REVIEW — “Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem”

Like “Animal Instincts” before it, “Monster Mayhem” is clearly targeted at kids, but the writing is still clever enough that it can be enjoyed by families without putting the parents into a coma.

Although the heroes are familiar, the Batman Unlimited series takes place far in the future.  Lasers, hovercraft, and robotics are all commonplace, making for a much more sci-fi version of our super friends.  The series may be named after Batman, but with appearances by The Flash, Green Arrow, and Cyborg, it would make more sense if it was named “Justice League Unlimited.”

The adventure this time begins on Halloween, the perfect time for Scarecrow, Clayface, Solomon Grundy and Silver Banshee to band together.  A series of thefts outside of their normal M.O. has Batman (Roger Craig Smith), Red Robin (Yuri Lowenthal), and Cyborg (Khary Payton) trying to anticipate their next move.  It isn’t long until The Joker (Troy Baker) is revealed to once again be the brains behind the operation but this time his master plan that is a lot more high tech than usual.

The writing in the “Monster Mayhem” is juvenile, but not condescending.  The cartoon teases some concepts that are good for kids to hear such as the benefits of old technology and the dangers of relying solely on technology. (What happens when that tech is taken away, or worse, turned on you?)

No where near the intensity of all the PG-13 DC toons, “Monster Mayhem” can only be judged against other family friendly WB features.  Compared to some of their recent misfires (see “Stone Age Smackdown”)  this one shines.

 4 out of 5 Stars
-Ref Kevin