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Batman Ninja – Indescribable Insanity

/ Michael Beckwith / Leave a comment

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Where do I even begin trying to describe Batman Ninja? Usually after watching a film, I have a pretty solid idea of whether I liked it or not. We all have an immediate, gut feeling after we’ve absorbed a piece of media that we can easily share with others when they ask the obvious question – “How was it?” But Batman Ninja? Words fail me. Not because it’s so good or so bad, but because I have no idea how I feel about it.

I guess I’ll start with the usual info. Made in Japan and released last year, Batman Ninja is an animated film that sees Batman, alongside his many allies and enemies, accidentally travelling back in time to Feudal Japan, where he must learn the ways of the samurai to free the country from the tyrannical grip of his most dangerous enemies. You’d probably think “Well, this doesn’t sound too bad.” But trust me, this synopsis does not accurately sum up this film. Continue reading →

My Ten Favourite Justice League Unlimited Episodes

/ Michael Beckwith / Leave a comment

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Justice League Unlimited

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Three weeks ago, I wrote a list of my ten favourite episodes of the Justice League cartoon. If you recall, in that article, I mentioned I would be giving its sequel show, Justice League Unlimited, it’s own list. This is that list.

JLU is a slightly different beast compared to the previous show. Stories were more self-contained, with most of them being wrapped up within a single episode. The cast was even larger, with the League having expanded to feature even more of DC’s impressive and eclectic cast of superheroes, introducing us to the likes of Green Arrow, Vixen, The Question and many more. But one thing didn’t change – the show’s dedication to tell interesting, dramatic and overall well-written stories with great character interactions and development, as well as on-going plot-lines that lasted throughout the show’s run and even continuing on ones from previous entries in the DC animated universe.

So let’s not waste any more time and jump right in with my ten favourite episodes from its three-season run. Continue reading →

My Ten Favourite Justice League Episodes

/ Michael Beckwith / 2 Comments

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Justice League

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I’m just gonna cut to the chase – I consider Justice League to be one of the best cartoons ever made and the standard that I hold a lot of other shows up to, particularly DC’s other animated offerings. It’s responsible for why I love so many of DC’s superhero characters (especially its depictions of Superman and Batman) and introduced me to characters I might otherwise have never known. To this day, I’m still mad that the series never got a DVD release outside of America.

So after recently re-watching the series in its entirety with a friend of mine, I figured why not finally express my love on this site by listing my ten favourite episodes from the show. Continue reading →

Four Ideas for the Next Batman Game

/ Michael Beckwith / Leave a comment

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Batman: Arkham Knight

With Rocksteady choosing to bow out and end the Arkham series, we find ourselves asking the obvious question: what comes next? As long as Batman remains popular, there will always be videogame tie-ins and considering how much money Warner Bros has made from the Arkham games, it’s unlikely they’re just going to let the series end.

Whether or not the games will continue in the same universe, play like the Arkham games or carve their own identity remains to be seen, but we all probably have some ideas we’d love to see become proper games, so to conclude this month of Batman, here’s a short list of my personal ideas for future Batman games. Continue reading →

Eight Things I Liked about the Arkham Series

/ Michael Beckwith / Leave a comment

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for the following games:

Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman: Arkham City
Batman: Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Knight

Last week, I wrote an article all about things I didn’t like about the Arkham games. If you chose not to read the first paragraph of that article, I should clarify that I absolutely loved the series and it has left me with some great memories to share. So, in the sake of fairness, here’s a list of things that I liked from the main four games. Continue reading →

Eight Things I Didn’t Like about the Arkham Series

/ Michael Beckwith / 2 Comments

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for the following games:

Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman: Arkham City
Batman: Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Knight

There’s no denying that Rocksteady have created a consistently good series with their Batman games. At best, they have been amazing and at worst, they’ve been decent. Unfortunately, as we all know, nothing is perfect and even games as good as these have their problems. And here, I’ve picked out eight of those problems; two for each of the main entries – Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, Arkham Origins and Arkham Knight. Continue reading →

Five Scariest Batman Villains from the Arkham Games

/ Michael Beckwith / Leave a comment

(WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Batman: Arkham City & Batman: Arkham Knight)

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Batman is famous for a lot of things; one of them being his quite frankly impressive rogues gallery. He arguably has some of the best villains in all of comic books (there’s a reason they keep popping up in other media). He also has some of the scariest or, at the very least, creepiest, especially in the Arkham games. One of my favourite aspects of the series was seeing their take on the many bad guys of Gotham, how they’re integrated and being able to beat the crap out of them. So, here’s my personal list of who I consider to be the scariest villains from those games.

Oh and just a heads up, Scarecrow’s not on this list. I want to mix things up a bit. Continue reading →

Batman: Arkham Knight – The Story of How the Batman Died… OR DOES HE?

/ Michael Beckwith / 2 Comments

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Batman. Who doesn’t know Batman? Who doesn’t like Batman? I’ve never met a single person that didn’t like Batman in some capacity. Batman is infamous and loved in pretty much every medium: comics, films, TV and, of course, video games.

Though for the longest time, there was never really a ‘true’ Batman game. Not to say there weren’t any good Batman games but I don’t think there was ever a game where you actually felt like Batman. The World’s Greatest Detective, the master of hand-to-hand combat, the stealthy ninja that could take out a room full of armed guards without being seen; were there any games like that?

That all changed, however, in 2009 when developer Rocksteady released Batman: Arkham Asylum, a title that came out of seemingly nowhere and took everybody by surprise, much like Batman himself. It received critical acclaim and pretty much put Rocksteady on the map due to it being the first time where players weren’t just playing a videogame that had Batman in it – they were Batman.

This single game sparked an entire series of Batman games; the latest of which being the grand finale, Batman: Arkham Knight (though I doubt Warner Bros will let an easy money maker like this end). Is it as awesome as its marketing makes it out to be? Let’s find out (BTW, I’m reviewing the PS4 version). Continue reading →

Batman vs Superman – Insert Yawn Sound Effect Here

/ Michael Beckwith / Leave a comment

(originally posted May 30th 2014)

Batman-v-Superman-Dawn-of-Justice-Logo

So, how about that ‘Batman vs Superman’ movie, eh? Oh I’m sorry, ‘Batman v Superman.’ Apparently that extra ‘s’ wasn’t broody enough to be included. As a self-proclaimed geek, you’d think this film would have me foaming at the mouth with excitement, but you’d be wrong. I do love Batman and I do love Superman, but the idea of these two iconic superheroes duking it out, quite frankly, bores me. Continue reading →