Back in 1996/1997, a 13-issue “limited series” called Batman: The Long Halloween ran. Nearly 25 years later, DC adapts this story as an animated film – or animated films, as we get the tale split into two parts.

For Part One, Gotham found itself stuck under the thumb of Carmine “The Roman” Falcone (voiced by Titus Welliver) and his crime syndicate. To add to the chaos, the “Holiday Killer” used various occasions as an opportunity to murder various underworld figures.

Into this setting, fairly new crimefighter Batman (Jensen Ackles) partnered with freshly promoted Gotham Police Captain James Gordon (Billy Burke) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Josh Duhamel) to deal with these problems. They attempted to figure out how to take down Falcone and solve the “Holiday Killer” mystery as well.

In Part Two… yeah, it’s that same plot outline. Of course, elements deepen, but Part Two continues the story from the prior flick, with the biggest change coming from a breach at Arkham that unleashes a few Bat-villains into the narrative.

I admit I didn’t much care for Part One, as I thought it seemed scattered and unfocused. The first chapter tended to bite off more than it could chew and it didn’t always follow the various plot points in a satisfactory manner.

That said, I held out hope that Part Two would tie matters together in a positive way. As I noted at the time, it seemed vaguely unfair to review only half a movie, so it seemed possible that once I viewed Part Two, I’d feel more pleased with Long Halloween as a whole.

Alas, such a revelation fails to occur, as I can’t find much about Part Two to embrace. Really, it continues the same problems found in Part One without anything new and positive to bring to the table.

As was the case with the first half, Part Two can feel overstuffed and a story that casts too broad a net. For a narrative that intends to deal with the Holiday Killer, we don’t really get much about that character.

Instead, the film often just feels like an excuse to cram as many Bat-villains into one place as it can. We get the umpteenth telling of Two-Face’s origins – though slightly modified to fit this tale – along with a slew of guest spots from the likes of Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and others.

These tend to add little, as the plethora of Bat-foes just feels contrived. These characters mostly don’t mesh with the story, mainly because so much of Part Two seems like a loosely organized collection of scenes more than a coherent tale.

Even when Part Two gets to its action-packed finale, it doesn’t kick into gear. We find perfunctory fights without much to thrill or excite.

Maybe someday I’ll watch both sections of Long Halloween together and change my mind about the project. Right now, however, I think the two create a spotty, scattered Batman adventure that lacks coherence or much to make it engaging.

Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Given that the two parts of Halloween were created together, one would expect identical visuals/audio for the two releases.

Does this grant me the chance to simply recycle my Part One opinions for Part Two? Yes, it does! Hooray for cut and paste!

Sharpness excelled. The movie always came across as tight and well-defined, so don’t expect any signs of softness.

Jaggies and moiré effects also remained absent, and the image lacked edge haloes or artifacts. In addition, print flaws were a non-factor and didn’t appear at any point.

In terms of colors, Halloween went with a dark palette that favored moody greens, reds and ambers. The tones looked solid, as they showed positive richness and vivacity.

Blacks were deep and tight, while shadows showed nice clarity. Across the board, the image worked well.

I thought the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Halloween opened up the comic book material well. The forward channels brought out the majority of the audio, but the entire package added a lot to the movie. Music presented strong stereo imaging, while effects cropped up in logical spots and blended well.

The surrounds also contributed good information. For the most part, these reinforced the forward channels, but they also contributed a fair amount of unique material.

These instances mainly occurred during bigger action scenes. The back speakers brought out a nice sense of space and environment.

Audio quality always satisfied. Speech was warm and natural, without edginess or other issues.

Music sounded lively and full, while effects displayed good definition. Those elements seemed accurate and dynamic. All of this led to a positive presentation that deserved a “B+”.

A few extras appear here, and from the “DC Showcase” line, we get a short called Blue Beetle. It runs 15 minutes, 30 seconds as it features the title hero in action.

We find a decidedly campy Saturday morning vibe here, replete with terrible dialogue, cheesy voice acting and even some “print flaws”. It walks a fine line between clever and stupid, but it entertains.

Next get a Sneak Peek at an upcoming DC Animated effort called Injustice. It goes for seven minutes, 48 seconds and includes comments from writer Ernie Altbacker, producers Jim Krieg and Rick Morales, director Matt Peters, and actors Kevin Pollak, Anson Mount, Justin Hartley, Brandon Micheal Hall and Anika Noni Rose.

Injustice comes from a DC series called “Elseworlds”, which goes with alternate realities. We learn about story elements and cast in this promo piece.

More previews ensue, and A Sneak Peek at The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 lasts six minutes, 53 seconds. It delivers statements from Timm, Romano, director Jay Oliva, screenwriter Bob Goodman, co-producer Alan Burnett, DC Entertainment Animation Creative Director Mike Carlin, and actors Michael Emerson and Mark Valley.

We get notes about story and characters as well as cast and performances. It’s basic advertisement and not much more.

We also find a Sneak Peek at Batman: Hush. This nine-minute, 17-second clip features director Justin Copeland, voice director Wes Gleason, producers Jim Krieg and James Tucker, screenwriter Ernie Altbacker, and actors Jerry O’Connell, Geoffrey Arend, Peyton List, Jennifer Morrison, Maury Sterling, and Jason O’Mara.

“Peek” covers the source comic and its adaptation as well as story/character areas and cast. Most of this learns toward promotion, but the “Peek” becomes a bit more substantial than most.

We also get two Bonus Cartoons. From Batman: The Animated Series, we find “Two-Face Part 1” (22:27) and “Two-Face Part 2” (22:30).

“Two-Face” presents a good introduction to this major villain. It also reminds us how well the The Animated Series did darkness. From the extremely moody visuals to the startling vision in Bruce’s dream, this sure doesn’t feel like the standard kiddie cartoon.

Though Part One of Batman: The Long Halloween left me cold, I held out hope that Part Two might deliver greater excitement. Unfortunately, the second chapter comes with the same overstuffed collection of characters and plot threads that makes it a disappointing project. The Blu-ray boasts strong picture and audio along with a minor set of supplements. This winds up as a lackluster Batman story.