Batman: Gotham Knight (Two-Disc Special Edition) DVD Review

Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 07.15.2008

For those who don't have enough Batman in their diet as of late, here's a nice helping for you.

Directed by: Shojiro Nishimi, Futoshi Higashide, Hiroshi Morioka, Yasuhiro Aoki, Toshiyuki Kubooka, and Jong-Sik Nam
Written by: Brian Azzarello, Josh Olson, David Goyer, Greg Rucka, Jordan Goldberg, Alan Burnett

Starring:
Kevin Conroy - Batman/Bruce Wayne (voice)
Gary Dourdan - Crispus Allen (voice)
David McCallum - Alfred Pennyworth (voice)
Corey Burton - Scarecrow/The Russian/Marshall (voice)
Jim Meskimen - James Gordon/Deadshot (voice)
Parminder Nagra - Cassandra (voice)
Ana Ortiz - Anna Ramirez (voice)
Rob Paulsen - Sal Maroni/Mole Man/Youth #4 (voice)
Kevin Michael Richardson - Lucius Fox/Avery/Wounded Man/Bulky Man (voice)
Andrea Romano - Martha Wayne/Dispatcher (voice)
Crystal Scales - Meesh (voice)
Alanna Ubach - Dander (voice)
Hynden Walch - Woman/Young Cassandra/Young Bruce (voice)


DVD Release Date: 7/8/2008
Running Time: 75 minutes



Rated PG-13 for stylized violence, including some bloody images

You may not have heard, but there’s a little movie coming out next week about a guy who dresses in a suit and uses these really cool gadgets in order to fight crime in this fictional place called Gotham City. That’s right…next week, The Dark Knight explodes into theaters with a near-unprecedented level of hype. Nearly everyone is excited about the potential of this film to be incredible, the viral marketing campaign has been impressive, and every commercial and trailer that have been in heavy rotation looks more and more impressive. Amidst all of this media hype, DC Comics and Warner Brothers have turned to one other venue; their direct-to-DVD animated film line. In the past several years, Warner Brothers Animation has released several films to DVD featuring some of their most luminary characters, including Superman, the Teen Titans, the Justice League and, yes, Batman. Their latest effort, Batman: Gotham Knight has been billed as a bridge between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, in order to make the wait for rabid fans a bit less agonizing (and, of course, toss a few more coins into Warner Brothers’ coffers).

The Movie

The film, shot in different segments with different writers, directors and animators—but the same voice talent throughout—features six separate pieces that combine loosely to make one story arc. The pedigree for the film is impressive, to start with. The writers are all highly-regarded ones, either for their work in film, comic books, or both; producer Bruce Timm has an impressive resume with comic book animation, having been involved with many of DC’s recent animated efforts. The animation companies hold, collectively among their resumes, such stories as Vampire Hunter D, Metropolis, Ghost in the Shell, and Steam Boy. It is through this myriad of talent that DC presents us with these six short pieces.

The first piece, “Have I Got a Story For You,” was written by Josh Olson, the screenwriter who brought A History of Violence from the comic book to the big screen. It tells the tale of four kids who meet at a skate park, three of which have just had experiences with Batman and tell them with wildly different and creative interpretations as to what the mysterious crime-fighter really is. The fourth kid had no such luck…when the story begins. This short, directed by Shojiro Nishimi and animated by Studio 4C of The Animatrix fame, has some fun with time and the order in which the stories are told. It creates a nice little piece about Batman’s mythology and how the people that live in the streets of Gotham, particularly kids, may view him. The only issue with this piece is the rather generic nature of it in that there’s nothing that is specifically important to its placement between Begins and The Dark Knight. This is a minor quibble, and the story carries off well, both on its own and as the beginning of the storyline presented here.

The second story that we’re treated to is penned by Greg Rucka, who’s work in comic books, including runs on Batman and Detective Comics, has been quite well-received. Directed by Futoshi Higashide and animated by The Ghost in the Shell’s Production I.G., “Crossfire” gives us a nod into the comic book series Gotham Central, with Jim Gordon creating a Major Crimes Unit in the Gotham PD. One of his selections, Crispus Allen, is suspicious of Gordon’s involvement with Batman. Allen is tasked, along with his partner Anna Ramirez, with transporting an escaped Arkham Asylum inmate back to the island—the entirety of which has become the asylum due to the Scarecrow’s actions in Begins. On the way back, they get caught in a deadly shootout between the forces of Sal Maroni and the Russian, two mob factions warring since the fall of Carmine Falcone. Enter the Batman, of course. This segment, which is a bit more impressively animated then the first from this reviewer’s perspective, really succeeds better on every level. We have direct tie-ins to the first film, and also to the comic books. Rucka re-introduces the mob element that was a smaller part of Batman Begins, but will play a larger role in The Dark Knight. It’s all very nicely set up, and transitions smoothly into the third piece.

Unfortunately, the third piece is a bit of a let-down. Entitled “Field Test,” it is scripted by Batman Begins and The Dark Knight producer Jordan Goldberg, directed by Hiroshi Morioka, and bizarrely animated by .hack and Noir production company Bee Train. It focuses on the high-tech gadgets, as Bruce and Lucius Fox discuss an invention to help make Batman bullet-proof. Bruce goes out to test the capabilities of the device against the warring mob factions and discovers two things in one fell swoop: that not all inventions work as well in theory as they do in practice, and that putting one’s life on the line is different than risking the lives of others. The plot of this piece is interesting, if a little too sci-fi, and it presents a nice character piece on the lengths Bruce is willing to go as Batman. Unfortunately, the animation kills this piece. Bee Train’s depiction of Bruce presents him both as entirely too young and, frankly, looking nothing like any previous version of the character. The Bruce Wayne in this piece could have been easily interchangeable with any number of generic anime hero characters, and it’s simply too jarring of a depiction for the short to have any real effectiveness. The other depictions are not quite as drastic, but still find themselves quite different, and it destroys the continuity of the six pieces a little bit.

The fourth story, entitled "In Darkness Dwells,” was animated by Madhouse, the company behind Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Trigun, and Ninja Scroll. Written by Begins scribe David Goyer and directed by Yasuhiro Aoki, “Darkness” is perhaps the best of the six pieces. Hearing reports of people being attacked by some giant creature, he goes down into the sewers to investigate. What he finds down there is Killer Croc, who’s been injected with the Scarecrow’s fear toxin, and in the fight, Batman is infected with it. This piece has all the best pieces that help the others combined; great animation, ties to the first film (and a hopeful bridge to the next), character study, and good action. The inclusion of Killer Croc is nice, as this is one of only two pieces to introduce a new super-villain into the movie’s lore, and it makes this piece feel special due to that. We get to see more of the Scarecrow, which is an absolutely good thing, and what he’s been up to since Begins, and much like “Crossfire,” it enables a very smooth segue into the next piece.

That piece, titled "Working Through Pain,” is also a good one. Written by comic book scribe Brian Azzarello of 100 Bullets and Batman: Broken City fame, it goes into a flashback where Bruce learns to find a way to deal with pain in India. Turned away by fakirs, he finds a woman named Cassandra who teaches him an important lesson about pain and how to use it. This is, much like “Have I Got a Story For You,” a more generic piece, that’s only part of the storyline arc due to the timing and circumstances around Bruce flashing back to this point in his life, but it’s a well-written and visually more impressive work by that first piece’s animation company, Studio 4C. It’s not quite as memorable as some of the other pieces, but still tells a good story.

The last piece, entitled “Deadshot,” features that specific villain. The story is written by the man behind Batman Beyond, Alan Burnett, and features a nice little twist story involving the assassin Deadshot, who’s been hired to eliminate an important individual or two in Gotham’s stand against corruption. The action in this piece, again animated by Madhouse and directed by Jong-Sik Nam, is skillfully handled and makes for an exciting finale to the overall story, ending it on a high note as Batman is challenged with how far he’ll go to battle evil—something he’s sure to have to revisit with The Dark Knight.

Much like The Animatrix, Batman: Gotham Knight‘s individual stories vary in quality. However, where this piece succeeds better than its predecessor is that the pieces are all woven loosely into one thread that creates a sense of continuity, as opposed to Animatrix’s more jumbled approach. It’s nice to follow the storyline through separate pieces, much like a multi-issue arc of a comic book storyline, and this appears to be the feel that the makers were going for. While some of the individual pieces may not be all that great, they still work as a part of something greater.

The one thing that stays consistent through all of the shorts is the voice acting, which is high-caliber. Kevin Conroy, who has voiced Batman for the better part of sixteen years, is as spot-on as he ever is in the title role. His voice carries the appropriate gravitas needed for both Batman and Bruce, and his experience suits him well as he holds the disparate segments together. Other standouts are Bend it Like Beckham's Parminder Nagra as Cassandra, Kevin Michael Richardson as Lucius Fox, Gary Dourdan as Crispus Allen, Corey Burton doing double-duty as the Russian and the Scarecrow, David McCallum as Alfred, and Rob Paulson as Sal Maroni.

The biggest flaw about the movie is that, at seventy-five minutes, it’s simply too short. The individual scenes range from ten to thirteen minutes in length, and it leaves the viewer consistently wanting more. Perhaps this was Warner Brothers and DC’s goal; in presenting this piece, it only whets the appetite more for the upcoming blockbuster-to-be. In that, it does its job well. Unfortunately, viewed as a stand-alone piece, it comes across less complete then it perhaps should, and that’s a shame. It had a very good chance to be something truly special in the way of an animated story; instead, it seems more like another marketing tool, and this hurts the movie, even if it doesn’t ruin it.

Film Rating: 7.0

The Video

The video transfer given to the 1.78:1 widescreen format that Batman: Gotham Knight is presented in is not, sadly, up to the standards of the film itself. There is some noticeable grain and a hint of uneven coloring in the blacks; a problem, obviously, because much of the film is done in swaths of darker colors. A hint of color issues presents itself in certain spots also, and while they’re mostly problems that are brief and controlled, I still expected more, and it enhances the feeling that this was merely a quick marketing grab to enhance The Dark Knight interest and raise a few bucks, rather than something of its own merit.

Video Rating: 5.5

The Audio

While the video transfer may suffer some, the audio track for Gotham Knight is exceptional. It is presented in a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound in English, Japanese or Thai, and a Dolby 2.0 in Spanish and Portuguese. All of the sounds—whether dialogue, the familiar animated Batman score, or ambient sounds and other sound effects—are leveled exceptionally well. Only a slight issue with the balancing between the speakers prevents the audio track from perfection. Subtitles are offered in all of the audio options.

Audio Rating: 8.0

Special Features

Commentary Track: The audio commentary is actually kind of fun, with Kevin Conroy, the animated voice of Batman, offering insights along with Batman comic book scribe Dennis O'Neil and DC's Senior Vice President for Creative Affairs Gregory Noveck. Conroy’s the most fun to listen to, and they supply anecdotes about the various stories as well as other fun tidbits.

Wonder Woman Sneak Peek: (10:29) This short is a behind-the-scenes hype piece for the upcoming Wonder Woman animated movie. It features an impressive array of voice talent including Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Rosario Dawson, Alfred Molina, and Virginia Madsen. The featurette goes into the history of Wonder Woman as a comic book character, and how William Marsten created her to be the first major female superhero, inspired by the classic Greek myths as opposed to most superheroes of the time. The story of the animated film-to-be is discussed, which is to be the origin story, and It’s a nice hype piece that made me interested in checking out the feature when it comes out.

A Mirror For The Bat: The Evil Denizens of Gotham City: (35:44) This nice, informative documentary offers insight for the uninitiated and experts alike into the world of Batman and Gotham City. It covers most of the important Bat-Villains, from Killer Croc and Catwoman to Joker and Two-Face. It’s very nicely detailed and offers a good amount of information, both on the specific characters and the relationships between heroes and villains in general. It’s well worth checking out, no matter what your Batman IQ is.

Batman and Me, A Devotion to Destiny: the Bob Kane Story: (38:23) This is another excellent featurette, going into the life of Bob Kane, the creator of Batman. It covers his entire life, with several people talking about him, even an old rival from Marvel Comics, Stan Lee himself. It’s a nice, enjoyable retrospective on the late comic book creator’s life and his exceptionally considerable influence on the landscape of superhero comic books.

Bruce Timm Presents: Bonus Episodes From “Batman The Animated Series”: (84:19) This is four episodes, chosen by producer Bruce Timm, of the great Batman: The Animated Series. It’s an exceptional touch and great for nostalgia, though there’s no getting around the sad fact that these four episodes are longer combined then all six of the Gotham Knight segments.

Trailers: (8:49) We get the trailer for The Dark Knight (of course), a Journey to the Center of the Earth one that isn’t quite as bad as others that have been seen, a commercial for the upcoming Lego Batman video game, and an advertisement for the upcoming Popeye the Sailor: 1938 – 1940 Volume 2 DVD.

Special Features Rating: 8.5

The 411: The Animatrix proved to many studios that the direct-to-DVD market could be used to help promote their biggest theatrical releases of the year, and Batman: Gotham Knight is another movie along that vein. The six different stories that are woven together may vary in quality, but they create a story that, while not perfect, does stand up tolerably well. The video transfer is less then the movie deserves, but the good audio and wealth of special features make for a worthy DVD for people who can't get enough of the Bat before The Dark Knight comes out.

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]