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50 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth every penny., June 30, 2008
*This does contain some minor spoilers. I tried not to spoil too much.*
Batman: Gotham Knight is advertised as the missing link between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. There are six stories in total. Each story is by different artists, but they all link together and flow together nicely.
The first story is called, "Have I got a story for you," and involves a boy waiting for his friends to arrive. Once they do, each one of them tells a story about what they saw today and they all saw Batman. Each story is farfetched in its own way as this story capitalizes on teenagers stretching the truth and/or having overactive imaginations. It seems their day isn't finished though as the fight they all witnessed makes its way to that very skate park.
"Crossfire" is the story of Chris and Anna being apart of Lieutenant Gordon's MCU (Major Crime Unit). Chris thinks Batman is a vigilante that takes the law into his own hands while Anna is still unsure about him and is just thankful that good cops that know how to do their job are actually being respected now that Batman has shown up. After taking a recent Arkham escapee back to the asylum, they soon realize they're stuck in the middle of a gang war between Sal Maroni and The Russian.
"Field Test" begins with Lucius Fox showing Bruce Wayne some new gadgets. Amongst them is a harness equipped with an electromagnetic pulse strong enough to deflect bullets. Batman decides to test it out with Maroni, The Russian, and his goons. Everything is going Batman's way until a certain...glitch...happens.
"In Darkness Dwells" has everyone looking for a monster. Killer Croc, to be exact. Apparently, he was the former patient of a certain Johnathan Crane. Coincidentally, one of the reasons he was admitted to Dr. Crane was for his fear of bats. Go figure.
Batman is injured on what seems like any other night he puts on his mask in "Working Through Pain." We're basically shown how tenacious he really is as he struggles with his injuries. We're also shown a few flashbacks of his past and soon learn the difference between exterior and interior pain. There's a way to put pain in its place and this is how Bruce Wayne found out how.
"Deadshot" has come back to Gotham and has set his sights on Jim Gordon, but it looks like he has ulterior motives. Bruce Wayne also gives his views on guns.
Gotham Knight is superb. There's really no other way to describe it. I had my doubts about it, but I think those were blown away during the first few minutes of the film. The animation is fantastic. Everything moves crisply and smoothly. It just seems to flow. And let me just say that it's amazing to hear Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman again. It's like a homecoming in so many ways.
The biggest question you may be asking yourself is how can all the stories actually flow together since they're all done by different artists. The truth is that other than the artistic style changing, you don't really notice anything. The voice cast stays the same throughout the entire film and while each individual story has its own story to tell, they're all connected in some way and flow together nicely.
Gotham Knight is a feature that shouldn't be missed by anybody. Whether you're an anime fan, a Batman fan, or you're just looking for something new to catch your eye, I'd recommend Gotham Knight to anyone and everyone. The animation is beautiful and has a real crisp flow to it while the stories are written incredibly well and will keep you interested. The voice cast is also something worth mentioning. Other than seeing Kevin Conroy come back as Batman, the rest of the cast does a great job as well. My one complaint is that it doesn't really bridge the gap between anything. However, it doesn't really seem to bridge the gap between anything and is just an excellent stand alone animated feature.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Buy it for the extras, July 18, 2008
DC's recent spate of direct-to-DVD videos have been somewhat of a mixed bag. I didn't care for Superman - Doomsday (DC Universe Animated Original Movie), but I was very impressed by Justice League - The New Frontier (Two-Disc Special Edition) and greatly recommend it.
Sadly, this film isn't nearly as good as "...New Frontier", and only slightly better than "Superman - Doomsday".
The idea behind this movie, aside from milking out a few bucks before the release of "The Dark Knight" (can't wait to see it tomorrow!), is to do what the people behind The Animatrix did; get some respected Japanese animation studios and have them make some shorts based on the movie(s).
In principle this isn't a bad idea, and for something like The Matrix series, which so clearly draws inspiration from anime, it might work very well. It works less well, however, for a universe like the one shown in Batman Begins (Two-Disc Special Edition), which is much more grounded in as much reality as any super-hero film can be.
The animation in the movie is decent, but nothing to write home about (of course I'm not some big-time otaku, so take that for what it's worth). The storylines are ok. One where Batman gets a device that keeps him safe from bullets works out ok, as does the one with Killer Croc, but overall none of the stories are that great.
There are some good things, though. It's always great to hear Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman/Bruce Wayne. He really nails it and does a great job with both characters. All the rest of the voice-acting is quite good, too.
But where this set really shines is in the extras. There's a great biography of Bob Kane (and people like me will get a real big laugh out of the "News On Parade" feature at the begining). My favorite extra, however, is the four episodes of the animated Batman series, which includes two of my favorite episodes from the show.
Ultimately I give really only one, maybe two, stars for the movie itself, but with those extras the set gets a boost up to three stars! Still not great, but at least I don't feel ripped-off by it.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It is not the usual Batman film., July 9, 2008
Ever since I was 3 I have been a fan of Batman. I started with the Superfriends and the Adam West show all the way to the awesome worlds of Bruce Timm and Christopher Nolan. Now with the most anticipated film of 2008 on the way in 'The Dark Knight' Bruce Timm decided to join his world and Nolans' world with 'Batman: Gotham Knight' This film bridges 'Batman Begins' and 'The Dark Knight' showing Batman's rise to legendary status as well as keeping an eye out of the other major characters, heroic and villanous.
This film does not bring the viewer the familiar Batman to the screen. It is something completly different that has never been done in the superhero media. Yes there have been many depictions of famous superheroes in the style of Manga and other anime styles, but in print never moving picture. I think that is why many people are giving this movie a very mixed review. The style of anime is a cut above the american traditional 2-D/3-D animation. The animation is original and stories make the characters much more complex. Sometimes the line drawn between good and evil or hero and villian is washed away due to dark heroes and villians with no intentions of mass genocide or world domination. The most familiar thing you see in this film is Kevin Conroy doing what he does best and eventhough it would have been cool to see Christian Bale in this role I was glad that Kevin returned.
I say this movie should be seen because it is so fresh and different. I always enjoy when people move a character out of his or her comfort zone. While this film isn't as good as Mask of the Phantasm or Return of the Joker (the other Bruce Timm Batman Movies), I thought it was well put together and I am eagerly awaiting the next Warner Premire film which is Wonder Woman.
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