[7.2/10] Well, it’s another ape episode. Maybe I’m just burned after “Titano” from Superman: The Animated Series, but the idea of an intelligent talking ape causing trouble in Gotham City just doesn't do much for me.
The episode does manage to wring some tragedy from the fact that “Fingers” is just smart enough to realize not only that he’s missing his mother, but that these poachers and would-be conservationists took her away from him, and he wants justice. There’s a solid angle there, and I appreciate the show exploring the pathos of what that would be like for a creature like Fingers.
That said, there’s just such over-the-top evil here. The bad guy poacher is just so plainly a villain from the first moment you lay eyes on him, and he and his cohort do such over-the-top evil stuff like make Batman fight lions that it’s hard to take them seriously. Malachi Thorne does a good job voicing Fingers with world-weary anger and gravitas (just like in his turn as “The Judge” in the B:TAS finale), but it’s tough to make the talking ape shtick not feel at least a little cheesy. (Though the show does a good job of animating Fingers, especially in the eyes, to make him feel more lifelike and present than some animals in the DCAU.)
Most of this isn’t bad, it’s just a little below Batman: Beyond’s usual standards. That said, there’s juice to the premise, and I especially like that, when Fingers returns to the jungle and refuses to be reverted to his primal form, in the hopes of protecting his fellow creatures from the never-ending struggle against poachers, Bruce recognizes him as a kindred spirit: another dark warrior protecting his people after losing his parents. There’s power there, I just wish the episode harnessed it more instead of static toss-around primate fights.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-06-14T18:30:22Z
[7.2/10] Well, it’s another ape episode. Maybe I’m just burned after “Titano” from Superman: The Animated Series, but the idea of an intelligent talking ape causing trouble in Gotham City just doesn't do much for me.
The episode does manage to wring some tragedy from the fact that “Fingers” is just smart enough to realize not only that he’s missing his mother, but that these poachers and would-be conservationists took her away from him, and he wants justice. There’s a solid angle there, and I appreciate the show exploring the pathos of what that would be like for a creature like Fingers.
That said, there’s just such over-the-top evil here. The bad guy poacher is just so plainly a villain from the first moment you lay eyes on him, and he and his cohort do such over-the-top evil stuff like make Batman fight lions that it’s hard to take them seriously. Malachi Thorne does a good job voicing Fingers with world-weary anger and gravitas (just like in his turn as “The Judge” in the B:TAS finale), but it’s tough to make the talking ape shtick not feel at least a little cheesy. (Though the show does a good job of animating Fingers, especially in the eyes, to make him feel more lifelike and present than some animals in the DCAU.)
Most of this isn’t bad, it’s just a little below Batman: Beyond’s usual standards. That said, there’s juice to the premise, and I especially like that, when Fingers returns to the jungle and refuses to be reverted to his primal form, in the hopes of protecting his fellow creatures from the never-ending struggle against poachers, Bruce recognizes him as a kindred spirit: another dark warrior protecting his people after losing his parents. There’s power there, I just wish the episode harnessed it more instead of static toss-around primate fights.