Batman: The Long Halloween (film)

Batman: The Long Halloween
Part One Blu-ray
Directed by	Chris Palmer
Written by	Tim Sheridan
Based on	Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb Tim Sale
Produced by	Jim Krieg Kimberly S. Moreau
Starring	Jensen Ackles Josh Duhamel Naya Rivera
Edited by	John Soares
Music by	Michael Gatt
Production companies	Warner Bros. Animation DC Entertainment
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Release dates	Part 1: June 22, 2021 (2021-06-22) (digital) Part 2: July 27, 2021 (2021-07-27) (digital)
Running time	Part 1: 85 minutes Part 2: 87 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Batman: The Long Halloween is a 2021 American two-part animated direct-to-video superhero film produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment, based on the DC Comics storyline of the same name. It is the 42nd film of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies. The film is directed by Chris Palmer and stars the voices of Jensen Ackles, Naya Rivera, Josh Duhamel, Billy Burke, Titus Welliver, David Dastmalchian, Troy Baker, Amy Landecker, Julie Nathanson, Jack Quaid, Fred Tatasciore and Alastair Duncan.

The film is dedicated to Rivera, as it was her final film role before her death in 2020. A combined version of the film will be released in 2022.^[1] The film also shares continuity with Superman: Man of Tomorrow and Justice Society: World War II. The two films premiered on Adult Swim in October 24, 2021.

Plot[]

Part One[]

On Halloween, Johnny Viti, nephew of Gotham City mob boss Carmine "The Roman" Falcone, is murdered by a mysterious figure who leaves a jack-o'-lantern at the crime scene. Gotham City Police Department Captain James Gordon summons District Attorney Harvey Dent and Gotham's vigilante Batman to investigate the murder.

Catwoman leads Batman to Falcone's cash stockpile with Dent following. Based on a coin flip, Dent decides to burn the money rather than move it legally. In retaliation, Falcone hires Mickey Chen to bomb Dent's house. Both Dent and his wife Gilda survive, but Dent is hospitalized. Batman chases Chen down to the sewers where Chen runs into Solomon Grundy. Batman convinces Grundy to spare Chen and takes him to the GCPD. Lacking evidence of his involvement in the bombing, Batman and Gordon are forced to release him. Gordon advises Batman to learn more about being a detective.

On Thanksgiving, Falcone reminds his son Alberto that he will never inherit the family business. Dent escapes from the hospital and meets Gordon who gives him a gun for protection. That night, Chen and his associates are killed by Viti's murderer.

On Christmas Eve, Gordon and Batman question Calendar Man in Arkham Asylum on the identity of the murderer who is now coined "Holiday." Calendar Man names Falcone, Sal Maroni, and Dent as suspects and calls Batman's war on crime a "joke". Batman then realizes that Joker has escaped from Arkham.

Not wanting Holiday to replace him as Gotham's most notorious criminal, Joker confronts Dent in his home and threatens to kill Gilda if he is proven to be Holiday. Batman visits Maroni who was also attacked by Joker. Maroni advises Batman that if Joker is Holiday, he will inevitably target Falcone himself. Joker harasses Falcone, warning him to divulge any new information about Holiday to him. Falcone's bodyguard Milos Grappa chases Joker out of the building, but is killed by Holiday. In the Batcave, Batman identifies Maroni, Falcone's sister Carla Viti, Joker, Falcone, and an unnamed figure, implied to be Dent, as suspects.

Bruce Wayne attends a New Year's Eve yacht party celebrating Gotham's children's clinic, hosted by Falcone, who calls out Bruce during his speech as the son he never had. Bruce meets with Selina Kyle, who calls off their relationship due to their conflicting secret identities.

Joker attempts to gas Times Square using a stolen plane, hoping that Holiday is among the crowd. Meanwhile, Selina meets with Alberto to learn about the Falcones; Alberto laments about having never been respected by Falcone, who also rejected his fiancée from Oxford University. Batman foils Joker's scheme and comes to an epiphany from one of his comments. Returning to the yacht, Batman accuses Alberto of being Holiday, targeting his father's associates to gain power within the family—unintentionally revealing his own secret identity as Selina recognizes his voice. Alberto argues he only ever wanted to live his own life, rather than being controlled by his father.

As the New Year hits, Alberto is shot by Holiday and falls into the bay where he is cut to pieces by the yacht's propellers. Batman pursues Holiday, but the killer escapes. As the yacht is evacuated, Gordon and Dent meet with Batman. Batman tells his allies to assign a protective detail to Falcone and vows to be a better detective.

In a post-credits scene, Bruce attends Alberto's funeral. Falcone approaches him and requests Bruce's help in laundering his money, but Bruce refuses. Bruce is then introduced to the woman accompanying Falcone who shakes his hand. Vines emerge from under her sleeve to grip Bruce's arm, turning his eyes green; indicating that Poison Ivy has taken control of him.

Part Two[]

In the three months since Alberto's death, the Holiday killer has targeted the Falcone and Maroni families on Valentine's Day, Saint Patrick's Day, and April Fools' Day. Meanwhile, Bruce has signed much of his assets over to Falcone under Poison Ivy's influence. Catwoman defeats Ivy and rescues Bruce.

On Mother's Day, Scarecrow escapes from Arkham Asylum. When Batman intervenes, Scarecrow injects him with his fear-inducing toxin, forcing him to relive the night of his parents' murder. Catwoman finds Batman in an alleyway and brings him home.

Falcone's daughter Sofia asks for a seat at the family table, but Falcone refuses. Gordon and Dent question Bruce about Holiday, citing his family's past connections with Falcone. Bruce recalls how, as a boy, he met Falcone when his father saved his life following an assassination attempt by the Maronis. On Father's Day, Maroni's father Luigi is murdered by Holiday. Catwoman witnesses Falcone paying a mob hitman in the cemetery. Maroni meets with Dent and agrees to testify against Falcone in exchange for immunity.

On the Fourth of July, Batman is captured by Scarecrow and Mad Hatter as they rob a bank for Falcone. He escapes and defeats them as they drop off the cash in the cemetery. On the boardwalk, Falcone's hitman attacks Dent and Gilda during the fireworks display. Catwoman intervenes, but the hitman knocks out both her and Dent. Dent awakens to find the hitman dead and one of Holiday's guns nearby, and he flees as the police arrive.

Falcone's sister Carla Viti publicly accuses Dent of being Holiday. While Dent has Maroni in court, Batman meets Gordon and reveals that he found Holiday's guns in the Dents' basement. In the middle of court, Maroni accuses Dent of being Holiday and throws acid in his face. Dent is hospitalized but escapes and is picked up by Falcone's men. Dent kills his guards and flees into the sewers, where he is nurtured by Solomon Grundy. On Falcone's birthday, Carla is killed by Holiday.

On Labor Day, Dent and Grundy attack Maroni's prison convoy. Batman, disguised as Maroni's guard, subdues Grundy, but Maroni is shot by Holiday from another building. Dent, Grundy, and Holiday escape. At Wayne Manor, Alfred prepares for another Halloween while Bruce questions his motives for fighting crime. Alfred reassures him that, regardless of his parents' connections to the mob, they would have been proud of him.

Batman asks Catwoman about her obsession with the Falcone family. She confesses that Falcone is her father and she only wants to know her mother's name. Dent and Grundy attack Arkham and free several inmates. Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, and Mad Hatter engage the GCPD while Dent, Grundy, Joker, and Penguin attack Falcone's building. They overwhelm Falcone's guards and Sofia, and Dent prepares to flip a coin to decide whether Falcone will live or die.

Batman and Catwoman arrive and defeat the rogues but are unable to prevent Dent from shooting Falcone. Distraught, Sofia falls out the broken window to her death. Catwoman reveals her face to Falcone, who says "Louisa" before dying in Batman's arms. Dent, now under the alias Two-Face, turns himself over to Gordon and claims responsibility for all the Holiday killings.

In the Dents' basement, Gilda burns her Holiday items while Batman looks on. She confesses that Falcone had annulled her marriage to Alberto and had their illegitimate child aborted. As Holiday, she exacted revenge against the entire family. Though unrepentant on what she did to the Falcones, she is saddened by what happened to Harvey as a result and the fact that she loved him: but not Two-Face. She assures Batman that Holiday is finished.

On Halloween, Alfred, with a bowl of chocolates in his hands, holds out hope for trick-or-treaters. Bruce predicts that there will be no visitors. Wayne Manor then receives its first trick-or-treater. Selina is revealed to be together with Bruce, and mocks Bruce's previously expressed skepticism. Alfred opens the door to a bat-kid with the child's parents and gives the trick-or-treater some chocolates. As Bruce and Selina look on, the movie fades to black. In a post-credits scene, the doorbell again rings, and Alfred opens the door to Flash and Green Arrow. "It's for you, sir," says Alfred.

Cast[]

Appearing in both parts[]

• Jensen Ackles as Bruce Wayne / Batman
  • Zach Callison as Young Bruce Wayne
• Josh Duhamel as Harvey Dent / Two-Face
• Billy Burke as Commissioner Gordon
• Naya Rivera as Selina Kyle / Catwoman
• Alastair Duncan as Alfred Pennyworth
• Troy Baker as Joker, Antoni
• David Dastmalchian as Julian Day / Calendar Man, Oswald Cobblepot / Penguin
• Amy Landecker as Barbara Gordon, Carla Viti
• Julie Nathanson as Gilda Dent
• Gary LeRoi Gray as Officer Pearce
• Fred Tatasciore as Solomon Grundy, Large Triad, Vincent Falcone
• Jim Pirri as Sal Maroni
• Titus Welliver as Carmine Falcone

Appearing in Part One[]

• Frances Callier as Nurse Tamara
• Greg Chun as Mickey Chen
• Jack Quaid as Alberto Falcone

Appearing in Part Two[]

• Laila Berzins as Sofia Falcone
• Alyssa Diaz as Renee Montoya
• John DiMaggio as Jervis Tetch / Mad Hatter
• Robin Atkin Downes as Dr. Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow, Thomas Wayne
• Katee Sackhoff as Dr. Pamela Isley / Poison Ivy
• Rick D. Wasserman as Bodyguard

Production[]

The film was officially announced on August 23, 2020, during the Superman: Man of Tomorrow panel at DC FanDome.

Casting[]

On March 31, 2021, the voice cast for the film was revealed.^[2]

Release[]

Part 1 was released on June 22, 2021 on digital download, DVD, and Blu-ray.^[3] Part One was delayed due to The Batman and was originally supposed to launch the new animated continuity that originated in Superman: Man of Tomorrow.^[4]

Part 2 was made available for online streaming on July 27, 2021. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 10, 2021.^[5]

Reception[]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Part One has an approval rating of 100% based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 7.70/10.^[6] Part Two has an approval rating of 100% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 7.90/10.^[7]

Jesse Schedeen of IGN rated Part One an 8 out of 10: "Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One may not quite meet the high standard of Justice Society: World War II, but it's a well-crafted addition to the revamped DC Universe Movies line. It faithfully adapts the comic book source material while still veering in its own direction at times. It's difficult to imagine this adaptation working nearly as well if Warner Bros. Animation had tried to cram the entirety of The Long Halloween into one movie. With any luck, Part Two will be just as successful."^[8]

Zaki Hasan of IGN rated Part Two a 9 out of 10: "It's a compelling story adapted with care and performed with conviction. Taken together, both parts make for not merely one of the best Batman animated movies, but one of the best Batman movies, period."^[9]

William Fischer of Collider negatively compared the film's visual design to the more detailed and stylized artwork of the comics story arc, while acknowledging that the film's animators worked under different constraints than illustrators.^[10]

References[]

External links[]

• Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One at IMDb
• Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two at IMDb