ANI-MOVIES, *Batman: Mystery Of The Batwoman

Even though it might be considered the weaker of the original Batman: The Animated Series movie trilogy, Mystery Of The Batwoman is very unique for several reasons. One is that it was the very first made-for-video animated movie based on a DC Comics, which set the standard for the DC Universe line. It also was supposed to be the final regular title in the B:TAS storyline.

Set a little while after the end of Season 4 of the series, a new female vigilante called Batwoman is making things hectic for the new troika of Penguin, Rupert Thorne, and gangster Carlton Duquesene. After the movie confirms that Batwoman is not either Catwoman or Batgirl(who wants to make out with Bruce, eww!), Batman narrows his search down to Duquesene's daughter, Kathy. Although he sees Batwoman attack Penquin's nightclub while dating Kathy as Bruce Wayne. Another suspect is Rocky Ballantine, a metullurgist working for Wayne Tech whose developed a new kind of shapechanging metal that Batwoman used against Penguin. However, Batman also believes the new female police detective Sonya Alcana(apparently Montaya left to become The Question)might be Batwoman too. He later on realizes that its really all three of them working together and taking turns as Batwoman to throw off suspicion. They're all trying to shut down Penguin's latest scheme as a laser gun arms dealer to foreign countries. Bane is brought in as Penguin's muscle against Batwoman, and takes charge of shipping the weapons out of Gotham. Kathy raids the boat that's delivering the lasers, but is caught by Bane, and revealed to her father and the others to be Batwoman. Batman and Robin(Tim Drake)arrive to stop them, and Batman and Bane apparently have one last fight while the burning ship sinks into the harbor, possibly with Bane still on it.

Mystery Of The Batwoman is a great animated film, at least for Bat-fans. This acts as a decent conclusion for the original animated series, as well as lead-in to Batman Beyond as Batwoman's costume is a possible present day template for the future Batsuit, including the same emblem. There's some decent new voice casting in this too, with Hector Elizondo taking over as Bane, David Ogden Stiers replacing Paul Williams as Penguin, Kyra Sedgwick as the voice of Batwoman, and oddly enough Kelly Ripa as Rocky. The animation in this isn't really up on the same level as either Mask Of The Phantasm or Sub Zero, but its still a worth a look. You can get this either on its own, or as a double-feature set with Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker, plus the DVD comes with a bonus Catwoman short!