Rating: ***
Review Date: 11/13/16
Cast: Adam West, Burt Ward, Julie Newmar
A delightful homage to the 1960's "Batman" TV series, with Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar revisiting their roles as Batman, Robin, and Catwoman. Joker, Riddler, Penguin, and Catwoman team up to steal a duplicator ray and go on a massive crime spree. Naturally, Batman and Robin intervene with justice laden quips and fisticuffs. During the battle, Catwoman subdues the dynamic duo and infects Batman with a toxin called "batnip," which slowly turns him evil. Before long, Batman uses the duplicator ray on himself and takes over all of Gotham City, forcing Robin to take the law into his own hands in order to save his partner and mentor.
It's a lot of fun and is full of references to the original series. It even makes a couple of clever references to Tim Burton's "Batman" (1989) and Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns." The dialog is fantastic and really captures the tone and rhythm of the original series. The voice acting is quite good, but you can't get around the fact that the 88 year old Adam West sounds old and feeble. Julie Newmar fares a bit better, while Burt Ward probably sounds the best of the three. The voice actors for Joker, Riddler, Penguin, Alfred, and Commissioner Gordon do a surprisingly good job of emulating Caesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith, Alan Napier, and Neil Hamilton, while putting their own spin on the characters. It's not a perfect film, but it's certainly an enjoyable trip down memory lane.