The Batman (2004-2008) Review

"Just tell me that one day I'll get to meet the man behind the bat."

Lets continue our Disney/Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary celebration with a brand new version of the caped crusader as this series follows a younger Dark Knight in his early years as he takes on the forces of crime in Gotham; The Batman.

The series focuses on Batman's earlier years of his crime-fighting career, as he began fighting crime three years prior to the start of the series, and the Gotham City police do not publicly acknowledge the vigilante's existence.
Operating out of a secret lair underneath Bruce Wayne's mansion—known as the Batcave—Batman and his butler, Alfred Pennyworth, stop crime with the assistance of high-tech gadgets and a supercomputer.
Over the course of the series he not only fight various criminals and super-villains, but he also makes new allies along the way to assist him in his crusade against crime.

The writing for this show is pretty good as it does give a neat and unique take for a Batman show by having it focus on his early days and gradually meeting his allies and enemies. As a result, we do get to see him grow and mature as a character. And while this show is more lighthearted and fun than the DCAU Batman shows, it still makes room for some pretty dark and intense moments. Also, i think it's a neat twist to have Batgirl be Bruce's first sidekick and then Robin comes later. I know this was due to the infamous Bat-embargo that thankfully has since been lifted, but still i thought it was kinda neat. And on top of that, the action's pretty solid, the humor's pretty decent, there are some solid story-arcs throughout the series, and there is some compelling drama and suspense. However, once it reaches Season 5 and the Justice League comes in, the show feels like it turns into a "Justice League" series that just so happens to have Batman as the main lead. Not a bad season by any means, but it feels like the show was hijacked.
This show does feature a good amount of well crafted and solid episodes such as "The Bat in the Belfry", "Call of the Cobblepot", "Traction", "The Cat and the Bat", "The Big Chill", "The Big Heat", "Topsy Turvy", "The Rubber Face of Comedy / The Clayface of Tragedy", "The Cat, the Bat, and the Very Ugly", "Riddled", "The Laughing Bat", "Swamped", "Meltdown", "Grundy's Night", "Night and the City", "Batgirl Begins", "A Fistful of Felt", "Brawn", "Fleurs du Mal", "The Icy Depths", "Gotham's Ultimate Criminal Mastermind", "A Matter of Family", "Team Penguin", "Clayfaces", "The Breakout", "Strange New World", "Artifacts", "Riddler's Revenge", "Rumors", "The Joining", "The Batman/Superman Story", "The End of the Batman", and "Lost Heroes".
The action scenes are pretty solid as not only can they be very exciting and a lot of fun, but they can also be pretty intense at times such as Batman and his allies taking on the villains of Gotham, getting out of tight jams and escaping certain death, rescuing people, and chasing down said villains and thugs.
This show is definitely not as grim or dramatic as the DCAU Batman shows since this series is more lighthearted, but there are still some pretty heavy and grim moments like Ethan's transformation into Clayface and fall from grace, and Dick losing his family to Zucco.
This show does have a pretty solid sense of humor, and this does result in a solid amount of funny moments such as some of the witty and snarky banter and dialogue between the characters, some of the show's dark humor thanks to Joker, and some of the gags.
The animation may not be the DCAU style, but it still incredibly solid and does have a neat and stylized look to it. The characters all have pretty solid designs and decently fluid movements, the backgrounds are very well crafted and both have some nice detail as well as a nice style, and there are also some pretty solid effects done.
The characters are all mostly pretty solid and likable, and do have some nice chemistry and dynamics, as well as several having some solid character development.
Batman is a very likable and solid protagonist as while he is still in his early days by the start of the series, he does have a strong sense of justice and heroism, and helps his allies whenever he can. And while he is a bit more rambunctious here, it does make sense since he is still young, and does grow and mature as the series progresses. 
The supporting characters are also pretty solid and likable, and do manage to help Batman when they can, and they do prove themselves as dependable allies and friends such as his loyal butler Alfred, his allies in the police such as Ethan, Ellen, and Jim, his future Bat-family such as Batgirl and Robin, and even his fellow heroes from the Justice League like Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Green Arrow. However, there are a couple of weak characters like Rojas just being the short-tempered police chief, but he's thankfully regulated to a minor character once Jim appears. Also, where's Wonder Woman and why isn't she in the League here?
The villains that Batman and his allies encounter are pretty solid and do prove themselves to be very formidable such as the maniacal Joker, the seductive Catwoman, the coldhearted Mr. Freeze, the troublemaking Penguin, the hot-headed Firefly, the grotesque Man-Bat, the dual-minded Ventriloquist, the tragic Clayface followed by a more murderous one, the puzzle-obsessed Riddler, the venomous Poison Ivy, the fierce Killer Croc, the deranged Hugo Strange, the ruthless Black Mask, the monstrous Killer Moth, the cunning Lex Luthor, and the destructive entity known as the Joining. However, there are some pretty weak and lame villains like Cluemaster, Gearhead, and Ragdoll. Also, due to the stupid Bat embargo, the show couldn't feature villains like Two-Face or Scarecrow. And on top of that, this show's version of Harley Quinn is pretty lame.
The voice acting is pretty solid, and the voice actors do manage to deliver some great performances such as Rino Romano as Batman, Alistair Duncan as Alfred, Mitch Pileggi as Jim, Danielle Judovitz as Batgirl, Evan Sabara as Robin, Steven Harris as Ethan / Clayface, Ming-Na Wen as Ellen, Kevin Michael Richardson as the Joker, Tom Kenny as the Penguin, Gina Gershon as Catwoman, Robert Englund as the Riddler, Clancy Brown as Mr. Freeze, Jason Marsden as Firefly, Frank Gorshin and Richard Green as Hugo, Piera Coppola as Poison Ivy, Hynden Walch as Harley, and many, many more.
The music for this show is pretty solid and well composed, and does capture the show's gothic and action-packed tone.

Overall, this clearly isn't on par with BTAS, but that's a pretty tough act to follow, and on top of that, this show wasn't trying to recapture the spirit and tone of that show and instead wanted to do it's own thing. And in that regard, it is pretty solid and well crafted, and a worth version of the Dark Knight.

Cast:
Rino Romano as Bruce Wayne / Batman
Alistair Duncan as Alfred Pennyworth
Mitch Pileggi as Jim Gordon
Danielle Judovits as Barbara Gordon / Batgirl
Evan Sabara as Dick Grayson / Robin
Jerry O'Connell as Older Dick / Nightwing
Kellie Martin as Older Barbara / Oracle
Steven Harris as Ethan Bennett / Clayface
Ming-Na Wen as Ellen Yin
Dorian Harewood as J'on J'onzz / Martian Manhunter
George Newbern as Kal El / Clark Kent / Superman
Chris Hardwrick as Oliver Queen / Green Arrow
Charlie Schlatter as Barry Allen / Flash
Dermot Mulroney as Hal Jordan / Green Lantern
Robert Patrick as Katar Hol / Hawkman
Jesse Corti as Chief Rojas
Adam West as Mayor Grange
Kevin Michael Richardson as the Joker
Tom Kenny as Oswald Cobblepot / Penguin
Gina Gershon as Selina Kyle / Catwoman
Clancy Brown as Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze, Bane (Season 3), Lex Luthor
Jason Marsden as Garfield Lynns / Firefly / Phosphorus
Dan Castellaneta as Arnold Wesker / Ventriloquist, Scarface
Peter MacNicol as Kirk Langstrom / Man-Bat
Glenn Shadix as Arthur Brown / Cluemaster
Joaquim de Almeida as Bane (Season 1)
Ron Perlman as Bane (Season 2), Waylon Jones / Killer Croc, Mario / Rumor
Jeff Bennett as Rag Doll, D.A.V.E., Drury Walker / Killer Moth
Robert Englund as Edward Nygma / Riddler
Michael Massee as Spellbinder
Kevin Grievoux as Solomon Grundy
Frank Gorshin as Hugo Strange (Seasons 2 and 3)
Richard Green as Hugo Strange (Seasons 4 and 5), Jack Nimball / Toyman
Piera Coppola as Pamela Isley / Poison Ivy
Will Friedle as Nathaniel Finch / Gearhead
Phil LaMarr as Maxie Zeus
Patton Oswalt as Cosmo Krank / Toymaker
Michael Reisz as Donnie / Prank
Jim Cummings as Temblor
Mark Hamill as Tony Zucco
James Remar as Roman Sionis / Black Mask
Brandon Routh as John Marlowe / Everywhere Man
Hynden Walch as Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn
Dave Foley as Francis Grey
Wallace Langham as Basil Karlo / Clayface (first appearance)
Lex Lang as Basil Karlo / Clayface (second appearance), John Corben / Metallo
Gwendoline Yeo as Mercy Graves
Greg Ellis as Count Vertigo
Diedrich Bader as Carl Sands / Shadow Thief
Miguel Ferrer as Sinestro
John Larroquette as Sam Scudder / Mirror Master
David Faustino as David
Grey DeLisle as Amber
Googy Gress as Justin
Rachael MacFarlane as Blaze
Christopher Gorham as William Mallory / Wraith
Daryl Sabara as Andy Mallory / Scorn

Crew:
Developed by Michael Goguen and Duane Capizzi
Directed by Seung Eun Kim, Brandon Vietti, Sam Liu, Christopher Berkeley, Anthony Chun, Matt Youngberg, Vinton Heuck, amd John Fang
Written by Duane Capizzi, Michael Jelenic, and Alan Burnett
Produced by Linda M. Steiner, Jeff Matsuda, and Glen Murakami
Music by Thomas Chase, The Edge, and Andy Strummer

Misc.
Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger
Production Company: Warner Bros. Animation
Original Network: Kids WB
Air Date: September 11, 2004 – March 8, 2008