Firstly let me say that I’m a big fan of the comic book as I was with “batman year one”, but as that was almost too faithful to the source material the Dark knight returns takes the story then adds scale to all the set pieces. I watched it for the first time last night and watched it again straight after.
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This animated film is phenomenal, it is near enough page/caption perfect. The only parts that lets this film down is the lack of inner monologue and the pacing.
Without the inner monologue you don’t get to understand what the Batman thinks like.
“It was tough work, carrying 220 pounds of sociopath to the top of Gotham Towers — the highest spot in the city. The scream alone is worth it”.
The director made a big mistake here in my opinion. This causes problems with the pacing, you now need to see everything the Batman does and have it explained to you in dialogue or visually.
As mentioned great film, but monologue lacking takes a star off for me.
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This review is from: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 [Blu-ray][Region Free] (Blu-ray)
Warner Bros’ and DC’s current interest in turning popular comic books and graphic novels in the Batman universe into feature-length animated films has thus far been a very successful set of decisions. The first in this ‘series’, ‘Under the Red Hood’ was released two years ago, and was an excellent adaptation of a great storyline from the comic books in recent years. The next year saw the release of ‘Batman: Year One’; an adaptation of one of the most famous Batman origin tales. This managed to capture the tone of the comic book perfectly, and was – in my mind – a very successful film.
And so, this year, Warner Bros have released an adaptation of ‘Batman: The Dark Knight Returns’, splitting it into two feature length, animated films. This product is the first half of the story, but manages to maintain a “complete” feel, despite the open-ending finale.
One of the things I loved most about the adaptation of ‘Batman: Year One’ was the way that countless familiar panes from the comic book had been recreated in the film, and the same is true here. So many of the films scenes are lifted directly from the comic book, which certainly gives the film a certain ‘quality’. This is a tribute to the original book, not a remake.
The plot is fantastic. Set in the near future, where Gotham has once more been overtaken by crime, and the people live in fear of a city-wide gang known as the Mutants, a retired Bruce Wayne is required to don the cape and cowl once more, returning to his former role as Batman in order to fix the city before its too late. Its a gritty world – an almost apocalyptic view of the future, where civilisation is constantly on the brink of collapse. Batman is older and less agile, giving the outlook of the film an intended pitiful tone. The height of this is when Batman goes up against a supposed ‘reformed’ Two-Face. Very little fighting occurs at this point; simply a sad, rather depressing confrontation, alluding to the fact that the world has grown up, and no longer requires costumed vigilantes.
In a way, this causes me to draw similarities with Watchmen, and indeed, the world is similar; a slightly distorted view of what life could be like, oddly echoing The Dark Knight’s “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain” line. Bruce Wayne’s existence in this adaptation is in no way a happy one. Its a story of defeat; of Batman seemingly turning against his self-imposed laws. In his old-aged fight against crime, he is considerably more ruthless, allowing people to die that he could have saved, and even intimidating people to the point that they kill themselves.
This reflects the overall feel of the film. It hasn’t got a 15-rating for nothing, after all. As well as a fair amount of blood, the film includes the murder of children (although this is never seen, but threats are made), rape, and plenty of violence and gunfire. Despite being a cartoon, this is in NO WAY A KIDS FILM.
The animation is good too. I was initially sceptical, when the scenes seemed to lack much depth – something that was present in last year’s ‘Year One’. This bothered me for the first five or ten minutes of the film, where many of the scenes seemed to lack the appropriate detail and depth, but I quickly grew used to it. Nevertheless, the art style does a great job of reflecting both the storyline and the era in which the comic book was written. The animation itself is quick and fluid, most notably during the various fight scenes. While in previous animated films, I’ve occasionally struggled to keep up with the action, in “The Dark Knight Returns Part 1”, the fighting seems quick and fluid, resembling that of a live action film, but with that comic-book-flair that you would expect. There’s a lengthy fight scene towards the end – longer than any I’ve seen in an animated film before – but it is easy to follow. And while animated films often feel rather hollow in this sense, the fight scenes here allow you to ‘feel’ every blow.
Finally, the voice acting. In general, extremely good. An early conversation between a retiring Commissioner Gordon (David Selby) and Bruce Wayne (Peter Weller) is a good example of the high-quality dialogue, performed with perfect timing and excellent dynamics that really breathe life into these characters. There were a few moments where I felt that some characters spoke in a way that didn’t quite reflect what was occuring at the time, but these were barely noticeable; few and far between, and certainly didn’t interrupt the flow of the film. Additionally, the final few seconds of the film introduce a character returning in the second part of the story, voiced by Michael Emerson (recently starred in Person of Interest as Harold Finch). I won’t spoil who that character is, in case you aren’t familiar with the story, but the voice-acting here is absolute tremendous, and not what I was expecting from…
Great,
Firstly let me say that I’m a big fan of the comic book as I was with “batman year one”, but as that was almost too faithful to the source material the Dark knight returns takes the story then adds scale to all the set pieces.
I watched it for the first time last night and watched it again straight after.
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|There are seven working defenses from this position. Three of them disarm with minimal contact. Three of them kill. The other…,
hurts.
This animated film is phenomenal, it is near enough page/caption perfect. The only parts that lets this film down is the lack of inner monologue and the pacing.
Without the inner monologue you don’t get to understand what the Batman thinks like.
“It was tough work, carrying 220 pounds of sociopath to the top of Gotham Towers — the highest spot in the city. The scream alone is worth it”.
The director made a big mistake here in my opinion. This causes problems with the pacing, you now need to see everything the Batman does and have it explained to you in dialogue or visually.
As mentioned great film, but monologue lacking takes a star off for me.
Was this review helpful to you?
|A well-made animated version of the much-loved graphic novel.,
Warner Bros’ and DC’s current interest in turning popular comic books and graphic novels in the Batman universe into feature-length animated films has thus far been a very successful set of decisions. The first in this ‘series’, ‘Under the Red Hood’ was released two years ago, and was an excellent adaptation of a great storyline from the comic books in recent years. The next year saw the release of ‘Batman: Year One’; an adaptation of one of the most famous Batman origin tales. This managed to capture the tone of the comic book perfectly, and was – in my mind – a very successful film.
And so, this year, Warner Bros have released an adaptation of ‘Batman: The Dark Knight Returns’, splitting it into two feature length, animated films. This product is the first half of the story, but manages to maintain a “complete” feel, despite the open-ending finale.
One of the things I loved most about the adaptation of ‘Batman: Year One’ was the way that countless familiar panes from the comic book had been recreated in the film, and the same is true here. So many of the films scenes are lifted directly from the comic book, which certainly gives the film a certain ‘quality’. This is a tribute to the original book, not a remake.
The plot is fantastic. Set in the near future, where Gotham has once more been overtaken by crime, and the people live in fear of a city-wide gang known as the Mutants, a retired Bruce Wayne is required to don the cape and cowl once more, returning to his former role as Batman in order to fix the city before its too late. Its a gritty world – an almost apocalyptic view of the future, where civilisation is constantly on the brink of collapse. Batman is older and less agile, giving the outlook of the film an intended pitiful tone. The height of this is when Batman goes up against a supposed ‘reformed’ Two-Face. Very little fighting occurs at this point; simply a sad, rather depressing confrontation, alluding to the fact that the world has grown up, and no longer requires costumed vigilantes.
In a way, this causes me to draw similarities with Watchmen, and indeed, the world is similar; a slightly distorted view of what life could be like, oddly echoing The Dark Knight’s “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain” line. Bruce Wayne’s existence in this adaptation is in no way a happy one. Its a story of defeat; of Batman seemingly turning against his self-imposed laws. In his old-aged fight against crime, he is considerably more ruthless, allowing people to die that he could have saved, and even intimidating people to the point that they kill themselves.
This reflects the overall feel of the film. It hasn’t got a 15-rating for nothing, after all. As well as a fair amount of blood, the film includes the murder of children (although this is never seen, but threats are made), rape, and plenty of violence and gunfire. Despite being a cartoon, this is in NO WAY A KIDS FILM.
The animation is good too. I was initially sceptical, when the scenes seemed to lack much depth – something that was present in last year’s ‘Year One’. This bothered me for the first five or ten minutes of the film, where many of the scenes seemed to lack the appropriate detail and depth, but I quickly grew used to it. Nevertheless, the art style does a great job of reflecting both the storyline and the era in which the comic book was written. The animation itself is quick and fluid, most notably during the various fight scenes. While in previous animated films, I’ve occasionally struggled to keep up with the action, in “The Dark Knight Returns Part 1”, the fighting seems quick and fluid, resembling that of a live action film, but with that comic-book-flair that you would expect. There’s a lengthy fight scene towards the end – longer than any I’ve seen in an animated film before – but it is easy to follow. And while animated films often feel rather hollow in this sense, the fight scenes here allow you to ‘feel’ every blow.
Finally, the voice acting. In general, extremely good. An early conversation between a retiring Commissioner Gordon (David Selby) and Bruce Wayne (Peter Weller) is a good example of the high-quality dialogue, performed with perfect timing and excellent dynamics that really breathe life into these characters. There were a few moments where I felt that some characters spoke in a way that didn’t quite reflect what was occuring at the time, but these were barely noticeable; few and far between, and certainly didn’t interrupt the flow of the film. Additionally, the final few seconds of the film introduce a character returning in the second part of the story, voiced by Michael Emerson (recently starred in Person of Interest as Harold Finch). I won’t spoil who that character is, in case you aren’t familiar with the story, but the voice-acting here is absolute tremendous, and not what I was expecting from…
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