B:TAS reviews: Time Out of Joint

(11/16/09)

Time Out of Joint’s main attraction is not Batman or the Clock King, but a gizmo that persuades Temple Fugate to trade in his ingenuity for a superpower.  Yes, he must fall back on his intricate knowledge of the train system to make his getaway—he has not been reduced to pure gimmick—but his schemes have devolved into assaults and dynamite plantings.  Fugate comes equipped not with his knack for precision, but with an arrogant self-image of invincibility.

This is problematic, especially as it pertains to his peculiar allure.  In The Clock King, we were drawn to the fact that a man identified by an obsession with clocks did not depend on derivative sci-fi technologies.  If one was willing to adopt a state of mind intent on meticulousness, precision, and memory, it proposed, one could render a city helpless.  For all of its faults, The Clock King had a basis in reality that was genuinely intriguing, and if Fugate was to be brought back, perhaps he could use his systematic knowledge to do more than tamper with subway stations and traffic lights.

The device that emerges as Time Out of Joint’s object of interest is not terribly otherworldly; it is rationalized through pseudo-science as having to do with Einstein’s theory of relativity and is the product of an isolated scientist’s noble research.  And yet when it falls into the hands of a vile vendetta-driven man, it becomes a conductor for super powers, and in its artifice appeals to the wandering minds of children, ever seeking some element of the unreal, the fantastical, anything that might heighten the action.  As one becomes more cultured, one does not immediately frown on such elements of science fiction.  But when such action-motivated constructs impede on narrative interest, then they tend to grate.

I already argued that the time manipulating device cheapens Fugate’s character, not by altering his behavior or sardonic attitude, but by giving him a crutch outside of his intellect, something that bestows on him an automatic advantage over his adversaries.  This makes way for perhaps the dullest of action cartoon plot twists, that the heroes are going to borrow their opponent’s weapon and confront him by, as the saying goes, fighting fire with fire.  It’s a rather banal affair that immediately gives Batman and Robin the upper hand as, all else equal, the two with physical dexterity will topple the ordinary man in his ordinary attire.

The brief catharsis that follows the dynamic duo’s victory is not long enough methinks.  Whenever I see the armored police van diminishing in stature as it nears the sunrise, a sigh of relief comes on, as I know that this by-the-numbers action exercise is behind me.  Time Out of Joint digs a hole of formulaic traps for itself out of which it cannot possibly climb.  In its tepid predictability, I find it harder to bear than the series’ more blatant monstrosities, during which I find myself amused by the almost playful barrage of formal mishaps.