Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two opens with Bruce Wayne (Jensen Ackles) still under the spell of Poison Ivy (Katee Sackhoff), who makes him do the bidding of Carmine Falcone (Titus Welliver). Luckily, they don’t know Bruce’s costumed identity. When bodies pile up on Valentine’s Day, Commissioner Jim Gordon (Billy Burke) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Titus Welliver) look for Batman but to no avail. This continues for a few more holidays until Catwoman (Naya Rivera) rescues Bruce.
But there are a number of threads Bruce has to juggle. Carmine’s daughter, Sofia Falcone, helps the Scarecrow escape to get in good with her father, but is unsuccessful. Holiday is still on the loose, and clues are narrowing in on Harvey being the killer, including the voice he, and the audience, hears in his head. However, after learning of the past connections between the Falcone and Wayne families, Jim and Harvey wonder if Bruce is Holiday.
After Sal Maroni’s father is killed on Father’s Day, he agrees to testify against Carmine. During the trial, Harvey is scarred with acid. It’s the final straw and Two Face is unleashed upon Gotham. Two Face opens Arkham Asylum to recruit a group to go after Carmine. Batman and Gordon eventually gain control but not before more death and destruction happens.
As the story plays out, other characters are revealed to have connections to the Falcone family, but rather than coming across like coincidences forced by the screenwriter, they reveal the believable motivations that drive them. Including that of Holiday.
Tim Sheridan’s script based on Jeph Loeb’s writing is well done as it shows a Batman learning how to be a superhero. It does a great job handing a myriad of distinct characters and keeping them engaging for the viewer. The story ties up the plotlines in a nice manner. There’s a fun post credits scene suggesting a future Justice League of team-up story.
The A/V qualities match the impressive work on Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One and were likely created in unison. The video has been given a 1080p/MPEG-4 AVC encoded transfer displayed at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The dark color scheme of Gotham remains and when primary colors are used, they are strong hues. With the story moving into spring and summer, there is less material floating in the sky that had to be created. The backgrounds of the locations still stand out.
The audio is available in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1.Dialogue is clear throughout the film. Composer Michael Gatt’s score fills the surrounds and the ambient effects offer the viewer a mild immersion within the scenes. The dynamic range is wide, and the action scenes are supported by the subwoofer.
The Special Features, which are in HD, are:
- DC Showcase: Blue Beetle (15 min) – Riffing on the old Filmation DC animated shorts, but wasn’t as funny as it should have been.
- Sneak Peak at Injustice (8 min) – The creative team speak about the next DC Universe movie, the Elseworlds story, Injustice, about a Justice League civil war after Superman kills the Joker.
- Previews for the previously released The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 (7 min); Batman: Hush (9 min)
- From the DC Vault: Batman: The Animated Series:
- “Two-Face” Part 1 and Part 2 (22 min ea.) – A different origin story for the character.
Batman The Long Halloween, Part Two delivers a satisfying conclusion to an epic story. As with the Part One release, the high-def presentation is impressive. There are less extras and The Blue Beetle short is lackluster.
