This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is not my favorite Batman animated movie but at least it has more updated animation and has good music in the movie considering it was annoying in the end credits.One thing that still remains to be answered is that did Bane survive the explosion on the fairy boat?But overall good movie.

SPOILERS.What do you get when you remove the subtly, the artistry, and development and pacing of "Batman: The Animated Series"? You get this.The art is more flash than substance here; even though the animation of the 1992 series wasn't always up to standards, it still felt better suited. The opening looks cheap and like it was a rushed tact-on addition.The writing is amateurish and makes clichés of all the characters we came to love. It's pretty bad when the best line 20 minutes in is a throw-away line by Alfred reading Dennis the Menace in the newspaper. It takes more than another 20 minutes before a good scene comes again.Speaking of menace, the menace of Thorne is gone. The Penguin is reduced to a mass arms dealer and not the artsy Shakespearian fiend previously known, and another actor takes over voicing. Batgirl is turned into a clichéd young woman love interest. Even black people are a little clichéd here. And what's wrong with Kevin Conroy's voice?Composer Lolita Ritmanis, whom contributed great efforts to B:TAS and S:TAS, seems to not have been inspired by this either, as the music doesn't hold a candle to the previous series and is sorely cheapened by being made with synths instead of an orchestra. Also, it lacks the class of earlier Timm efforts.Everything is rushed and it doesn't breath, it doesn't flow properly, and there's no investment; it just goes by the motions. I cringed several times.And if that weren't enough, the special ends with a terrible song.Just a terrible effort.

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS :Although it was 5 years after the series ended and WB was currently working on Justice League, this animated movie is a welcome addition to the video library. Why? Well, if Mask of the Phantasm compliments the first 70 episodes of Batman: The Animated Series and SubZero compliments the 15 episodes of the Adventures of Batman and Robin, then Mystery of the Batwoman compliments the final 24 episodes of the Gotham Knights version of Batman. Kevin Conroy once again delivers a voice over performance that is nothing short of excellence and perfection. I admit I was a bit leery when I heard about Batwoman and all I could think about were the old 50's comics of Batman. But I was blown away by the Batwoman character, her look, her costume (which I assumed inspired Bruce Wayne to create the costume on Batman Beyond)and the fact that this movie keeps you guessing who Batwoman is all the way through. If you want to know who Batwoman is, then buy or rent the DVD. Barbara Gordon makes a cameo appearance and I think the writers were trying to hint that Bruce and Barbara had something going on between them like they did in Batman Beyond. Tim Drake appears as Robin, but his role is a small one and sadly, there is no sign of or mention of Dick Grayson alias Nightwing, which leads me to believe he has established himself in Bludhaven (his city in the comics).Of the three suspects for Batwoman, my favorite is Kathy Duquesne, who looks an awful lot like Halle Berry. Kelly Ripa did a great job as one of the other suspects. When it comes to the villains, I'm glad the Penguin was one of them, but I did not like the fact that they replaced Paul Williams with David Ogden Stiers. Pengy just didn't sound right. Same thing goes for Robin. The new guy did okay, but just as I was starting to get used to Matt Valencia, they replaced him. It's interesting to note that Kevin Michael Richardson, who voices Carlton Duquesne is now the voice of the Joker in "The Batman" series. And we finally see what Rupert Thorne looks like revamped since he didn't show up in the Gotham Knights episodes. The late John Vernon will be missed. Although I enjoyed Henry Silva as the voice of Bane, if he had to be replaced, they got the right man in the form of Hector Elizondo. I only wish they could have used Two Face, Riddler, or the scary new version of the Scarecrow.The musical score and especially the soft sounding intro were superb. I wish that was on a soundtrack and I especially enjoyed the beautiful and talented Cherie in the Iceberg Lounge along with her song, Betcha Neva. While some feel that this movie is weaker than the Mask of the Phantasm and Subzero, I find it just as strong and enjoyable as the rest, plus like I said earlier, it's a full length movie based off the Gotham Knights version of Batman, which I think gives a good balance. I would at least recommend renting this DVD first before buying it for those who might be leery of this movie, but personally, it's well worth the purchase. I give Mystery of the Batwoman a 9.

"Batman: The Mystery of the Batwoman" is about as entertaining as animated Batman movies get.While still true to the feeling of the comic books, the animation is done with a lighter spirit than in the animated series. Bruce Wayne looks much like he has before, but now he appears somewhat less imposing. The Dick Grayson Robin has been replaced by the less edgy, more youthful Tim Drake Robin.Kevin Conroy, as usual, invokes the voice of Batman better than most live action actors.Kelly Ripa did a much more decent voice-acting job than I was expecting.As in the live action Batman films, the movie lives or dies based on the quality of the villains. My all-time favorite, the Penguin, is here. His design is sleeker than it has appeared before, hearkening more to the Burgess Meredith portrayal of the '60's than the Danny DeVito portrayal of "Batman Returns." David Ogden Stiers is the perfect choice for the Penguin's voice. The Penguin is finally portrayed as a cunning sophisticate, just as he most commonly appears in the comics. Hector Elizondo's voice creates a Bane who's much more memorable than the forgettable version in "Batman & Robin." And finally, Batman has a descent mystery to solve, putting the "Detective" back in "Detective Comics" (that is what "DC" stands for, after all.) The revolution to the mystery is a delightfully sneaky twist.The score adds to the mysterious ambiance of the movie. It sounds like a mix between the score from "Poirot" and the score from "Mission: Impossible." All in all, it's more entertaining than your average cartoon.