Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts

A series of near nonstop, action-packed cartoon battles pit good guys against bad guys. Exaggerated violence includes: shooting with blasters and arrows; characters wielding pipes and throwing heavy objects; vehicles crashing, buildings falling; objects exploding and being electrified; hand-to-hand combat. Scary, seemingly indestructible robotic animals create havoc (large cats with glowing eyes, ferocious fangs; attacking bats; an overpowering gorilla). Gotham and the entire planet are threatened by a giant asteroid.

Villainous Cheetah, a curvaceous adversary, sometimes behaves in a seductive manner.

"Butt."

Parents need to know that Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts is animated superhero business as usual. This movie is true to the "good vs. evil" comic-book tone and intent of Batman stories and has none of the dark elements and complex psychology of the most recent Dark Knight film series. Packaged with a toy, the DVD finds Batman leading his extraordinary, superpowered team (Robin, Night Wing, Green Arrow, and Flash) against a revitalized Penguin, who is in his usual "destroy Gotham" mode. Lasers, explosions, captures, hand-to-hand combat, chases, crashes, with assaults on businesses and the citizens of the metropolis, spread fear and chaos. A few of the bad-guy regulars are present for the action-packed shenanigans -- Killer Croc, Cheetah -- and they're joined by a band of ferocious robotic animals that give Batman and his allies strong adversaries to defeat. There's just enough time between action scenes to catch viewers up on the story and to provide some clever banter and characterizations. Enjoyable for kids comfortable with lots of noisy cartoon jeopardy.

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