THE REVIEW
Shazam!
Captain Marvel returns to BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD with the Marvel Family in tow in the latest installment of the series, “The Malicious Mr. Mind!”
In this episode, Batman teams with The Marvel Family to take down the malicious Mr. Mind -- a 3” caterpillar who just so happens to be an evil genius. While in his original diminutive state, Mr. Mind infiltrates Marvel Families brains and turns them on each other. Later, he tricks another evil genius -- Dr. Sivana -- into zapping him with a growth ray. Now the size of a multi-storied building, Mr. Mind goes on a Godzilla-style rampage in Fawcett City.
Oh yeah, Batman gets nailed with the grown ray while it was in shrink ray mode, turning him into a teenager, prepubescent kid, and ultimately an infant.
Alrighty then...
Truth be told, “The Malicious Mr. Mind” is one of those B:TBATB episodes where Batman’s simply a supporting character on his own show. This one features The Marvel Family and their world while Batman’s reduced to a bit player .
Look, I’ve got no problem with the silliness that’s had here and on this series, trust me. There's been some "silly" episodes that I'd consider animated Batman classices. However, for this Batman fan, B:TBATB is at it’s best when it’s tipping it’s hat to Batman history, all the while being witty and smart...and silly if need be.
I’m not saying that there wasn’t witty and smart stuff in this episode, but there certainly wasn’t much “tipping of the hat” to Bat-History either -- opening sequence excluded.
Bottom line, “The Malicious Mr. Mind!” was “OK.” And as good as this series is, I’ve come to expect more than just “OK” episodes.
