DC Animated Superhero Retrospective Series - Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)

Written In January 2014

I’m not 100% sure what to think of this one. The animation is good. The acting is good. It’s pretty well written for the most part. But the voices, the style and the backdrop don’t go together. You have Kevin Conroy voicing an anime Batman in a movie that’s supposed to be set between the first two thirds of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy.

So you’re basically putting the realistic younger Batman in a super stylized world with a voice that’s much too deep for a fellow his age. Does that not sound right to anyone else?

Anywho, since this movie is actually divided into six segments, I’ll rank each of these films separately then all together, and I’ll be ranking them from 0 to 6, as opposed to 0 to 10, like I normally do. I’ll being doing it this way just for the sake of keeping track more easily of the movies. So to quote Bane in the final third of the Dark Knight Trilogy, let the games begin!

Round One

Plot Summary Taken From Wikipedia:

Have I Got a Story for You was written by Josh Olson and animated by Studio 4°C. A street kid meets with his three friends at a skate park. All three of them claim to have seen Batman earlier that day. Batman’s battle with the Man in Black, a high-tech criminal, is told in reverse chronological order, with three very different interpretations of Batman’s form and abilities: one describes him as a living shadow that can melt away and reappear at will (similar to Vampire Batman), another describes him as a half-human, half-bat creature (similar to Man-Bat), and one describes him as a combat robot that can leap tall buildings in a single bound. At the end, Batman pursues the Man in Black to the skate park, and captures him with the help of the fourth street kid. The fourth kid is able to see what Batman truly is after seeing him sustain injuries from the battle: a very human warrior in a costume. He proceeded to tell his experience to his friends after Batman disappeared.

PROS:

• It’s fun to hear different folks’s take on their personal experiences with Batman.
• The fights have good animation.
• Kevin Conroy is Batman.

CONS:

• I didn’t care for the designs of the characters.

Overall, I’m gonna give Have I Got a Story for You a 2 out of 6, not a lot of cons, just nothing to get excited about. If you rent this movie, but you don’t have a lot of time to get through them all, feel free to skip it if you want to.

Round Two

Plot Summary Taken From Wikipedia:

Crossfire was written by Greg Rucka and animated by Production I.G.. Crispus Allen and Anna Ramirez are partners and members of the Major Crimes Unit that have been hand-picked byLieutenant James Gordon. The two are assigned to take the recently captured Man in Black (who was captured during Have I Got A Story For You), revealed to be Jacob Feely, an escaped inmate from Arkham Asylum with an expertise in advanced electronics and explosives back to Arkham Asylum (which most of the Narrows has been converted into following the incident in Batman Begins). On their way, they argue over whether Batman can be trusted, with Allen saying that they are just running errands for a vigilante, while Ramirez replies that Batman has changed Gotham for the better. As they are heading back, Allen declares his intention to leave the MCU, and Ramirez pulls into a vacant lot to confront Allen. However, the two get caught in a confrontation between gangs, The Russian Mob and Sal Maroni’s gang. Maroni’s men are gunned down and Maroni takes refuge behind Allen and Ramirez’s patrol car which The Russian subsequently destroys with a rocket launcher. Ramirez and Maroni manage to get clear in time while Allen is rescued by Batman who proceeds to take out The Russian and his men. Sal Maroni then threatens to kill Ramirez, but he too is dispatched by Batman. Batman recognizes Allen and Ramirez as Gordon’s hand-picked officers remarks that Gordon is a good judge of character, and disappears.

PROS:

• This brings me to something I always liked about the Dark Knight, it stops to really consider the cops think about Batman.
• It goes back to realistic scenario that Batman likely would step into.
• The voice cast is all pretty good with this one. Kevin Conroy not excluded of course.

CONS:

• These aren’t mobsters, but they act like they’re the Joker’s goons or something. Mob guys are psychos, they’re thugs.

Overall, I’m gonna give Crossfire a 4 out of 6.

Round Three

Plot Summary Taken From Wikipedia:

Field Test was written by Jordan Goldberg and animated by Bee Train. An accident involving a new Wayne Com satellite’s gyroscopic electromagnetic guidance system gives Lucius Fox an idea to create a device with the satellite’s gyro with an advanced sound sensor that will electromagnetically deflect small-arms fire. Bruce Wayne takes the device and attends a charity golf tournament being held by developer Ronald Marshall, with whom he discusses the mysterious death of a woman, Teresa Williams, who had opposed some of Marshall’s plans. During the tournament, Wayne secretly takes Marshall’s PDA device. Later that night, as Batman, he hijacks a boat owned by Sal Maroni and drives it alongside a boat owned by rival gang leader, The Russian, and proceeds to attack both gangs at once, with assistance from his new device. He attempts to force a truce between the two gang leaders until he can get evidence against them and that Sal Maroni and the Russian can then argue who gets the top bunk at Blackgate Penitentiary. The discussion is disrupted when one of Maroni’s men fires at him. The bullet deflects and instead hits one of The Russian’s men. Distressed, Batman takes the injured man to the hospital. Later, he returns the device to Fox, stating, “… it works too well: I’m willing to put my life on the line to do what I have to. But it has to be mine, no one else’s.”

PROS:

• Kevin Conroy does a great job as always as Batman in this movie, but I really loved his Bruce Wayne! Especially when he’s about to leave the country club and a fellow patron asks where he’s going. Bruce simply says he has business to attend to. The patron inquires “Blonde or Brunette?” Bruce replies “Half-Russian, Half-Italian.” I just love Kevin’s delivery of that line, especially when you realize he’s going after two gangs, one that’s Russian and one that’s Italian.
• I love Kevin Michael Richardson as Lucius Fox in this movie!
• While I don’t think Conroy’s voice fit the design, I though it was a pretty good design for Bruce. Especially if we are skewing for a much younger Bruce Wayne.
• I really liked that Bruce decides against the device because it has the potential lethally injure the criminals.

CONS:

• I hate this batsuit.
• This movie crosses over the line of heightened reality strait into science fiction.

Overall, I can forgive the minor flaws in this movie just enough to give it a positive rating. 3.5 out of 6!

Round Four

Plot Summary Taken From Wikipedia:

In Darkness Dwells, was written by David S. Goyer and animated by Madhouse. The police respond to a riot in a cathedral where Cardinal O’Fallon was giving a sermon. According to eyewitness testimony, the Cardinal was abducted by a large lizard-like monster and taken down into the crypts below the cathedral. Lieutenant Gordon, Crispus Allen, and Anna Ramirez investigate. Gordon has a brief conversation with Batman, who agrees with Gordon’s theory that the Scarecrow’s fear toxin is behind the riot as the doctor has been at large since the riot at the Narrows (during the event of Batman Begins). Batman gives Gordon an earpiece that will allow them to stay in contact and descends below ground, trying to find Cardinal O’Fallon and his abductor. A homeless man living in an abandoned subway station identifies the abductor as Killer Croc. Batman and Gordon briefly discuss the villain’s past, but are cut off when Killer Croc himself shows up under the influence of the fear toxin and attacks Batman. Batman defeats him, but not before sustaining a bite that transfers some of the toxin to him. He then finds Cardinal O’Fallon being put on trial and sentenced to death by the Scarecrow (who is unhappy with O’Fallon’s efforts to help the homeless). Batman leaps in to defend the Cardinal. Using the methane already present in the room, he sparks an explosion that destroys several water pipes, flooding the area and allowing him to escape with the Cardinal. While Scarecrow escapes, Gordon appears in a helicopter to retrieve the Cardinal. Gordon offers to help Batman, but Batman refuses, saying “Maybe next time.”

PROS:

• Kevin Conroy is still Batman.
• This movie has continuity with Begins.

CONS:

• There’s no way Killer Croc can exist in the Nolanverse.
• This Scarecrow is nothing like the one in Batman Begins.
• I hate this batsuit’s design.
• A religious figure is in this story, and yet nothing is done with that.
• Batman refuses Gordon’s help even though he clearly needs it.

This is the weakest of the bunch I’d say, it’s not very good. But I don’t think it’s anything to get upset over, I’d give it a 1.5 out of 6.

Round Five

Plot Summary Taken From Wikipedia:

Working Through Pain was written by Brian Azzarello and animated by Studio 4°C. Continuing on from In Darkness Dwells, Batman is shot in the stomach by a man hallucinating in the sewers of Gotham. He cauterizes the wound and attempts to get out from underground, reflecting on his experiences with managing pain as he does so. First, he remembers volunteering with a relief effort and assisting a doctor in performing surgery without anesthesia. Next, he reflects on the lessons he learned from a woman named Cassandra, who was cast out of her community for disguising herself as a boy in an attempt to become a Fakir. Over several months, she teaches him to minimize his pain to the point where he can control it, sleeping on a bed of needles or standing on hot coals without reacting. One night, several young men appear to harass Cassandra, who takes their blows without seeming to feel them. Bruce steps in to defend her, not only demonstrating his ability to withstand their attacks, but defeating them all with his martial arts skills. Cassandra then tells him to leave, saying that he has learned what he came to learn. She then comments on how Bruce’s pain was beyond her, or possibly even his, ability to handle, but how it also appeared to be leading him down a path he desired. Back in the present, Batman ends up in a gutter, where he discovers a cache of guns buried in the garbage. Alfred arrives to assist him and tells Batman to give him his hand so he can pull him out of the gutter, but Batman, arms full of guns, replies that he cannot.

PROS:

• I haven’t read any material by Brian Azzarello, but I’ve heard he’s very good. This short convinced me I should shut the fuck up and read his books! Anybody recommend anything?
• The entire flashback is extremely well done.
• The final scene with Batman holding a bundle of guns in his arms is very disturbing.
• Cassandra’s laments about Bruce’s pain being beyond her and how it may even be leading him down a path he wants was also quite disturbing, in an admittedly delightful way.
• The voice acting is great across the board!
• I can’t think of any cons with this one!

CONS:

• Nothing comes to mind to be honest.

Working Through The Pain is a fantastic story by a fantastic writer! I have nothing against Goyer, but considering that this guy has written for Wondy, Supes and Bats, Brian really ought to be writing Man of Steel 2! I’m giving this short, a 6 out of 6 even!

Round Six!

Plot Summary Taken from Wikipedia:

Deadshot was written by Alan Burnett and animated by Madhouse. Bruce Wayne has a flashback to the murder of his parents. In his penthouse, he examines the firearms he took from the underground tunnel’s gutter (during the event of Working Through Pain) which he intends to turn in to the police. Wayne admits to Alfred that even though he vowed never to use them in the memory of his parents, he can still understand the temptation to use one. Meanwhile, in another city, a prodigious assassin known as Deadshot carries out an assassination on a local mayor named Mayor Manning with a spectacularly difficult shot from a moving ferris wheel literally miles away from the man and returns to his tropical base. There, one of his associates hires him to carry out a hit in Gotham. It is revealed that The Russian has put out a hit on Lieutenant Gordon, and Batman is called in to protect him. Batman gives Crispus Allen Ronald Marshall’s handheld PDA device (which he stole as Bruce Wayne in Field Test), containing a link to encrypted e-mails proving that Ronald Marshall hired Deadshot in the past. He then follows Gordon’s motorcade, with Alfred providing satellite-imagery assistance using the new WayneCom satellites. Deadshot attempts to shoot Gordon from a moving train, but Batman deflects the bullet. Deadshot then gleefully reveals that Batman was his real target the entire time and that the threat against Gordon was merely a ruse to draw him out. He opens fire as the train enters a tunnel and as Batman attempts to charge Deadshot, he is injured falling off the train. Deadshot advances to where he saw Batman fall, gloating, but is ambushed from behind and disarmed. He and Ronald Marshall are arrested. Wayne confides to Alfred about how similar the fight in the tunnel seemed to the night his parents were murdered and comments that “I’ve been trying to stop those two bullets all my life.” He expresses discouragement, and Alfred agrees, but adds that he thinks Bruce has a higher purpose. Bruce then looks up at the sky and sees the Bat-Signal.

PROS:

• This Deadshot fellow is a delightful presence!
• The fight between him and The Bat is the most exciting part of the movie in terms of action.
• The opening scene with Bruce going over the guns he collected was very unnerving, especially given Conroy’s excellent delivery of the line.
• I also find it ironic that Conroy was delivering this monologue since early on in it, he notes that while he would never use a gun, he understands the attraction to them. I find this ironic because in the very first episode of Batman Beyond, we find that Kevin’s Batman retired because he had to resort to “using” a gun. He never actually pulled the trigger or even pistol whipped anyone with it, he just held it out like he was going to fire to scare off the crooks who were about to attack him.
• While I feel like the final monologue from Bruce about he feels like he’s been trying to stop the bullets that killed his parents his whole life is a bit too on the nose, it’s a well written spiel about the subject, so I’ll give it a pass.

CONS:

• I feel like Bats used a bit of excessive force against Deadshot, the guy’s just an assassin, he’s got no personal issues with him.
• I’d think Batman could find a more clever way to get Deadshot close to him without getting himself shot first.

This is the second best one of the six, so I’ll settle for 5 out of 6 for this final short.

FINAL ROUND!!!

To quote Five Finger Death Punch, END OF THE GODDAMN ROAD!

We’ve come to this review’s final ranking and list of pros and cons, so once again, Mr. Harrison, if you would please.

PROS:

• while the animation is from different studios, it’s never badly animated. The character designs are hit and miss, but the animation is always very good.
• The characters never do that sort of big headed reaction that a lot of characters in anime do when they get all excited. I think it would’ve been a mistake to go that direction given the grim nature of these shorts.
• Kevin Conroy kills it every Goddamn time, but he’s Kevin Conroy, so that’s to be expected.
• Jim Meskimen does fine work as Lieutenant Gordon! I’d like to hear him voice the Commish again some time.
• The writing is hit and miss, but when it’s good, it’s REALLY good!
• This was composer, Christopher Drake’s, first forray into DC Animation. It’s good stuff, I can’t wait to hear more from him.

CONS:

• The character designs kind of suck sometimes.
• The villains, with the exception of Deadshot, are fairly underwhelming.
• This movie doesn’t have the same feel as Batman Begins, it honestly feels likes some sort of bastard child of Tim Burton’s Batman and SteamPunk anime. There’s nothing wrong with that inherently, but I feel like that’s a mistake if you’re trying to go for a midquel between Dark Knight and Batman Begins.
• While I think Kevin is excellent in the role as usual, I think it’s a miscast to put him in a role that’s supposed to be Christian Bale’s Batman. Especially when Kevin’s Bruce is more about being a little bit absent minded, while Christian’s is about being an absolute asshole. That may not be an opinion folks agree with, but it’s still one I hold to, and I’m not saying Kevin isn’t as good as Christian. They’re equals in my book.

So all in all, I can’t say I feel like I wasted my time with this one. I’d skip a couple shorts here and there personally, but I’m really glad I watched this one. Batman: Gotham Knight gets a 4.5 out of 6!