Batman’s 2-Part 100% Rotten Tomatoes Rated Movie Story Is Still Painfully Underrated

Despite a 100% rotten tomatoes score, one of the best Batman stories remains criminally underrated. Batman is undeniably one of the most popular characters ever created, not just in the superhero and comic book space, but as a general fictional character. As a result, his story has been adapted dozens of times, but some of these adaptations get a lot more visibility than others.

Often, the most popular Batman movies tend to be some of the strongest and most well-crafted retellings, such as Christopher Nolan’s groundbreaking The Dark Knight trilogy, or Matt Reeves’ The Batman. However, this is not the only factor in which stories get the biggest audiences, as highly rated films can still get overlooked.

Both The Batman: The Long Halloween Movies Are Underrated Despite Their 100% Rotten Tomatoes Ratings

Batman holds a joker card in The Long Halloween

For example, Batman: The Long Halloween is a two-part story with a total runtime of three hours. The film stars Jensen Ackles as Batman, joined by talented actors like Josh Duhamel as Harvey Dent, and David Dastmalchian as Calendar Man. It also sports a spectacular 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes for not just one, but both parts of the story.

However, Batman: The Long Halloween is somewhat of a hidden gem even among fans of the character. With a beautiful animation style, perfectly cast voice actors, and a story that is based on one of the most famous comic runs in the character’s history, it’s incredibly disappointing that the movie doesn’t have the attention it deserves.

Why The Batman: The Long Halloween Movies Are So Much Less Well-Known

Batman faces the night in The Long Halloween Part 1

The issue with Batman: The Long Halloween, and many other animated DC films that have performed similarly well in terms of reviews, is the fact that animated movies appear to have a significantly smaller fanbase than live-action. While live-action superhero franchises like the MCU, DCEU, and DCU have exploded in popularity, the animated stories don’t receive nearly as much attention.

In reality, Batman: The Long Halloween is a part of a franchise that actually stretches back to 2007, before the MCU began. But every one of the 61 films in that series was released direct-to-video. It’s challenging to see how it could have competed against movies that receive multi-million-dollar marketing campaigns and red carpet premieres.

Regardless of the high standards of production, and the quality of the cast and story, animated superhero stories like this struggle to get the attention they deserve. Batman: The Long Halloween, parts one and two, deserves a larger audience. But even a perfect RT score fails to help lift them out of obscurity.