TheLittleSongbird And this is not anything to do with not liking Batman. I happen to love Batman, right from the 60s series(camp but compulsively colourful fun) to the animated DC movies with Batman:The Animated Series being the real jewel in the crown. This said, I happen to not be a fan of the The Batman show. It is not a terrible show, it has its good moments, but I do prefer more darkness and Gothic pathos when it comes to Batman and there are elements that take some getting used to. I happen to think The Batman vs. Dracula is much better. It is not perfect, Joker's character design like the show does take a lot of getting used to, in all honesty I never really warmed to it, and Peter Stormare while voicing Dracula with just the right smooth menace has an accent that is very inconsistent. However, the animation is really great, much smoother than the show's and has much more atmosphere. There is also a haunting music score, smart intelligent writing that has a much mature tone than the show and some exciting action sequences, though there perhaps could have been more. The story is very dark and compelling, with some both intense and moving moments and perfectly paced. I would have liked to have seen the Vampyric lore element further explored but that wasn't enough to harm the story. The characters are great, Batman is much darker and more brooding, Penguin as always is great fun, he was a bright spot of the show always, and Joker is more menacing and twisted than ever before. Dracula in design may be more Ras Al'Ghul than Dracula, but is still a more than worthy adversary to Batman. The voice acting is very good too, Rino Romano sounds more comfortable and brooding, Tara Strong is a likable Vicki Vale. Tom Kenny voices Penguin with great enthusiasm without ever overdoing it while Kevin Michael Richardson's voice for Joker is in keeping with the character's more twisted personality here, it didn't work in the show for me because that psyche wasn't really explored. All in all, a very good movie and much better than The Batman show. 8/10 Bethany Cox

kyle-mcdonald Let me start off by saying that I've always been a huge fan of both batman and Dracula. I've seen pretty much all of the batman movies, TV shows, and played all the video games. I have read the Dracula novel, and have enjoyed watching many of the film adaption's. Since I've enjoyed batman through my entire life and have also been a horror movie fan, I was delighted to hear of this original idea of putting the two legendary bats in one movie. I must say although not the best batman nor the best Dracula movie it definitely did not disappoint.Gotham is as usual, full of villains and Bruce Wayne continues to struggle balancing his personal life with his duty as the batman. It's an ordinary night until suddenly Batman gets the call that the Joker and the Penguin have escaped from Arkham Asylum and the chase is on. Following the events of the night the trail of the Peguin has gone cold and he has strangely disappeared. As the nights continue to come and go, people mysteriously disappear without a trace, and all of a sudden a dark and grim man arrives and everything is not well as the man turns out to be the Batman's greatest challenge of them all, the one and only...the legendary...Dracula.The first thing I noticed about this was the originality and cleverness of placing these two famous bats in one movie in a really interesting storyline. we see how Bruce is having difficulty in finding time for his personal life as he never gets to spend anytime with his love interest Vickie Vale as every time he does get time he gets time with her duty calls. The best part of this story is how we see Batman be met with such a challenge, that even he thinks he can't over come, but he never gives up and continues to drive for the answer to the question on how to defeat the indestructible Dracula. One thing I found disappointing in the story was the lack of twists and turns, of course there was a few but not near as many as I had hoped for. The biggest let down I felt was the number of stand offs between Batman and Dracula, I was hoping for more but in the end the climax of the film really made up for it.The voice over cast did a wonderful job in this cartoon such as: Rino Romano as Bruce Wayne/The Batman, Peter Stormare as Dracula, Tara Strong as Vickie Vale, Tom Kenny as Peguin, Kevin Michael Richardson as the Joker, and Alastair Duncan as Alfred. Each actor does a great job as there character especially Kevin Michael Richardson as the Joker, I've always found he does and excellent job although not as good as Mark Hamill but he is not far off. I found myself mildly disappointed with Peter Stormare as Drcula it seems as though his accent keeps changing in different parts of the movie, given this he still does a good job but it could have been better. All other voice actors do and excellent job.I love the character designs in this cartoon, I'll always prefer the Batman: the animated series design but this one never disappoints me. I like the Dracula in this, although it mainly follows the original movie design it adds a new original spin on Draula as when he attacks his prey he seems to turn into a gargoyle looking creature which really looked cool in my opinion. My all time favourite design in this cartoon was the vampire Joker, the fangs, the more sinister looking eyes, the way he goes crazy over blood, everything about the vampire Joker really put the biggest smile on my face.When the movie came to an end I was not disappointed, although I seen many places for improvement, I seen many more things that made a good enjoyable movie. From the great storyline, originality, great voice over cast, and pretty good action sequences, this movie is fun and great for anyone who is a fan of Batman and Dracual. So make sure you rent or buy the Batman vs. Dracula.Overall rating: ******* out of ********** ***1/2 out of *****

RainDogJr Unlike the "Batman Beyond" series I haven't watch a single episode of "The Batman" series but similar to "Batman Beyond" I decided to watch its movie without being an "expert" of the series. I have found all the animated Batman films at least fun to watch at so I never considered like a true risk to purchase "The Batman vs. Dracula" on DVD. It looked really interesting to me and in a way it was going to be the stuff that can make me going after "The Batman" series or just not. First, the movie looks really great with those wonderful colors and it begins like the special stuff it is with, in the first minutes, the Penguin and the Joker once again free in Gotham. I liked a lot the design of these characters and I do like this Joker a lot. Also, the guy who has been dubbing, in Spanish but not in Spain!, the Joker in the past animated stuff ("Batman: The Animated Series" and in the movie "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker") was working on this one again (I'm not sure in the series but at least he is on this one). I usually dislike watching dubbed films however I usually prefer cartoons in their dubbed version and I don't know the name of that guy who makes the voice of the Joker but he does a terrific job. Anyway, in order to have the character Count Dracula in Gotham the writer Duane Capizzi could have make pretty bizarre theories of how in the hell Dracula's body is in Gotham but actually we have a pretty simple idea and to have Dracula in Gotham delivers pure and absolute fun for us. Basically the Penguin is the one to blame; is really funny his first meeting with Dracula and for obvious reasons the Penguin ended as the servant of the master. I liked a lot the design of Count Dracula, some blood and he is back again, some more blood and he is again the elegant Count. The story of Dracula in Gotham is quite simple but what else could have he done apart of making many citizens vampires? The story works and delivers some terrific moments with the fight of the bats; one this one Batman finds a really major enemy. We have also a love story that is simple and predictable, basically Dracula wants to "change" Bruce Wayne's new love interest for his own and dead girlfriend Carmilla. I saw this one with my cousin and both were like "damn Batman is a really great but to find the cure of vampirism?", he does success but he will need a little more for Dracula. On this one both the Joker and the Penguin delivers the funniest moments. The Penguin has a very unfortunate end, basically nobody remembers being a vampire so nobody will believe the vampire story of the Penguin. Poor Penguin!!!This movie was more than just a decent introduction to "The Batman". It does have some flaws but also I found it as a terrific 85 minutes Batman movie.R4 DVD: it does have some extra material; a short featurette about the facts and superstitions behind the vampires. Is narrated by Batman meanwhile he is doing his own research on the subject, is the classic stuff and for example if the superstition is that vampires are damaged by garlic the fact is that if humans eat garlic we secrete a toxin that repels blood sucking mosquitoes. Other extra is the tour to Gotham with interactive menus for 3 places of Gotham (for example if you select the Arkham Asylum and then you select the Penguin you watch a video related to him). Is a really good extra and also there are some previews (including of Season 2 of "The Batman) and a featurette with the dubbing actors. Really good DVD!

dr_foreman This cartoon movie has a lot going for it - zippy animation, a cool music score, and two of the greatest pop culture icons ever.Unfortunately, Batman and Dracula don't mix quite as well as they should. Super-hero comic books, fun as they may be, usually stink at doing horror. This movie has that problem, too. Personally, I thought it was silly every time Dracula zoomed around like the Flash or turned into a drooling Nosferatu. His melodramatic dialogue wasn't much good, either - "I'll use your cape for a dinner napkin," indeed! I also had problems with the movie's tackiness. A vampire Joker is fun, but showing him lick up blood from the floor like a dog is in questionable taste.There's some originality issues here, too. The Vicki Vale subplot is lifted right out of the first Tim Burton movie, and it's become a dull cliché to have the police chase Batman.Still, I was entertained. This is pacey fun, and it's got a cool visual style. But ultimately it's too fannish. (By fannish, I mean it was obviously written by a fan who cut-and-pasted genre stories together in a somewhat dull fashion.) And how come Bob Kane is credited with creating Batman, but Bram Stoker doesn't get a nod for creating Dracula?