Film Review – Batman: The Long Halloween Part 2

Following last months fantastic first entry, Batman: The long Halloween Part 2 serves as not only as a continuation to the brilliant part 1 but a fitting conclusion to the longest year in the caped crusaders career. Picking up directly where the first ended, we resume to find the holiday killer is still at large, leaving Batman and the rest of the GCPD reeling from his long list of grisly murders. Jensen Ackles (Supernatural) once again returns to voice the Batman alongside Josh Duhamel’s (Jupiter’s Legacy) Harvey Dent and the late great Naya Riviera’s (Glee) Catwoman. Together the trio find them selves pushed to edge in their shared pursuit of justice, leaving all of them irreversibly changed forever.

As the movie barrels through its exciting action set pieces, along side it’s vast body count left in the holiday killer’s wake, Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two, sets aside time to explore the many facets of Harvey Dent’s mental breakdown which becomes a focal point towards the final act. It’s not only fascinating to see a man of the law dissolve figuratively and literally before our eyes, but Josh Duhamel’s performance is incredible, he not only uses his vocal talents to depict dents crushing transformation into the well known coin flipping two face, but it stands as one of the best performances given in DCs backlog of animated features.

Screenwriter Tim Sheridan’s script helps elevate many of the graphic novels weaker elements, especially its villain centric final act where the majority of the Batman’s rogues gallery were thrown together for a couple of pages, a showdown which has now been given the time and space to breathe, becoming a scene that will forever stick out as a major highlight in this two part saga.

Related Post: Film Review – Batman: The Long Halloween Part 1 (2021)

However, once again, the art style holds the movie back from being a cut above the rest. The animation looks under developed, a style which begs for more attention from its makers, which instead turns out to resemble something more in tune with an finished sketch. Characters are once again devoid of facial emotions, leaving its voice actors to carry the brunt of the performance.

Despite these short comings and combined with only 90-minutes to play with, Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two manages to bring its story to a satisfying conclusion, allowing many of the plot threads established in its predecessor to find their natural ends. Even in its final moment, when the dust finally settles on the holiday killers year-long escapade on Gotham cities underworld, we are treated to one last gut wrenching reveal that flips the movies narrative on its head completely.

Batman: the long Halloween part 2 is a must see for fans of both Batman and the DC universe, bringing a beloved yet equally mature comic book to screen better than it ever had any right to be.

Batman: The Long Halloween Part One is available now. Batman: The Long Halloween Part Two is available now on Digital and on DVD, Blu-ray™ & Blu-ray™ steelbook  9th August.

★★★★1/2

Animation, Crime| USA, 2021 | 15 | Warner Bros | Dir.Chris Palmer | Naya Rivera, Billy Burke, Jensen Ackles