Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003) Director: Curt Geda
“There are many species in which the female is deadlier than the male.”
In this great and often overlooked animated Batman flick, a mysterious new vigilante woman dubbed “Batwoman” begins appearing around Gotham City on a jet propulsion device. She sabotages a criminal delivery secretly made by the Penguin’s organization, followed by an attack on his covert weapon’s manufacturing plant. Within the same universe as Batman: The Animated Series, criminals Rupert Thorne, the Penguin, and Carlton Duquesne are all running an arms smuggling operation from the U.S. to the fictional country of Kasnia under the guise of being a toy manufacturer. However, the new Batwoman is causing significant problems. But who exactly is she? Is she Catwoman/Selina Kyle? Barbara Gordon who is currently away at school? Is she secretly the daughter of gangster Carlton Duquesne’s, Kathy Duquesne? Or a is she the clumsy new employee at Wayne Enterprises named Dr. Rocky Ballantine? Or is she a new Gotham detective named Sonia Alcana, the new partner of Harvey Bullock?
Batman is placed back into the shoes of the classic mystery man in this animated film as he tracks down the true identity of Batwoman. Meanwhile, Bane returns as a new security force working for the Penguin, and in the end Batman figures out that the befuddling identity of Batwoman is actually three different women who varyingly don the suit –Kathy, Rocky, and Sonia. Following an epic battle aboard a cruise-liner in Gotham harbor, the villains are finally stopped, Batman helps Rocky’s fiancé get out jail after being framed by the Penguin, Sonia departs from her role on the police force, and Bruce Wayne pursues Kathy as his latest love-interest.
Thank you for this review. I’m glad that overlooked films can still get their due thanks to sites like yours.