Animation
The Bad Guys: Breaking In
‘The Bad Guys: Breaking In’ offers the franchise’s standard low-content fun, though it fails to deliver on its exploration of good morals.
Whether you’re a fan of newer interpretations like Bale and Pattinson or you stick to the classics like Keaton and West, there’s pretty much a Batman for everybody—except, unfortunately, for very young viewers. Despite many kids being big fans, not all of the Caped Crusader’s caped crusades—particularly those on the big screen—are suitable for all ages.
Enter Bat-Fam, a version of the classic superhero made specifically for younger viewers. In this new adventure, Bruce Wayne (a far more cheerful Bruce Wayne than the one you may know) protects Gotham City with the help of his…eccentric family.
There’s Damian, his overeager son who’s training to take over the cowl. Then there’s Claire, a reformed supervillain now trapped in her 12-year-old body (long story) and of course, Bruce’s trusty butler Alfred. Rounding out the family is Alfred’s niece, Alicia, and thank goodness she’s there. Sometimes it seems like she’s the only one with her head on straight.
The people of Gotham City face no shortage of threats, and the Bat Family is here to tackle them all. When Damian and Claire can actually get along, anyway.
Bat-Fam is almost a dream come true for little superhero fans who may be too young for Batman’s live-action escapades. The animated series is lighthearted and fun, with very limited sense of peril. Lessons about teamwork, trust, family and forgiveness take center stage as the Bat Family protects Gotham from villains.
Parents should still be aware of a few elements, though. Rude humor is sometimes used, as well as light language such as “crap.” The ghost of Ra’s al Ghul, Batman’s former enemy and Damian’s grandfather, lives in the Bat Family’s mansion, using sometimes dark spells and other paranormal elements to cause mischief. There’s also some cartoon superhero action, though there’s no blood or serious violence to worry about.
Despite those hiccups, Bat-Fam might be worth checking out for parents of aspiring superheroes. But be wary of those magical elements—and be sure that when they’re old enough to pick their own favorite Batman, they definitely don’t choose Clooney.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
To celebrate Claire and Alicia moving into the mansion, Bruce throws a game night for the family. But Claire suspects Alicia may be hiding a villainous secret.
Claire, who can conjure balls of fire, accidentally burns off Alfred’s pants. A close-up on his bottom shows he’s wearing underwear with a Union Jack pattern. (The shot holds on this close-up for a few seconds while the British national anthem plays.) Claire calls the ghost of Ra’s al Ghul a “talking fart cloud.”
The ghost of Ra’s al Ghul uses dark magic to conjure a sphere that can tell if people are lying; if someone tells a lie while holding it, a demon will break free from the sphere, we’re told. Damian accidentally unleashes this demon (it takes the form of a monster with claws like a lobster, with no connections drawn to true spiritual demons), and Ra’s al Ghul conjures another spell to stop it.
Claire tells her sidekick, a sentient ball of fire, to “watch the language” (it’s implied she can understand it, though it doesn’t actually speak). A villain named Killer Moth exclaims “holy crap.”
Lauren Cook is serving as a 2021 summer intern for the Parenting and Youth department at Focus on the Family. She is studying film and screenwriting at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. You can get her talking for hours about anything from Star Wars to her family to how Inception was the best movie of the 2010s. But more than anything, she’s passionate about showing how every form of art in some way reflects the Gospel. Coffee is a close second.
‘The Bad Guys: Breaking In’ offers the franchise’s standard low-content fun, though it fails to deliver on its exploration of good morals.
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