(8/13/09)
I am not one to nitpick, as honest mistakes tend not to detract from a compelling narrative, but The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne is almost unforgivable in its lazy plotting and leaps in logic.
Secrecy. Doesn’t that word just conjure up so many story ideas, so many ways to lead an audience and build suspense? But it also is a temptation for writers of superhero cartoons, who play it safe and shoot for a story of utter predictability. Batman’s secret is a valuable slice of knowledge that could make for a grave threat if it wound up in the wrong hands, and yet in Dr. Hugo Strange’s possession, there is little intrigue. No, this is not someone who has any direct or personal relationship to either Batman or Bruce Wayne, whom such a revelation might deeply impact. This is a typical egoistic villain who wants money and will use the secret he has obtained to get it. There is no suspense because we know that the writers are not daring enough to let someone of importance in on the secret.
And so the idea is to group three of Batman’s biggest adversaries together so as to lure us into a dull and nonsensical story. But the episode stops at nothing to get there, even if it means sacrificing believability. Hugo Strange has built a machine that transfers thoughts into images. Imagine the surveillance, military, or psychological applications. And yet it is employed for the purpose of relaxation therapy? And is Bruce the only person checked into this resort? Clearly Strange has no reservations about escorting three dangerous criminals there.
Cliché follows cliché like a mechanical procession. Alfred is captured. No single villain receives the prize, rendering the auction completely useless. Batman saves Strange in the nick of time. And in the most ridiculous display of forced closure I have seen in a long time, Dick shows up disguised as Bruce Wayne. Yes, he has not only fashioned a believable rubber mask, but he is also a professional voice impressionist.
What we must turn to, then, is the superficial amusement we hope will get from the Joker, the Penguin, and Two-Face. But odd-couple antics do not much entertain me. The Joker is funny, but Two-Face is reduced to a clichéd angry man, whereas the Penguin is defined only by his apparent sophistication. There are a few instances of conflict, but for the most part the three are interchangeable, motivated by the exact same desires and hoping to achieve the exact same end.
I find one thing that I wish was further explored. It all goes back to the idea of secrecy. Judge Vargas carries her secret like a psychological weight, held down by guilt and fear. It leads her to do things she would rather not do, but which she must if she is to protect her secret from the world. Blackmail and life threatening acts born of intense desperation ensue. If only Batman underwent such a fascinating psychological transformation upon learning that his secret might be exposed to his fiercest villains. But he doesn't, and The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne suffers for it.
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The idea is actually pretty neat; a psychiatrist finds out that Bruce Wayne is Batman through therapy and auctions off the knowledge to three of his deadliest villains. I has the potential for psychological exploration or many a comedic back-and-forth. Instead, the main plot is too absurd to be convincing and the villains lack much chemistry together. Everything else gets filled in with leaps of logic that I find impossible to accept.
The episode starts off rather compellingly. Judge Vargas, a respectable member of the Gotham elite, meets with some thugs to negotiate for what appears to be a damning videotape of some sort. She’s obviously frightened and her willingness to obtain the video shows a freakish sense of desperation. It’s a pretty effective introduction and it does invoke a sense of curiosity as to what’s going on. What ends up happening is a bit underwhelming.
Bruce checks into Yucca Springs Health Resort, where Vargas had stayed earlier. Bruce undergoes treatment by a doctor named Hugo Strange, who has a machine that translates thoughts into images. How convenient. This is my first problem; such a device is so fantastical that it’s not only a forced way to reveal to Strange that Bruce Wayne is Batman, but such a device could have so many potential applications. Instead of auctioning off the knowledge of Batman’s identity, why doesn’t he just make billions off of his machine? I know that these cartoons often require suspensions of belief, but this is one of those times that just make me doubt what’s going on onscreen. Devoid of any real psychological means of figuring things out, our caricature of a mad doctor simply uses a cheat given to him by the plot. I dislike it a whole lot.
On the subject of the villains, I like seeing them together and I think some of their interactions are funny, but it really does feel like wasted potential. ‘Almost Got ‘Im’ did wonders with four villains, you’d think that one less wouldn’t make a huge difference. Rather, only the Joker feels like his ordinary self while Penguin and Two-Face seem to have none of their usually interesting personalities, especially Two-Face as this is the first time we see him in generic criminal form, lacking any of the tragic elements that made him such a good character.
Finally, the animation is done by AKOM. At this point, I don’t feel I have to say anymore, although I will bring up that the episode has some rather interesting visuals and the sloppy animation job isn’t nearly as noticeable as in other episodes. I think that Frank Paur really kicked his storyboard crew into gear or something, because I think that there are quite a few well-done visual sequences.
The episode isn’t quite bad, rather a little below average. I think that for every major flaw there are a few tidbits of good stuff. But, overall, I think it’s most a forgettable show.
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