Film

Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two

A stylish animated noir that completes Batman's hunt for a serial killer while Harvey Dent's corruption unfolds. Brooding, violent, gorgeously drawn in a pulp-detective idiom. For anyone who wants their Batman darker and more grounded than the usual cape spectacle—less superhero, more crime thriller.

TMDb rating3.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love a slow-burning crime mystery built on clues and gloomy Gotham atmosphere, and you want a Batman who is still learning to be the legend rather than already having it.

Skip it if you came in cold and dislike jumping into a story already underway, since this picks up from part one and assumes you remember who's who among the Falcone gangsters.

What it asks of you: Expect about ninety minutes of close listening, a plot that rewards tracking names, alibis and motives, and a tone that stays grim from first frame to last.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One2021

The direct prequel that sets up every thread Part Two resolves. Introduces the Holiday killer, establishes the noir tone, and pays off in the second film's conspiracy unraveling.

But If you haven't seen Part One, this will feel like joining a conversation already underway. Watching both back-to-back demands patience.

Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One poster

Batman: Under the Red Hood2010

Another DC animated feature with similar tonal weight: betrayal, revenge, moral compromise. Uses animation to tell a crime story that wouldn't work as well in live-action, with stunning action sequences.

But Slower and more introspective than typical superhero fare. The plot hinges on Batman's emotional devastation, not spectacle.

Batman: Under the Red Hood poster

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight2018

Batman reimagined as a Victorian detective pursuing Jack the Ripper through steampunk Gotham. Gorgeously atmospheric, weird in its period detail, and completely uninterested in being a conventional superhero story.

But The period setting and Victorian prose-style dialogue will feel stagey to some. The mystery is less tightly plotted than Long Halloween.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners2022

Both are animated noirs about young protagonists discovering their city's corruption runs deeper than they believed. Both use visual beauty to frame moral ugliness.

A 10-episode anime about survival in a dystopian megacity where corporate syndicates rule. Like Long Halloween, it's a noir where young idealism gets crushed by institutional corruption. Stunning hand-drawn animation and a mounting sense of doom.

But Anime's visual language—speed lines, exaggerated expressions—might feel jarring if you're accustomed to Western animation. The ending is deliberately bleak and offers no catharsis.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners poster
More like this (8)

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 22013

Adapts Frank Miller's seminal graphic novel about an aging Batman reclaiming Gotham. Bleak, violent, politically pointed—this redefined how Batman could be told for adults.

But The animation is sometimes stiff and the dialogue deliberately archaic. It's a talky film about ideology as much as action.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 poster

Superman: Man of Tomorrow2020

A DC animated feature that shares Long Halloween's commitment to grounded storytelling and hand-drawn detail. Lexcorp intrigue and Lobo mercenaries give it crime-thriller momentum alongside superhero stakes.

But Superman's earnestness plays differently than Batman's cynicism. If you want your DC content as morally murky, this is cleaner.

Superman: Man of Tomorrow poster

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm1993

The definitive animated Batman film for two decades. A ghost from Bruce's past threatens Gotham while the mob closes in. The animation is fluid, the mystery compelling, the emotional payoff genuine.

But The voice acting (Mark Hamill's Joker aside) sounds dated. The plot's final revelation feels abrupt if you're not paying close attention.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm poster

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay2018

A DC animated crime thriller where morally compromised characters pursue a supernatural MacGuffin. Sharp, wickedly funny, and willing to kill off characters you thought were safe.

But The tone is inconsistently tonal—it lurches between noir and comedy. If you want consistency, the tonal whiplash will jar you.

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay poster

Son of Batman2014

Batman confronts his past when his biological son arrives in Gotham, forcing questions about legacy and family alongside organized crime plots. Surprisingly mature for a superhero origin story.

But The animation is rougher than you might expect. The emotional stakes don't quite land as hard as the film intends.

Son of Batman poster

Batman: Year One2011

A noir-drenched origin story set in a corrupt Gotham where young Bruce must navigate mob politics while becoming Batman. Spare, austere, deeply influenced by classic detective fiction.

But Nothing happens quickly. It's a slow-burn character study about a man learning to use violence. That's all. There's minimal action.

Batman: Year One poster

Chinatown1974

Both are crime mysteries where investigating a single crime reveals systemic corruption. Both suggest that justice is impossible when power corrupts everything.

The definitive neo-noir about a detective uncovering conspiracy that reaches into the city's power structure. Polanski's masterpiece: corruption, betrayal, moral compromise—every strand Long Halloween's plot echoes, but perfected.

But It's a 1974 film in 35mm. If you need constant action or clarity, Polanski's ambiguity and pacing will frustrate you. The ending refuses redemption.

Chinatown poster

Daria1997

Both treat institutions—the criminal underworld, suburban conformity—as systems that corrupt everyone inside them. Both protagonists are the only characters who refuse to play the game.

A MTV animated series about teenagers navigating a corrupt, performative suburban hierarchy. It sounds nothing like Batman, but shares something crucial: sharp social observation wrapped in dark comedy, and characters who see through institutional bullshit.

But It's a high school comedy, not a noir thriller. The animation is deliberately flat and the humor is cerebral, not action-driven. Very slow to anyone expecting excitement.

Daria poster

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