When you’re Batman you need the best mechanic around.
What They Say:
The Penguin’s gang escapes a high-speed chase, but the Batmobile might be done for.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
One of the things I enjoy with the series is the way that they do find ways to explore some of the smaller aspects of what it means to be Batman. This episode is one that pretty much deals nicely with a low-rent kind of way that Batman handles getting some of his gear fixed, notably in the vehicle department. Most of what we get tends to be ignored in how the acquisitions go though we’ve had nods to Alfred being involved in other mediums as well as the Nolan movies where things are procured through Wayne Enterprises. The appeal of this series is that it does things in a smaller way so that it feels a bit more realistic overall even if it opens all sorts of security concerns.
The opening for this has a very fun car chase scene involving the Penguin that doesn’t go well as he manages to escape while Batman and Robin end up getting the front end of the car crushed entirely. Thankfully, Batman has set up an underground shop with Earl Cooper and his daughter Marva where it’s paid for by a group of unseen backers, never mentioning any involvement with Wayne Enterprises that’s nice. I like the father/daughter combo and how the small talk works when Batman and Robin bring in the car as it’s lighter than one might expect. The dynamic duo are set to motorcycles for the time being which always looks comical with the helmets that they wear but the whole setup is nicely done. Running alongside that we get to see the Penguin frustrated by how the job he sent the guys on wasn’t done right but he ends up with paperwork that indicates where Batman gets his Batmobile repaired. That’s what sets everything in motion.
With this coming out after Batman Returns, it does borrow a few things from there such as the giant duck and the way that Penguin later takes control of the Batmobile. It’s a fun and silly thing and one of the few times I was glad they leaned into the movie side a bit. This is still one of my favorite interpretations of the Penguin as the film and live-action side just hasn’t clicked for me. Seeing him working over Earl to figure out how things went down and the tale that Earl tells him is a lot of fun to watch. While everything does play out with Batman and Robin handling the situation in total, I liked that some of the better moments involved Earl in his interactions with everyone and how protective he was of his daughter. The whole setting up a new shop by the end is definitely a lot of fun as well, something that I doubt is used later in the series but has me wishing we had a bigger look at it.
In Summary:
While we do get plenty of villainous material with the Penguin and his henchmen, the real fun for me was just seeing how Batman had things set up for taking care of his car and how it all came together. The game is getting more difficult and that’s forcing him to figure out some new and creative ways to ensure that this doesn’t happen again, both because of the Batmobile and because of what happened to Earl and Marva. It’s a big and silly episode when it focuses on the Penguin and how he tries to get one over on the dynamic duo but that’s balanced well by the heart from Earl and Marva.
Grade: B+
