New Animated show coming to HBO Max

[Travesty]

Soooooo, yeah......

I don't even know where to begin with The Penguin? As you guys know, I've been extremely excited about this show, and I've been following this since the very beginning. Hell, I made this thread. Every time I come here, I'm pretty stoked about the show. I just...I don't know, man?

Why? Seriously, why?!

It's to the point to where this seems to be some kind of weird compulsion and obsession to purposefully piss people off. And they think they're being sneaky about it, by laying down the obvious trap. If you criticizes it in any way, you're labeled all of the "-isms", and are now viewed as the "toxic" ones for just calling out the obvious. And you all know I'm right, because this is the same boring playbook that we go through, every-single-time.

I shouldn't be surprised, because we already saw some changes, but those were completely bearable, even though it's just forced representation. A quota. But with this?! It makes no sense. If you wanted more female representation, then get an actual female character. The Bat-universe is full of them! And on top of it, it's not like this show doesn't already have Catwoman and Harley. They're represented! Seriously, what are we doing here?

My excitement for this was at an 11. Couldn't be higher! Now? Probably a 7, and I'm being generous there. I'm still watching this, and I'm still hoping to enjoy it in the end, but again.....why? My overall enthusiasm for anything comic book related is starting to wane much farther than I ever imagined. And it's all because of stuff like this. All of these obvious traps.

Whatever....

[thecolorsblend]

My friend said yesterday that this show is probably as tasteful as it can be in modern Hollywood. Sad but probably true.

[Travesty]

So I've watched the first three episodes, and it's not bad. There's definitely some things I love here, but then there's some misses. The writing doesn't seem to be that strong(not terrible, mind you), and while the animation is serviceable, it's not great. I really do miss hand drawn animation. This newer CG style animation doesn't hold a candle to the likes of BTAS.

But the voice acting is really good. Hamish Linklater's Batman is so damn good. Surprisingly good. It totally works for me. Both his Bruce and Batman are top notch. And everybody else are really good, too. I have no problems so far with the cast. I'm diggin the 40's aesthetic and tone. I wish Batman had a bit more tech, even in a 40's setting, but it works.

Again, I've only watched the first three episodes, so I can't say for sure if I like it all around, but so far, it's fine. The second episode with Clayface really worked for me, and I'm very happy with that, as Clayface is top 3 for me. But I'll come back and give my overall thoughts once I watch the full season. It'll probably take me a week or so.

Any of you guys watching?

[The Dark Knight]

Here are my general thoughts after finishing the first season.

Very detective oriented, good world building and character driven plots. Batman is used sparingly like a wraith and handled how I like him to be. Burton also knew to respect Batman's privacy to create anticipation and an aura whenever he appeared. Hamish Linklater is good as Batman. The voice is spot on and I'm enjoying the strictly business characterisation. It's very early days of his career with Batman being his prominent personality. By the end of episode 10 he finally calls Pennyworth 'Alfred', who remarks he's made new friends. It's a gradual evolution.

Clayface was the standout villain IMO, but also rather appreciate this version of Harley. A psychologist with a dungeon of patients is brilliant. What sours it is the whole lesbian thing. It feels out of place and unnecessary, and I still don't like the female Penguin. Pretty amazing that I felt sympathy for Firebug. He's a murderer but clearly mentally unwell, and taken advantage of. I didn't mind this version of Harvey, even if he's a lot less sympathetic.

The villain use feels one and done for some of them even though there may be future appearances. All in all I do think it's a good show. But certain decisions hold it back from being outright great. I view it as an alternate 1940s mixed in with modern woke and Elseworlds like Earth One/Telltale. If you can tolerate that stuff enough there's a decent product here. I'll be watching season two.