Most critics like this a great deal, and the praise gathers in the same place: the film treats Bruce Wayne’s grief and his failed romance with Andrea Beaumont as the story, and keeps the costumed business in service of it. Several reviewers rank it above the live-action Batman films of its time for plotting and sincerity. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill’s voice work is singled out repeatedly, as are the art-deco Gotham backgrounds and Shirley Walker’s mournful score. The brisk 76-minute running time is counted as a virtue.
The spread is wide at the bottom, though the dissent is old. The Los Angeles Times, writing on release, finds the animation stiff and the voice acting campy, too dull for adults and too violent for small children. Variety, positive overall, agrees the animation is clunky and thinks the film suits adults better than its intended young audience. The later reviews, from 2011 onwards, contain almost no reservations at all.