in the distant future, about "Fifth Element" age. The Midas Meteor with a gold center is passing the Earth. The city is hit with a crime wave conducted by animals: Cheetah Woman, Silver Back, Killer Croc, and Man Bat. There are also mechanical animals working with them and a new guy in time who looks like the Penguin. Plot is not too difficult to figure out.

    The good guys include: Batman, Red Robin, Nightwing, The Flash, and Green Arrow.

    Predictable. Not overly exciting.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    I have seen this movie and it is actually good compared to all the New52 crap we have today.

    I mean if you want to watch a mature DC movie then I wouldn't recommend this movie. I do feel that a lot of people who have reviewed it are adults who don't have kids than adults who do.

    I mean this is a kids movie at least it is better then the Teen Titans Go! crap we have on today.
  • darthsparhawk12 May 2015
    "Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts" is pure fun and probably better than all of the gory cartoons, which were released recently /although I loved them as well!/. The movie is very nice, with great animation and charming cast of heroes, who fight beastly villains and try to uncover a nefarious plot of the Penguin! To be honest, I like this new Bat-team better than the Justice League or the Avengers - all of the selected heroes are my favorites! I am particularly happy that Nightwing is among them - he is a favorite of mine and I still hope that one day, hopefully sooner rather than later, we'll see a movie, dedicated to him alone. But here he is still cool and so are the rest of heroes! Overall, the movie is great fun and non-stop action from the beginning to the end, which is always nice. Heartily recommended.
  • Definitely takes on a different tone compared to a lot of the other DC animated movies - Batman and Gotham itself are a both somewhat sleeker and lack the gritty edginess in other media. The other main characters (eg Nightwing, Flash, Red Robin, Green Arrow) all seem to be a bit different from their comic book counterparts too, or are a mashup of a few personalities and versions of that character.

    It works in this movie though, as the group prove to be a team that work well together as heroes should, despite their differences. Even with limited screentime, we get a decent amount of insight about these versions of characters whether you know them from the comic books or not. The ongoing banter between Nightwing and Flash are particularly amusing.

    The villain's plans are weak and won't stand up to close examination, but you don't watch a movie like this for groundbreaking ideas and serious explanations.

    I'm still more used to certain actors for some roles, but the overall voice acting was fine. The pace is fast and and doesn't get bogged down. The incidental humour is suitable for all ages, in other words not just silly kid laughs.

    Overall a fun watch if you don't take yourself or the movie too seriously.
  • I think the concept arises from Beast Wars: Transformers at TV series that debuted in 1996, serving as the flagship of the Transformers: Beast Wars franchise. Simply put we have vehicles transforming into animals. Example a motorcycle transforming into a panther and vice versa.

    Plot: Oswald Cobblepot(The Penguin) enters into elite society, but however is shunned as a freak. In order to gain respect by terror, he funds the creation of robotic animals which are more than capable of defeating superheroes like Batman, Green Arrow and The Flash. So now Batman and his allies must find a way to stop The Penguin, his robots and his hired goons: Cheetah, Killer Croc, Man-Bat and Silverback.

    Directed by the seasoned Butch Lukic who has worked on animated series like Superman, Batman Beyond and Justice League. Dana Snyder beautifully portrays the eccentric, maniacal and sinister Penguin. John DiMaggio plays Killer Croc and notable actor Charlie Schlatter plays The Flash. Not to forget to mention Laura Bailey as Cheetah. Roger Craig Smith has been chosen to voice-act Batman. Seasoned voice-actor Richard Epcar plays the part of commissioner Gordon. Veteran actor Alastair Neil Duncan(Split Second 1992) plays the role of Alfred Pennyworth.

    Verdict: good enough to buy if you get the opportunity. Your attention will be held from start to finish.

    Thanks for reading this review, may you live long and prosper.