The Batman vs. Dracula

When the Penguin (Tom Kenny) escapes Arkham Asylum in search of stolen loot at Gotham Cemetery, Penguin inadvertently stumbles upon a hidden tomb that holds Dracula (Peter Stormare). Awaken from a cut on Penguin's hand, Dracula continues his reign of terror as he drains residents of Gotham to regain his strength with intent on enslaving all of Gotham as his undead army. Meanwhile Bruce Wayne (Rino Romano) strikes up a promising relationship with news reporter Vicki Vale (Tara Strong) but finds his life complicated balancing this growing romance against his secret life as Batman, as a Bat shaped figure becomes associated with missing persons with Batman at the center of police suspicions.

The Batman vs. Dracula is a 2005 direct-to-video feature that serves as a standalone story related to the animated series The Batman which ran from 2004-2008. Released as a tie-in with the then recent Batman Begins and premiering on Cartoon Network's Toonami, The Batman vs. Dracula was able to go darker than its source TV show thanks to lack of "network standards". Not only are there plenty of scenes of blood and vampires drinking it (though a scene in a blood bank has the lighting altered so the blood looks black) but it's the only time in the continuity of The Batman that we've seen the police use actual guns instead of tasers or tranquilizers. While the movie isn't required viewing with the show and is a very self-contained adventure, it's a solidly entertaining one with some excellent edge.

Peter Stormare is an absolute delight playing the titular Dracula who captures the dark menace of the character as well as the romantic magnetism of the character. Dracula is intimidating in both his "monster" form and his false identity as Dr. Alucard and he's a more than worthy foe to square off against Batman. Rino Romano and Tara Strong do quite well in their roles of Bruce Wayne and Vicki Vale respectively, and the chemistry conveyed in their interactions makes me sad the character of Vale never appeared in the actual TV show and only appeared in this film. The action and animation are quite well done playing like a supped up version of the animation you see on the show, but the filmmakers get a lot more ambitious and experimental here as they're allowed to take the macabre elements of their story a lot further than they'd be able to on network TV (see the Spider-Man cartoon's take on Morbius to see how much you had to change for "acceptability"). The sequences of Batman fighting vampires or researching vampire lore strikes all the right notes and gives you every element you'd possibly want from a vampire story (save for some of the racier aspects of vampire war, but it's Batman).

The only real downside is in how detatched the movie feels from the show's continuity and aside from Bruce, Alfred, and supporting appearances by some of Batman's rogue's gallery there's no tie ins to the show's overarching story such as police chief Angel Rojas who served as a staunch opponent of Batman or Detective Yin who was for a time Batman's only ally on the force (though the TV show would give her a similar short shrift in season 3). The ending also feels a bit "too neat" in how things wrap up and it'll be a case of either you buy it or you don't.

The Batman vs. Dracula gives exactly what it promises. With solid animation and voice work the movie gives a more polished version of the already high quality you got from the TV show. Peter Stormare is fun in the role of Dracula and the havoc he wreaks upon Gotham is fun and carries with it the macabre charms we know and love that wouldn't be possible on network TV. The movie does feel like it's maybe too separate from the show as there's no appearances from established supporting players, and while Joker and Penguin show up, the possibilities of this story don't feel as fully exploited as they could've been. Minor nitpicks aside, this is a fun ride that gives you the Batman fighting vampires and delivers on all that entails.

I love the characters and art design, the animation style, the colors and the great direction. Together, they create some amazing shots, that could/should be iconic, if more popular.

The story is fine. I would say it's good actually, with a simple but well paced story, considering it was also trying to be for little kids (which may have hurt the product a bit). I say also, because overall, the movie is pretty dark, more teen than kid friendly, in my opinion, which is great considering the characters.

In the end, some may find it a bit boring at times (the second act) and some too childish, but I think it has a good balance and it was the best DC animated movie, at the time at least.

This was a most unexpected twist to the series "The Batman." The series was dark, edgy, and had lots of new twists to the classic characters of the world of Batman. Then this film came around, pitting Batman against the original creature of the night. I remember reading a comic book of Batman vs Dracula, which has two sequels, that was definitely not meant for kids. This movie is right near the boundary of not being kid-friendly either and it's a warm welcome to the franchise.

Plot: Joker and Penguin escape Arkham Asylum (big surprise). While Batman battles Joker, Penguin searches for treasure in a cemetery, accidentally awakening the one and only Dracula. With Penguin as his new hypnotized servant and countless people transformed into vampires, Dracula seems to be Batman's greatest challenge. With news reporter Vicky Vale and Joker caught in the middle, can Batman conquer the deadly Dracula and save his transformed victims? Its modern technology vs supernatural power as these dark knights battle it out for the fate of Gotham City.

From start to finish, this movie is pretty darn impressive. I like how both Joker and Penguin play into all this chaos. Vicky Vale, in her first appearance in the series, remains ever so persistent and attractive, something neither Batman or Dracula can resist. Dracula is especially interesting. He has some of his classic features like being tall, dark, and mysterious while having nice twists to his character and his dialogue with Batman is loads of fun to watch.

With great action, creepy moments, a nicely-written story, and surprising amounts of blood, this is arguably one of the greatest match-ups of all time. I give this movie a seven for entertainment and an extra point for not being too afraid of getting a little dark. So fly in and enjoy.

While this movie and the animation used in this batman series isn't the best; it is still fun to watch. It may not be on the level of Kevin Conroy's batman but I still enjoyed this approach. The fight scenes are good and I also like how swiftly and ninja(yes I know he really is a ninja) like batman moves; along with the depiction of Dracula. Batman still broods, Alfred is still witty and the joker is still a psycho.

When I first heard about this movie, I had reservations. The Batman series was straight forward action with too little character depth. Every villain was an evil mustache twirling master martial artist, yet Batman was always able to overpower them. I guess I was hoping for something closer to the Paul Dini, Bruce Timm style complex Batman.

Anyway, this movie started out somewhat similar to a series episode, the Joker escapes from Arkham Asylum and the Penguin uses the distraction and some deft martial arts to make his own escape. Having a lead on a hidden treasure, Penguin goes to a very Gothic cemetery and finds more then gold, but Dracula's remains. Accidentally reviving him, Dracula proceeds to build an army of the undead, targeting Batman partially for using his image to scare criminals, partially because Batman rules the night of Gotham, and that's his territory.

Yeah, I was a little hesitant when I first heard of this story, and the first few minutes didn't do much to dispel those feelings, but it quickly changed into something more entertaining and complex then the series ever achieved, not Bruce Timm, but perfect within its own universe.

Probably the best part of this movie is that Batman has trouble with Dracula's vampire minions, and is completely outmatched by Dracula himself. This means he has to rely on intelligence and improvisation, in addition to plain martial arts skill to defeat him. Batman shows great humility in that luck was the only thing to prevent Dracula's victory in their first encounter.

Make no mistake, this is not a kids movie. Years ago, censors were hesitant to allow a violent Batman Beyond movie go through without changes. This movie has scenes and violence even more intense then the original, uncut version of that movie. You feel the impacts of some hits and see the characters painful reaction. One scene in a blood bank involves vials raining down on the combatants, it is in almost black and white to lessen the image but there is no mistaking what is happening.

Voice work is impressive, many stand out and there are no sub-par performances. Peter Stromwell performs Dracula as calculating, piercing, and outright creepy. Rino Romano gives another strong performance, Bruce Wayne is a charming playboy with occasional philanthropic tendencies, Batman is no-nonsense, plain and simple.

Overall, while some things may not be for everyones taste, it is a rousing 90 minutes that keeps up a strong pace and does not let up until after the credits roll.

Overall, if The Batman