Batman: The Long Halloween Part One (2021)

Batman vs. the mob, a holiday killer, and Gotham being Gotham because of course it is.

Let’s start by showing y’all the trailers shall we?

Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

So this movie follows Batman during his earlier years, where he’s still not fully the Batman everyone knows yet. He’s not bad at his job, but he’s still learning how Gotham works, and more importantly, he’s learning that punching criminals in the face doesn’t automatically fix a city that is rotten from the inside out.

The main plot follows Batman, Jim Gordon, and Harvey Dent trying to take down Gotham’s crime families, especially Carmine Falcone and his whole mob empire. But then things get worse, because of course they do, and someone starts killing people on holidays.

That killer becomes known as Holiday, because apparently Gotham criminals can’t just murder people normally. They gotta have themes. This is Gotham, where even murder needs branding.

What I like about this setup is that this is actually Batman being a detective. He’s not just running around beating people up for ninety minutes. He’s investigating, following clues, questioning people, and trying to figure out who this killer is while Gotham’s mob world starts falling apart around him.

This is not a loud Batman movie. It’s more of a slow-burn mystery crime story, and honestly, I appreciate that. Batman works really well in this kind of story because he’s supposed to be the world’s greatest detective, even though a lot of adaptations forget that and just turn him into a rich guy who punches people in the dark.

Character Rundown

Batman / Bruce Wayne (Jensen Ackles) is really solid here. And yes, Jensen Ackles voices Batman in this, which is funny because he also voiced Red Hood in Under the Red Hood. So yeah, Dean Winchester went from voicing Batman’s angry son to voicing Batman himself. That’s kind of awesome.

This version of Batman feels younger and less polished. He’s not incompetent, but he’s not fully untouchable either. He makes mistakes, he gets played, and he’s still figuring out the whole detective side of being Batman. I actually like that because it gives him room to grow instead of making him perfect from the start.

Harvey Dent (Josh Duhamel) is one of the most important characters here, and the movie knows it. He’s trying to clean up Gotham through the law, while Batman is doing it outside the law, and Gordon is stuck somewhere in the middle trying to keep the whole thing from collapsing. Harvey feels like someone who genuinely wants to do the right thing, but you can already feel the cracks starting to form.

And that’s what makes Harvey interesting. You know where this is probably going. It’s Harvey Dent. We all know the Two-Face shadow is hanging over him. But the movie doesn’t rush it. It lets the tension build. It lets you see the pressure of Gotham slowly eating away at him.

Jim Gordon (Billy Burke) is good here too. He’s basically the tired moral center of Gotham, trying to work with Batman while still being a cop. He trusts Batman, but he also knows this whole situation is dangerous. Gordon always works best when he feels like the one decent man stuck inside a broken machine, and this movie gets that.

Catwoman / Selina Kyle (Naya Rivera) is also handled well. She’s mysterious, she has her own agenda, and she isn’t just there to flirt with Batman and leave. She feels like she knows more than she’s saying, and her scenes with Batman have that classic tension where you’re like, are you helping him, using him, flirting with him, or all three? Probably all three. It’s Catwoman. That’s kind of her whole thing.

Carmine Falcone (Titus Welliver) is a strong mob villain. He doesn’t need powers. He doesn’t need a costume. He’s just an old-school Gotham crime boss who has been running things for years and clearly thinks Batman is just another problem he can outlast. He represents the old Gotham, the mob Gotham, the Gotham before the supervillains fully take over.

And that’s one of the things I like about this movie. It shows Gotham in that transition period where the mob is still powerful, but the freaks are starting to rise. Batman is trying to fight crime, but the type of crime he’s fighting is changing right in front of him.

Pacing / Episode Flow

This movie is definitely a slow burn. If you go into this expecting nonstop action, you might be disappointed, because that’s not what this is trying to be.

This is more of a mystery setup movie. It takes its time building the world, introducing the players, setting up the Holiday killings, and showing the tension between Batman, Gordon, Dent, and the mob. There are action scenes, but the movie is more interested in atmosphere and investigation than just throwing punches every five seconds.

And honestly, I think that works for Part One. Since this is only half of the story, it makes sense that this part is more about building the mystery. It’s the setup before everything really starts falling apart.

That being said, I can understand if some people find it a little slow. There are moments where the movie is mostly people talking, planning, investigating, and staring dramatically because Gotham apparently has a citywide shortage of emotional stability. But for me, I’d rather have a Batman movie take its time and actually build a mystery than rush through everything and leave me feeling nothing.

Pros

One of the biggest things this movie gets right is the detective tone. Batman actually feels like he’s investigating something. That alone makes it stand out because, for a character called the world’s greatest detective, it is shocking how often adaptations forget the detective part.

The noir atmosphere is also really strong. Gotham feels dark, corrupt, and moody. It doesn’t feel like a clean superhero city. It feels like a place where everyone is either lying, hiding something, or about to get shot because this city is allergic to peace.

I also really like the mob angle. Before Gotham became the city of colorful supervillains, it was controlled by organized crime, and this movie captures that transition really well. Falcone and the mob still feel powerful, but you can sense that their time is running out. The city is changing, and not in a good way.

Harvey Dent’s setup is another major strength. The movie doesn’t rush him into Two-Face. It lets him exist as Harvey first, which is important. If you don’t care about Harvey, then Two-Face doesn’t mean anything. This movie understands that the tragedy only works if you actually see the good man before he breaks.

The voice acting is also strong. Jensen Ackles works surprisingly well as Batman. He doesn’t sound like Kevin Conroy, and he’s not trying to. He gives Batman a younger, more grounded feel, which fits this version. Naya Rivera is also great as Catwoman, and Titus Welliver gives Falcone that quiet mob boss confidence where you know this guy has ruined lives before breakfast.

Cons

My biggest issue with Part One is that it does feel like half a movie. Now, obviously, that’s because it is Part One, so I can’t fully hold that against it. But still, when the movie ends, it feels like we’re just getting warmed up.

It sets up a lot, but it doesn’t fully pay everything off yet. The Holiday mystery is still going. Harvey’s arc is still building. The mob war is still escalating. So if you’re judging Part One by itself, it can feel a little incomplete.

The pacing may also be too slow for some people. I personally liked the slow-burn detective style, but I can see someone watching this and thinking, “Okay, can something bigger happen now?” This is not the most exciting Batman movie if you’re looking for constant action.

Another small issue is that some villains feel more like teases than major players, at least in this part. But again, that’s because Part One is setting the table. It’s not trying to throw the entire rogues gallery at you all at once.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Batman: The Long Halloween Part One is a really strong start to the story. It’s not perfect, and it definitely feels like the first half of something bigger, but as a Batman mystery movie, it works really well.

I like that it gives us Batman as a detective. I like that it focuses on Gotham’s mob world. I like that Harvey Dent actually gets time to breathe before everything inevitably goes wrong because apparently being Harvey Dent in any Batman universe is just signing up for emotional destruction.

This movie is slower, more grounded, and more methodical than a lot of animated Batman movies, and I appreciate that. It’s not trying to be Under the Red Hood. It’s not trying to be a giant action movie. It’s trying to be a crime mystery with Batman stuck in the middle of it.

And for the most part, it succeeds.

Rating

I’d give Batman: The Long Halloween Part One an 8/10.

It’s a strong Batman mystery with great atmosphere, solid voice acting, and a really good setup for Harvey Dent and the Holiday killer mystery. It does feel incomplete because it’s only Part One, but what’s here is still really good.

Spoiler Warning

Alright y’all, spoilers ahead. If you haven’t seen Batman: The Long Halloween Part One, stop here because I’m going to talk about the Holiday killings, the mystery, the mob story, and the way this movie sets up Part Two.

You’ve been warned.

Spoilers

The big mystery in this movie is the Holiday killer, someone who murders people on holidays and leaves behind little holiday-themed clues. And honestly, I like this setup because it gives the whole movie a creepy pattern. Every time a holiday comes around, you’re waiting for someone to die. Which is a terrible sentence, but again, this is Gotham, where even the calendar is apparently trying to kill you.

The Holiday killer starts targeting people connected to Gotham’s mob families, which immediately makes the case more complicated. This isn’t just random murder. Someone is making moves against the Falcone crime family, and Batman has to figure out if this is revenge, a power play, or something even messier.

What works about the mystery is that the movie keeps throwing suspicion around. You start looking at everyone differently. Harvey Dent looks suspicious at times. Alberto Falcone looks suspicious. The mob looks suspicious. Honestly, half of Gotham looks suspicious because everyone in this city acts like they have at least three secrets and a body hidden somewhere.

Harvey’s role in the story is one of the strongest parts. He’s trying to take down the mob legally, but the system keeps failing. He wants justice, but Gotham keeps proving that justice moves too slowly, especially when the criminals have money, power, and half the city in their pocket. You can feel Harvey getting angrier as the movie goes on, and that’s important because it plants the seeds for what happens later.

Batman, Gordon, and Dent’s partnership is also interesting because it feels like three different ideas of justice working together. Gordon represents the law, Batman represents fear and vigilante justice, and Harvey represents the legal system trying to actually punish criminals. The problem is Gotham is so corrupt that all three methods keep hitting walls.

The mob side of the story is also really good. Carmine Falcone feels like someone who has been untouchable for years, and you can tell he does not take Batman seriously at first in the way he should. He sees Batman as a problem, but not necessarily as the end of his world. But the Holiday killings start changing that because now the mob is getting hit in a way they can’t control.

Catwoman’s involvement adds another layer because she clearly knows more about Falcone than she lets on. She keeps helping Batman, but not fully. She’s always playing her own game, and that’s exactly how Catwoman should be. She gives Batman information, disappears, flirts, causes problems, and then acts like Batman is the weird one for being confused.

The ending works because it doesn’t solve everything. Instead, it leaves the story hanging with the mystery still alive and Gotham still getting worse. Part One is not about giving answers. It’s about tightening the pressure until Part Two can break everything open.

And honestly, that’s why I think Part One works. It’s not the loudest Batman movie. It’s not the most action-packed. But it builds tension, sets up the characters, and gives Batman an actual mystery to solve.

By the end, you don’t feel like the story is over. You feel like Gotham is standing on the edge of something really bad.

And knowing Gotham?

Yeah, it absolutely is.

Here’s why were reviewing this film today, its because on the 22nd of this month. The batman game titled Lego Batman Legacy Of The Dark Knight releases, heres the trailer.