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The Brave and the Bold

Episode #14 - The Brave And The Bold, Part 1
Original Airdate - March 10th, 2002

Flash and Green Lantern stumble upon Gorilla Grodd and a plot against the secret "Gorilla City".

Episode #15 - The Brave And The Bold, Part 2
Original Airdate - March 17th, 2002

Flash must stop Gorilla Grodd while Green Lantern attempts to disarm warheads.

Media by Bird Boy
Review by Anthony Garritano
Credits:
Story by Rich Fogel and Paul Dini
Teleplay by Dwayne McDuffie
Directed by Dan Riba
Music by Michael McCuistion
Animation Services by Koko Enterprise Co., LTD.

Voices:
Kevin Conroy as Batman
Maria Canals as Hawkgirl
Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman
Carl Lumbly as J'onn J'onzz
Phil LaMarr as Green Lantern
Michael Rosenbaum as Flash
Powers Boothe as Grodd
David Ogden Stiers as Solovar
Catherine Cavadini as Dr. Mary
Richard Doyle as Dr. Louis
Bill Duke as Detective
Virginia Madsen as Dr. Corwin
Andre Sogliuzzo as SWAT Officer
Keone Young as Dr. Chin
 
Screen Grabs, Part 1






Pans, Part 1



Screen Grabs, Part 2






Pans, Part 2


 
Review

Part 1:
INTRODUCTION
My comments on “The Brave and the Bold” are simple because it was an episode with a simple story that had a simple objective. So, to make things as simple as possible I’ll just say that I simply enjoyed it.

CRITIQUE
The story was very straight forward and engaging. There was an element of suspense that ran through the episode up until the history of Gorilla City was revealed. From that point on it became a simple revenge plot where the chastised evil genius is seeking revenge against those that cast him out. Yes, it’s been done before, but the way Timm & Co. did it was truly unique, and did I mention simple?

I say it was unique because I particularly enjoyed the sequence where Flash was in a dream state while under Grodd’s mind control. The use of color and movement was truly something to see. Also, the animation in the flashback sequence was thrilling when we got to see Gorilla City up close, not to mention the dig scene in the beginning when we see a secret city appear, Gorillas flying pods and then everything disappearing. So, I’ll simply say the episode had great visuals and move on.

The second thing I liked was the character development. We got to see Flash hitting on two women and impulsively rushing into things time and time again only to get himself into trouble. And on the other hand we had Green Lantern as the straight arrow, always trying to do things by the book. Simply put, the characterization was on point and one of the best parts of this simple story.

CONCLUSION
The story was good, the characterization was good and I look forward to seeing how the league is going to undo the destruction of that city next week. The one thing I missed was the other members. Yes, we got behind the skin of the Flash and Green Lantern, but this is a show about a league of heroes, not just two. Oh well, maybe next week the other members will pop up. Even if they don’t, I’m still simply amazed at what Timm & Co. have accomplished, and simply can’t wait for part two.

Part 2:
INTRODUCTION

If you think back a week ago when I provided my two cents on part one of "The Brave and the Bold," I used the word "simple" to describe it's plot, purpose and characterization. The all around simplicity of the story gave the characters a chance to shine. Well, if part one was grand because of its sheer simplicity, part two was grand because it was just awesome. Everything was large in scope, full of suspense and perfectly animated, just awesome all around.

CRITIQUE
The one drawback I found in last week's episode was that we only saw two leaguers in action. I feel that the show is called Justice League for a reason, to spotlight a league of heroes in each story, not just one or two. Well, the powers that be quickly fixed that in part two by showcasing the entire league, minus Superman, and it was truly awesome to see so much of the group together. In fact, if I had to pick an adjective to describe their interaction, I'd have to say it was just awesome.

Aside from getting most of the team together for this episode, it was a standout because they didn't sacrifice characterization in the process. We saw Batman's detective skills and ingenuity, Hawkgirl's aggressive tendency, Martian Manhunter's leadership, Flash's cavalier attitude, Green Lantern's sternness and Wonder Woman's courage and strength. The team worked together perfectly to save the day and display they're unique talents at the same time. The final sequence is a perfect example of exactly how awesome this episode was. We saw Green Lantern disable two missiles with his ring, Martian Manhunter fuse through another to disable it, while Hawkgirl just destroyed the last one by smashing it with her mace in a purely impulsive move that could have destroyed Gorilla City if Wonder Woman wasn't around to single handedly stop the missile with her bare hands. As I said, everything about this episode was awesome.

CONCLUSION
This episode spotlighted everything good about a group hero show because we really got to see how these heroes relate to each other. We saw Green Lantern gain some respect for Flash and Batman get a kiss from Wonder Woman after he thought she had died and tried to dig her out with his bare hands. The icing on the cake was seeing that Grodd hadn't lost his smarts after all and will undoubtedly be back for revenge. As I said, it was awesome.

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