"I believe in Harvey Dent" - Batman The Long Halloween written by Jeph Loeb

I was waiting till I could watch parts one and two together to get the best experience and to judge them as a piece.

This first part of my review I'll leave with no spoilers and I'll explain my history with The Long Halloween.

In year 5 when I was 11, I first remember reading The Long Halloween in my school library. I remember distinctly that it was during year 5 because I chose to do my book report on The Long Haloween.

Obviously, being 11, what really drew me into the graphic novel was its artwork. I can still clearly remember drooling over Poison Ivy's thin black and green leaves covering a corrupted Bruce Wayne, The Joker's devilishly curved smile, The Riddler's skinny green suit, Batman's bulging muscles and Two Face's purple scars.

I'm sure I re-read The Long Halloween again when I was older but the only part of the book I seemed to remember was its ending and all the Joker scenes.

The biggest drawback I have of this set of films is its animation. With such gorgeous artistry as your source, it seems odd to me how cheap and flat both films look. The animation isn't terrible by all means but it could've been much better. My biggest complaint would be not taking Joker's incredible design from the graphic novel and instead, watering it down and subsequently making him look much less scary. Also, like Joker, Catwoman's design is pretty bad too, she isn't wearing her purple suit with the super-wide cat ears from the comic which is a shame because it's pretty memorable and would've made this Catwoman stand out from the many others we've seen in other Batman animated films.

As for telling a compelling story both films succeeded. I was really engaged throughout the entire story and the character arcs felt very complete. The changes made to the film aren't terrible since they give the story more closure, but, it is missing the ambiguous, dark, iconic ending that even I still remembered from a young age.

Harvey Dent's arc and natural transformation into Two-Face is handled with care and with patience a critique I had of Nolan's The Dark Knight where his transformation felt way too forced. The Long Halloween is most famous for being the best Two-Face origin story which I was reminded of watching these movies. I really loved what they did here and while Two-Face was already one of my favourite Batman villains these movies reminded me a lot of how great this character is.

With him being my favourite Batman rogue, I was disappointed to see The Riddler be completely cut from the films, but, he's just a tool in the greater picture of things so cutting him didn't really change the story I guess.

I also love how they depicted Bruce Wayne here, Bruce's inner turmoil, his longings, his pain, it all felt incredibly genuine. Bruce's discomfort with his father's decisions is my favourite aspect of the story.

Before I get into my thoughts on the changed ending, which includes spoilers, I want to say that to everyone reading this who hasn't seen the films, I do recommend you give them a watch, they're flawed sure, but especially if you haven't read the source material it's one of Batman's greatest stories brought to the screen with care and respect.

Alright now into my thoughts on the ending.

SPOILERS

DC Animation loves to do the old bait and switch ending where they change the classic comic twist so the audience whos familiar with the source material won't see it coming. They did it in Batman Gotham By Gaslight, Batman Hush and they did it here too.

Well... actually... they technically didn't. See, the holiday murderer is still revealed to be Gilda Dent but she commits the murders for a completely different reason.

In the comic, she did it to help her husband because she believes that Harvey needed the help and here she did it because she was still in love with the son of Carmine Falcone, Alberto.

Unlike the other two examples I mentioned earlier, I don't think this change hurt the story at all. It makes sense and gives the story much more closure.

However, the comic ending to me is still far superior because of its loose ends. Batman and Gordon think they solved the mystery but the real perpetrator gets away scot-free, because it doesn't matter. It's a perfect and thematic ending that works so well.

Here, Batman solves the mystery and goes to talk to Gilda and the famous narration at the end of the comic is directed at the listening Batman instead of being a soliloquy.

Batman lets her go free which works great as an ending to his character arc and friendship with Harvey but, personally, I think it's more effective if Bruce truly believes that another of his friends is long gone and revealing that Gilda is the holiday killer gives a slim hope that we all can still believe in Harvey Dent.

Anyway, that's my thoughts on these two films. I personally enjoyed the first part a little more than the second, but yeah, thank you so much for reading guys. Take care everyone!

After a somewhat slow start, 'Batman: The Long Halloween, Part two (2021)' eventually gets even better than its predecessor, perhaps primarily because it actually provides a satisfying conclusion to its narrative. It continues to explore Batman, Dent and Gordon's efforts to apprehend the 'Holiday' killer, who puts them in the odd position of having to protect notorious gangster Carmine Falcone. The picture is perhaps more traditional than its predecessor, containing several action set-pieces that pit the caped crusader against a variety of his famous foes. The actual 'Holiday' killer arguably takes a backseat here, as well, since the flick is often more focused on the consequences that the murders are having on the city's 'cops vs gangsters' conflict. That's not to imply that the thing lacks focus, though. In fact, it brings everything together in a natural and thematically complex way that's really fulfilling. Though a lot of its answers are given in a final exposition dump, the mystery is generally well-told and engaging. The piece also still makes sense after its enigma has been revealed, which is rarer than it ought to be. It's a compelling and enjoyable film, in general. Its action is exciting and its narrative feels urgent, with its well-realised characters always being front and centre. Its themes are interesting, too. It's a solid mystery-thriller that satisfyingly concludes the 'long Halloween'. 7/10.

"Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two" finishes the drama and terror that was brought on by the holiday killer, as with each crime the tension and drama grows between the Falcone and Maroni crime families, with Batman, Gordon, and Dent racing to solve the mystery, more Batman bad apples like Poison Ivy, Mad Hatter, and the Scarecrow play figures into this crazy mysterious like game. Well done a joy if you are a Batman and D. C. comics fan as I enjoyed reading this graphic novel watching these two part animated works was entertaining and enjoyable also.