Movie Database Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero

[OmegaMeistro]

Bro, why would you pick an oil rig to perform an operation on your comatose wife when your main weakness is... heat? That's a galaxy brain move, about as genius as Batman taking the elevator when there's a fire.

Solid Mr. Freeze adventure though that concluded his arc, just in time for me to watch The New Batman Adventures next as the "TAS Era" character designs come to an end for Batman. The side plot involving Belson is superfluous, and Barbara also doesn't get much to do here besides being a reluctant donor. I also can't help but cringe a little whenever I see Dick and Barbara together now, considering the (supposedly) non-canon story arc where Bruce impregnated Barbara and she got a miscarriage in a Batman Beyond comic by Bruce Timm. Due to how short the direct-to-video film is, there's also not much time spent on Fries' relationship with his wife or even Barbara's perspective in regards to curing Nora.

But as a standard Batman adventure, Fries' character was done justice, especially since Batman & Robin came out a year prior to this film. The animation department also has those 3-D computer-generated animation that had appeared in the BTAS films like "Mask of the Phantasm"; it's not amazing and looks a little dated, but I think it works to give the film that cinematic and larger-than-life feel despite being a direct-to-video film. Some of the drawings, particularly the long-shots with the smaller details, look kinda weird and sloppy though, like Barbara and Koonak when they boarded the Batwing. I guess that's what you get for a DTV budget.

Overall, not the best Batman animated film ever (that belongs to Mask of the Phantasm, so far), but a worthy 70 mins of entertainment.