B:TAS reviews: The Lion and the Unicorn

(12/11/09)

When producing The Lion and the Unicorn, the masterminds behind Batman: the Animated Series made the mistake of assuming that Alfred Pennyworth is an underappreciated character worthy of a forced spotlight. He is already written to be the most charmingly sardonic of characters, ever privy to a droll aside. His sense of humor is impeccable, and it is easy to infer that he is also as noble and loyal as they come. It does not surprise me to learn that Alfred, whom we have already seen piloting the Batwing, used to perform military service, though it does disappoint me that the show’s producers felt the need to dwell on his past life.

Alfred the butler is infinitely more exciting than Alfred the hostage. Clearly Robin is supposed to be a stand-in for the viewer, baffled that Alfred used to live a life of thrills and danger. Yet the end result is that Alfred is locked up with a stereotypical Brit at the hands of a stereotypical European terrorist. The show devolves into an Indiana Jones style adventure serial with less plot and less fun. Ostensibly we are to view Alfred in a new light, but it is difficult to do so when he is presented as little more than an objective in a straightforward rescue mission.

Red Claw’s over-the-top villainy and the spy picture elements contribute considerably to this stripped down adventure serial vibe, and yet The Lion and the Unicorn neither has the courage to do anything serious with its subject nor the self-deprecation to mock its genre trappings. Avatar found a way to accomplish both and as a result brims with style and originality. The Lion and the Unicorn, by contrast, feels tired, by-the-numbers, and lazy.

This tiredness seeps into the art design. The major appeal, more than anything, is the non-Gotham location; this time Batman and Robin have an adventure in London, England. The exterior of Red Claw’s castle outpost is imposing in its density and medieval architecture, and yet the ambitious plotting neglects the alluring atmosphere of the London streets. Kirkland and his staff create a London connoted by the most pedestrian icons: lampposts, Big Ben, double-decker buses, etc. Yet when first we glimpse the streets and alleyways they are devoid of any sign of life save the emergence of two malicious thugs. One gets the impression that this could very well be Gotham if not for the haze. Meanwhile the more time spent within the walls of the castle, the more it becomes a dull series of deathtraps and vacuous corridors than a towering, ominous relic.

Given that we are introduced to not a single London citizen outside of heads of parliament, there are no real stakes. It’s impossible to care for the desolate city and its nonexistent inhabitants. There is no accomplishment as Batman incredulously destroys a missile intended to decimate an entire city, especially when its blast radius falls short of a city block. Immediately after this dull feat of heroism, there is a pan across to the airport and Alfred says farewell to his underdeveloped military friend. As in Time Out of Joint, there is no real denouement, but even worse, what denouement exists is not even earned.