Story
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders is an animated superhero movie based on the 1960s Batman TV series. The movie follows crime-fighters Batman and Robin as they battle a group of nefarious villains to protect Gotham city.
The Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler and Catwoman appear on live television one day, and the Police Commissioner asks Batman and Robin to bring them to justice. The movie follows the heroes and villains as they chase each other around the city, leave clues and follow each other’s trails. In the midst of the chaos, Catwoman tries to poison Batman with a potion that will bring out the evil within him. Although it doesn’t seem to affect him at first, Batman gradually begins to seek out power, control and supremacy over Gotham. For example, he appoints replicas of himself to every significant public position.
Robin eventually teams up with Catwoman to bring Batman back from the dark side, so that they can take on the other supervillains and stop them before it’s too late.
Themes
Crime and justice; morality; good versus evil; romance and friendship
Violence
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders has quite frequent animated violence. For example:
Sexual references
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders has several mild sexual references. For example:
- There is continual innuendo and flirtation between Batman and Catwoman. Batman says at one point that if Catwoman were to turn herself in, he would ‘handle her personally’. Catwoman also tells Batman that it is ‘impolite to rub (his) masculine superiority on a woman’.
- To keep the location of the Bat Cave secret, Robin asks Catwoman to inhale a substance that will put her to sleep as they drive to the Cave. She agrees but says, ‘OK, but I expect you to keep your hands to yourself’.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders has mild references to substance use. For example, Robin goes to a bar called Purrr and asks the bartender for an unknown drink ‘on the rocks’. The scene shows unlabelled bottles behind the bar.
Nudity and sexual activity
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders shows Batman and Catwoman kissing.
Product placement
There is no product placement of concern in the movie, but plenty of superhero merchandise is marketed to children.
Coarse language
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders has some very mild coarse language, including:
- religious exclamations like ‘holy trench warfare’ – Robin uses these exclamations when he’s shocked, panicked or surprised
- insults like ‘pretentious poser’, ‘diabolical devils’ and ‘silly old woman’.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders is a return to the comic version of Batman from the 1960s and a contrast to the very dark superhero movies of more recent times. The movie explores the nature of good and evil, and it also highlights the importance of democracy, law and social rules. The story emphasises the importance of taking ‘bold risks’ for the greater good of society and the importance of friendship in overcoming challenging obstacles.
Although Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders isn’t as dark and scary as recent versions of the Batman story, this movie does have some violent and scary scenes that could disturb young children. Therefore we don’t recommend it for children under 8 years. We do recommend parental guidance for children aged 8-10 years.