In 2014, the curtain dropped on Beware the Batman, the Dark Knight’s latest foray into animated television. This outing, the first of the characters to be brought to life with three-dimensional computer imagery, featured seldom-seen villains over more famous members of the Caped Crusader’s notorious rogues gallery. Unfortunately, the series did little to set the hearts of fans aflutter in the same way that made predecessors like Batman Beyond and Batman: The Animated Series so gripping. I was among those underwhelmed when the show’s first thirteen episodes hit Blu-ray in last year’s Shadows of Gotham set, although near that run’s end, its storytelling finally appeared to gain some much-needed traction. Now that things have wound to a close, Beware the Batman: Dark Justice brings us the final half of its eponymous crimebuster’s newest TV escapades, but has this chunk lived up to the promise its preceding installments seemed to lead up to? Well, while there is more to like here in terms of subplots paying off at long last, what stunk about that first few -- uninteresting animation, so-so voice acting -- still drapes over this like an oppressive shroud.

When we last left Batman (voice of Anthony Ruivivar), the Dark Knight was stuck in one of the greatest jams he’d ever faced. Ra’s al Ghul (voice of Lance Reddick) and his army of assassins had Gotham City at their mercy, having plunged the metropolis into a terrible blackout, captured its cloaked avenger, and even sowed discord amongst his allies. With the help of butt-kicking butler Alfred (voice of J.B. Blanc) and sword-swinging sidekick Katana (voice of Sumalee Montano), Batman swiftly deals with this seemingly immortal threat, although even more harrowing challenges meet him in the following months. Not everyone in Gotham is a fan of having a costumed vigilante run amuk, as opportunistic district attorney Harvey Dent (voice of Christopher McDonald) seeks to further his own political goals while waging a campaign to take down the cowled crusader. Then there’s the matter of returning baddies such as Anarky (voice of Wallace Langham) and Humpty Dumpty (voice of Matt L. Jones) being joined by new threats like mercenary Deathstroke (voice of Robin Atkin Downes), all of whom test the limits of not only Batman’s strength but also his sanity. With his alter ego’s reputation and his own health at risk, will Bruce Wayne be able to pull himself together and save the city he loves?

Save for the occasional rough edge that’s been sanded off, most of the issues that plagued Shadows of Gotham are present and accounted for in Dark Justice. Again, so much of the show finds itself hampered because of a flat and extremely limited visual scope. We see so many samey-looking buildings and sparsely-populated cityscapes, it’s apparent as ever that the animators only bothered to include what was needed from scene to scene, instead of working to make Gotham constantly feel like a town on the go. The storylines for each episode have improved somewhat, with a few gimmicky stand-outs cleverly tying back in to the overarching series narrative (as when his journey through Humpty Dumpty’s Saw-style house of horrors tests Batman’s concern for others). This time around, there’s more emphasis on how Bruce Wayne’s war on crime affects his mental well-being, but the flat writing tends to make his introspective brooding seem like emo temper tantrums. The action is passable but mostly unmemorable, once again the victim of claustrophobic visuals. From Batman’s bout with Deathstroke to his comrades combating the forces of evil in the final episode, most of the fights this series has to spare come across as anticlimactic and about as exhilarating as a Walmart merry-go-round.

Even the most notable of Dark Justice’s new additions are mixed bags in their own right. Inserting McDonald’s Harvey Dent into the story is the biggest game-changer, appearing not as the dual-minded villain Two-Face but as an ego-driven lawmaker trying to put an end to Batman’s shenanigans for more selfish purposes. McDonald can play a creep like the best of them, and his performance here is no exception…and that’s the problem. Dent is a villain from the get-go, barely concealing his childish sneering and utter contempt for anyone who isn’t helping him get what he wants. Beware the Batman robs this character of his fall from grace, showing him not as a tragic figure who stood for good and allowed his ambitions to get the better of him but as a one-note whiner from the very start. As for the other side of the criminal coin, Ruivivar still makes for an alright Dark Knight, even though he doesn’t do a whole lot (if any) to distinguish Batman and Bruce Wayne’s individual voices. Montano and Blanc are fine, despite their characters being wasted on a clichéd subplot that drives an easily-resolved wedge between them for all of a couple of episodes. Still, Tara Strong lends some very welcome pep to the proceedings as Barbara Gordon (who comes to help out Batman and Katana as the tech-savvy Oracle), and most of the villain voices are quite effective (with Jones and Reddick as the standouts).

All in all, I can’t say I’m too disheartened that Beware the Batman got axed. While not as hopelessly dour as the series could’ve been (given the rise of comic book media going the grim and gritty route), the mood is fairly dull on the whole, with any sense of whimsy or fun coming across as forced and ultimately uninspired. For those who got into it, Beware the Batman: Dark Justice will represent an unfortunate end; for the rest of us, it’s the sign of a new beginning, representing hope that the next time the Caped Crusader takes to the airwaves will be a more rousing and fulfilling experience.

(Beware the Batman: Dark Justice is available on DVD everywhere and on Blu-ray through the Warner Archive Collection: www.warnerarchive.com)