I AM THE NIGHT.I AM VENGENCE.
I AM BATMAN!
These words were uttered in one of the more memorable scenes of Batman: The Animated Series (Episode 4: Nothing to Fear) way back in 1992 when I was but a wee lad. For a generation of Batman fans, only one voice was the voice of the Dark Knight when it came to animated features and cartoons and that was Kevin Conroy. He would reprise this role over the years even after the series long ended, but continued with full-length animated features. It was a revolutionary series in terms of animation style and the graphic nature of the program was unheard of for a Saturday morning cartoon at the time.
Now the genii behind that series have come out with another full-length animated feature that is supposed to connect Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. When I first heard of the release of another Batman cartoon, I admit that I almost wept with joy. Unfortunately, my joy was misplaced.
Trying to continue their revolutionary ways, the producers of Gotham Knight decided to go with almost an Animatrix style of many different stories that relate to the main subject, all done by a different director/animator. The Gotham Knight crew created six stories, each animated and directed by a different person, but the difference between this and the Animatrix is that these stories all directly interlock in some way with each other as well as the story subject and help tie up those pesky loose end questions that don’t always get referenced.
Voice acting was solid, but not as good as expected. When I first heard Kevin Conroy coming back to play Batman, I was ecstatic. With the drawings of Batman making him look more like Christian Bale and his real-life Batman though, for the first time in 15 years, I thought Conroy’s voice did not suit Gotham’s Guardian. I appreciate the loyalty from the producers and animators since they used many voice actors from the original Batman: The Animated Series and the newer The Batman, but for anyone who has seen these series and has a decent ear, you are thrown back to the voice actors’ other characters and have difficulty hearing them in this new setting.
In terms of animation, I felt that each progressive story was better and better. The first story was a more revolutionary style that allows for more emphasis on the backgrounds and less on the characters, which I do not like because the driving force behind Batman is the characters. The last story was the most conventional anime style and much more to my liking because it combined both a well painted Gotham City with very well detailed characters.
The plot was jumpy, but that is what this style calls for. The little details that interconnect each segment were wonderful if you caught onto them; they show everything the Batman does or doesn’t do has an effect on his Gotham in some way or another. Whether it is the policemen that do not trust him, the Mafioso that fear him, or the super-villains that plot against him, the Batman is always an influencing force.
If you were a fan of Batman Begins then you will enjoy this more in-depth look into that world and the loose ends this ties up, such as what happens to the Scarecrow or what happened to the Narrows after being flooded with fear gas. If you are a purist, then you might not enjoy the liberties that were taken in this animated feature, much like the ones taken in the first movie. Still though, this was a solid romp into the new Batman mythos that successfully connects Batman Begins and The Dark Knight without directly referencing either one. Not as strong as expected, Batman: Gotham Knight still gets 3 Bat Signals out of 5.
-Ray Carsillo
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