Review: Batman: Gotham Knight

Posted by bob in Comics, Films, Reviews on July 13th, 2008

Batman: Gotham Knight is a very clever DVD tie-in to The Dark Knight, opening next week.  The six interlocking stories are said to show audiences Batman’s growing experience from a novice in Batman Begins to more veteran The Dark Knight.

With six different animation teams, three writers, David Goyer (who cowrote BB), Josh Olson (A History of Violence) and Alan Burnett (Batman The Animated Series), tackle the tales and as a result they are all over the place in terms of both quality and relevance.Batman Begins ends very clearly setting up the Joker as the next major villain he battles but if the animated exploits are to be considered, he first took time out to deal with mob warfare, the return of Scarecrow, Killer Croc and Deadshot.  From a storytelling point of view, that’s a lot to swallow.

The scripts range from incomplete to boring to action-packed.  The very first story is an old concept, first used in Batman #250 and then again on The Animated Series so actually weakly starts the DVD. We have one nice vignette showing Bruce Wayne’s training in India, juxtaposed with his trying to master his pain after being shot.  It doesn’t quite hold together and it plays heavily with the symbol of the gun, the reminder of what snatched away his childhood and his parents.  But it ends abruptly and without satisfaction.  The guns he recovers from this story are seen in the next but then nothing happens. While it’s nice to see how the police feel about Batman, including the comics’ Crispus Allen; what’s really missing is a sense of how the proverbial man on the street perceives their costumed protector.

As for the villains, Killer Croc didn’t have to be Killer Croc since nothing is done with him.  He attacks Batman and flees and remains on the loose and the Caped Crusader seems absolutely fine with that.  No effort to corral him is made.  Additionally, Deadshot in the comics has a wonderfully complex character but in the story is played more as a sharp-shooting idiot.

Visually, the color palette is about the only thing they have in common.  The  “visionary” animators all provide a fairly generic Gotham City that looks too much like New York and their Batman is mostly a black, fast-moving blob.  The anime style has its place but not with someone like Bruce Wayne who is unrecognizable in at least one story.  Given the stories being interlocking, the varying approach to both Alfred and Lt. Gordon is initially off-putting.

While occasionally, engaging, the overall package underperforms and ultimately disappoints.  The extras include commentary from DC’s Creative Affairs honcho Gregory Noveck which is ho hum but hearing from writer/editor Denny O’Neil and the underrated voice actor Kevin Conroy is far superior.  The sneak peek at next year’s Wonder Woman direct-to-DVD adventure looks far stronger.