Bruce Timm Movies

Frank Miller's seminal graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns is adapted for the small screen with a sprawling Warner Premiere animated film series that finds an old and weary Bruce Wayne (voiced by Robocop himself, Peter Weller) donning the cape and cowl once again after a long retirement. Covering the first two issues of the series, Part 1 pits the masked crusader against once-reformed Harvey Dent (voiced by Wade Williams), as well as a mutant army who has painted Gotham's streets red with blood. Ariel Winter (Modern Family) plays a female version of Robin, with Dark Shadows' David Selby rounding out the voice cast. Jay Oliva (Green Lantern: Emerald Knights directs from a script by Bob Goodman. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Hal Jordan (voice of Nathan Fillion) reveals six incredible tales of the Green Lantern Corps. to the intergalactic alliance's latest recruit on the eve of a defining battle with their sworn enemy Krona. An epic struggle is at hand, but before new Green Lantern Arisia (voice of Elisabeth Moss) faces the powerful Krona, she must learn the origins of the corps. With precious little time to spare, Hal tells Arisia the stories of six legendary Green Lanterns. From the adventures of Avra, the very first Green Lantern, to the heroic exploits of Kilowog (voice of Henry Rollins), Mogo, Abin Sur (voice of Arnold Vosloo), and Laira (voice of Kelly Hu), each story reveals the power and determination of the corps that fights to protect the galaxy from the forces of darkness. Once the tales have been told, Laira teams with Hal, Sinestro (voice of Jason Isaacs), and the rest of the Green Lanterns to defeat the dreaded Krona once and for all. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's seminal comic book series, Batman: Year One, makes its way to the animated small screen with this Warner Premiere production. The story follows James Gordon (voiced by Bryan Cranston) during his early years on the force just as the vigilante Batman (Ben McKenzie) targets both the corrupt police officials and the crime-ridden streets for a clean-up. Eliza Dushku and Katee Sackhoff lead the supporting voice cast. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Superman and Batman join forces to rescue an elusive Kryptonian from the malevolent Darkseid in this adaptation of author Jeff Loeb's popular Superman/Batman storyline. Shortly after a spacecraft carrying a powerful Kryptonian crashes down into Gotham Harbor, Darkseid kidnaps the extraterrestrial visitor and imprisons her in Apokolips. Rescuing the Kryptonian from Darkseid's grasp won't be easy, but thankfully Superman and Batman have just what it takes to get the job done. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The creators of Superman: Doomsday, Batman: Gotham Knight, and Wonder Woman re-team to tell the origins of the Green Lantern in this animated DC Comics feature. When Hal Jordan (voice of Christopher Meloni) is recruited to join the Green Lantern corps, he is placed under the direct supervision of senior Lantern Sinestro. But the Green Lantern corps has come under attack by a powerful foe. When Hal discovers that Sinestro is actually part of a vast conspiracy that aims to dismantle the entire organization, he must use his newfound powers to restore order and combat the treason that threatens to tarnish the Green Lantern legacy. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A graceful Amazon princess of untold strength and beauty attempts to prevent the god of war from instigating a conflict that will last for centuries and destroy the human race as the animated adventure marking the return of DC Comics heroine Wonder Woman. On the mystical island of Themyscira lives a fierce race of warrior Amazons who have raised a powerful daughter named Princess Diana. The Amazons live in secrecy from the outside world, but when Army fighter pilot Steve Travor crash-lands in their tropical paradise, the headstrong princess defies the law of the land by accompanying Trevor back to civilization. But her transition into the modern world won't be an easy one, because when Ares escapes from his Amazonian prison and begins plotting his revenge, Princess Diana is the only person who stands between the god of war, and the destruction of the human race - beginning with the Amazons. Now, as Princess Diana harnesses her unique powers to boldly fight back against Ares and save the planet from certain destruction, Wonder Woman is born and the battle for civilization begins. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The producers of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight team with some of the most respected anime artists in Japan to explore Bruce Wayne's transition from tormented crime fighter to heroic icon of a crumbling metropolis. Separated into six distinct chapters but intended to be viewed as a whole, this stylized look at immortal DC Comics superhero is the result of a collaboration between Shojiro Nishimi (Tekkonkinkreet), Yasuhiro Aoki (Steamboy), Futoshi Higashide (Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack), Toshiyuki Kubooka (The Secret of Blue Water), and Hiroshi Morioka (Chronicle of the Wings). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

"Teen Titans" Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire and Raven do battle against the forces of evil while simultaneously adjusting to their own personal "angst" and rampaging hormones in the fourth season of their animated TV series. Things get off to a typically lively start when the Titans are thrust into a TV-generated world--with constantly changing channels--by lunatic couch potato Control Freak. Nor does the action abate in the remaining 12 episodes. Robin aspires to martial arts greatness under the tutelage of the True Master, but it is for the common good or to satisfy his own ego? Hurtled 5000 years into the past, Cyborg becomes a Conan-like barbarian. Beast Boy briefly descends from his superhero pedestal to take a job at a fast-food restaurant with a strangely unappetizing menu. Outer space hero Val-Yor wants the Titans to help him vanquish an enemy--but wants nothing to do with Starfire; and a later scuffle in space sends the Titans off to different corners of the universe. Also, a new "Max-7" brain chip turns Cyborg into a "speed freak"; and an elderly eccentric named Mother May-Eye "adopts" the Ttans as her own, but in this case a superhero's best friend may not be his Mother. The season is dominated by a disturbing throughline, beginning with Raven's curiously nonfestive attitude on her birthday. The source of her discomfort is the Titan's perennial nemesis Slade, who has apparently returned from the dead, and who shares a sinister secret with Raven. All of this is but a prelude to the season's riotous three-part finale, in which Raven, guided by Slade, prepares to fulfill what she believes is her destiny--to bring about the end of the world! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Fighting a never-ending battle against the forces of evil--and their own immaturities, insecurities and petty jealousies--Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven and Starfire return for a third season of the animated Teen Titans. In the season opener, Cyborg, disguised as a muscleman named Stone, infiltrates the H.IV.E. Academy, breeding ground for the evil Slade's minions. The mission succeeds in utterly decimating H.I.V.E. , a victory that may prove Pyrrhic when several surviving academy members mount an undersea counteract against the Titans in a later episode which features "guest hero" Aqualad. Elsewhere: Robin must battle his alter ego Red X, and his own guilt for making Red X the crazy mixed-up character he has become. Starfire surprises everyone when she announces plans to marry a man she's never met. Beast Boy's obsession with computer games causes Cyborg to be infected with a virus that causes him to berserk--and later in the season, Beast Boy experience another personality makeover when he's drenched in toxic waste. The Titans' long-dead enemy Slade apparently returns to life--or is it merely Robin's delirium that has brought about this unholy resurrection? Raven a rendezvous with a magician she frees from one of her books; and later,the less benign illusionist the Amazing Mumbo sucks the Titans into alternate world reminiscent of the Krofft Brothers' Lidsville! Retro villain Mad Mod returns to crash the Titans' 4th of July party and hurtle the U.S. back into the British Empire. And the Titan's unofficial pet Silkie the silkworm, introduced the previous season, turns out to be one of those domestic creatures that becomes more unmanageable (and more dangerous) when it's off its feed. The two-part season finale marks the formation of a new team, Titans East, comprised of DC Comics veterans Speedy and Aqualad, and Spanish twins Mas Y Menos; alas, their crimefighting activities are severely curtailed after a brainwashing session with the sinister Brother Blood. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Youthful superheroes Robin the Boy Wonder, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven and Starfire battle a vast array of costumed villains--not to mention their own raging hormones, petty jealousies, and deep-set insecurities--in Season One of the animated Teen Titans. Thirteen episodes are dished up this season. In the opener, the Titans are attacked by graduates of the H.I.V.E. Academy, minions all of the mysterious Slade Williams. Then, Starfire is locked into a fierce sibling rivalry with her mercurial sister Blackfire. In the next episode, an effort to wipe out the villainous Cinderblock comes acropper because the Titans can't get along together. And there's more. Practical joker Beast Boy gets a dose of his own medicine just in time to reign in a destructive fraternal pair called Thunder and Lightning. The half-robotic Cyborg suffers a power failure in the middle of a pitched battle with the Amazing Mumbo. An enchanted mirror enables the Titans to literally find out what's on the apparently schizoid Raven's mind. The feud between Starfire and Raven has to be put on the back burner when the Titan males are "puppetized." Beast Boy shows off his morphing ability, only to be upstaged by former Teen Titan Aqualad (voiced by Wil Wheaton). Robin zeroes in on the mysterious Slade when the latter steals a valuable computer chip, virtually ignoring another and possibly more serious threat. The "retro" villain Mad Mod kidnaps the Titans and subjects them to a bummer of a bad trip. And in a two-part episode, Robin agaonizes over the possibility that he may be no better than the villains he pursues. In the first-season finale, Cyborg creates his "dream" vehicle, the T-Car, only to have the vehicle fall into the wrong hands--several wrong hands, in fact! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Season two of the animated Justice League begins with a two-part story set in space and features two of Superman's longtime nemeses, the enigmatic Darkseid and the wholly villainous Krypton refugee Brainiac. While Darkseid endeavors to break a longstanding extraterrestrial treaty between the New Gods and New Genesis, Brainiac foments chaos on the planet Apokolips. Superman's fellow Justice League members combine their talents to find a common solution for both problems, but their efforts are complicated by the questionable motives of Darkseid and the resourcefully sinister Brainiac. ~ Rovi

The young protégé of one of the world's greatest superheroes has his first encounter with an old nemesis in this direct-to-video feature adapted from the popular animated series Batman Beyond. Terry McGinnis (Will Friedle) has taken over the crime-fighting responsibilities of Batman from aging Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy), but while Terry has learned a great deal from Wayne, he's never heard the startling truth about Batman's final encounter with his arch-enemy, The Joker (Mark Hamill). However, when The Joker returns to Gotham City as vicious as ever, Wayne decides that it's time that the new Batman learned all there is to know about the green-faced terror before he can bring the city to its knees -- especially after Bruce is attacked by his one-time rival. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker also features the voice talents of Melissa Joan Hart and Angie Harmon. Upon its initial release, the movie sparked some controversy among Batman Beyond fans because of last-minute edits that toned down the violence level. However, it was eventually released on DVD in an uncut format. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi