[7.3/10] What a divide between story and visuals. The former is generic at best and cornball at worst, while the latter is outstanding.
In keeping with Kevin Altieri’s usual outstanding direction, the episode takes full advantage of the wonky-perspective villain to do some creative things. While there’s a certain 1990s quality to the wavy screen effects and hypnosis lines around everything, Altieri takes advantage of Vertigo’s methods to put the audience in the characters’ shoes. There’s something legitimately disorienting about those sequences, which helps sell Batman and Talia and Bullock being at a loss when the sonic rays are in effect.
But even when the episode isn’t going that showy, it’s still quite good. There’s a lot of punch (no pun intended) to Batman’s fight with the Society of Shadows goons on the Statue of Liberty, and his usual emerge from darkness silhouette. Likewise, just giving us more of a first person perspective when Batman and Talia are escaping from Vertigo’s trap helps communicate a sense of distortion in a two dimensional medium. And the church bell scene, while a little cornball, accomplishes the same.
The problem is that the story and characters are really weak here. Len Wein may have co-created Wolverine, but between this and his werewolf story, he’s shown he’s not terribly adept at writing Batman. I don’t know if Vertigo is an invention for the show or drawn from the comics, but he’s the cheesiest villain we’ve had on here since the sewer guy, with his proto-Hans Landa vibe and crazy eyepatch.
At the same time, Batman and Talia are thrown together so quickly that Talia’s effort at playing tweener and eventual betrayal doesn't land with any force. The tease for Ras al Ghul and the Society of Shadows is intriguing, as is Batman’s method of sabotage, but at best, the plot of the episode feels like shameless table-setting for something bigger to come.
Overall, you could almost watch this one on mute and have a better experience, but the visuals alone are worth the trip to Gotham.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2019-12-07T03:05:57Z
[7.3/10] What a divide between story and visuals. The former is generic at best and cornball at worst, while the latter is outstanding.
In keeping with Kevin Altieri’s usual outstanding direction, the episode takes full advantage of the wonky-perspective villain to do some creative things. While there’s a certain 1990s quality to the wavy screen effects and hypnosis lines around everything, Altieri takes advantage of Vertigo’s methods to put the audience in the characters’ shoes. There’s something legitimately disorienting about those sequences, which helps sell Batman and Talia and Bullock being at a loss when the sonic rays are in effect.
But even when the episode isn’t going that showy, it’s still quite good. There’s a lot of punch (no pun intended) to Batman’s fight with the Society of Shadows goons on the Statue of Liberty, and his usual emerge from darkness silhouette. Likewise, just giving us more of a first person perspective when Batman and Talia are escaping from Vertigo’s trap helps communicate a sense of distortion in a two dimensional medium. And the church bell scene, while a little cornball, accomplishes the same.
The problem is that the story and characters are really weak here. Len Wein may have co-created Wolverine, but between this and his werewolf story, he’s shown he’s not terribly adept at writing Batman. I don’t know if Vertigo is an invention for the show or drawn from the comics, but he’s the cheesiest villain we’ve had on here since the sewer guy, with his proto-Hans Landa vibe and crazy eyepatch.
At the same time, Batman and Talia are thrown together so quickly that Talia’s effort at playing tweener and eventual betrayal doesn't land with any force. The tease for Ras al Ghul and the Society of Shadows is intriguing, as is Batman’s method of sabotage, but at best, the plot of the episode feels like shameless table-setting for something bigger to come.
Overall, you could almost watch this one on mute and have a better experience, but the visuals alone are worth the trip to Gotham.