“Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman” is easily one of the worst animated “Batman” movies. It’s perhaps not as bad as “Batman: The Killing Joke” but it’s still pretty awful. The film is set in the same continuity as the excellent “Batman: The Animated Series”, following its transition to “The New Batman Adventures”.

This movie has one of the dullest plots I’ve ever seen in a kids’ cartoon movie as we see Batman try to figure out the identity of the new ‘Batwoman’. She is a vigilante like him but her motives remain unclear as she targets a specific group of criminals. They will face off against Penguin, mobster Rupert Thorne and Bane.

By far the worst aspect of the whole film is the animation. I loved the animation of “Batman: The Animated Series” and “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm”. I was less impressed with the animation of “The New Batman Adventures” but the animation here looks so cheap. Characters are almost painful to look at and the animation during some of their movements makes them look more rigid than puppets. Batman has been fascinating before but he’s a total bore here. We’re introduced to three females, who are all potentially the Batwoman. They are all tedious and underdeveloped. Sadly, we barely get to see Penguin, Thorne or Bane. Robin has little more than a cameo appearance.

The animation is completely lifeless for both the characters and the environments, the music is awful, the characters are badly written, the plot is unengaging and the whole thing is just a big disappointment. I really hated this movie because I loved the original show so much and this is just a real slap in the face to fans. The only vaguely exciting thing is the final battle where Batman has a fight with Bane. The rest of the movie is just a total waste of time.