Thursday, May 01, 2008

Batman vs. Dracula


BATMAN VS. DRACULA retells Stoker's tale with Batman in the Van Helsing role, The Penguin as Renfield, and Vicki Vale as Mina Harker. It's a fine introduction to the Dracula story for the younger set, with the horror elements still present, if smoothed out a bit.

The animation is workmanlike, however, and the voice acting never quite captured my imagination. Further, the producers chose to make both Penguin and Joker super or, perhaps, para human, and I found that the fantastical elements of these characters detracted from the shock value of Dracula, who always works best as the unexpected supernatural player in a mundane world.

Nevertheless, BATMAN VS. DRACULA captured my boy's imagination and kept me mildly diverted. As far as kids' horror goes, you could do worse.

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