The Dark Knight Returns animated movies news

"Batman. Darling..."

 

Precisely, old chum

 

I'm surprised more studios don't do that.

 

This was just impressive from start to finish, everything about it blew me away. Easily their best DTV right now. Peter Weller impressed the hell out of me as Batman/Bruce Wayne. The animation was fantastic. There are little tweaks here and there, but nothing that detracts from the experience. The score is exceptional as well. This one knocks "Under the Red Hood" down to number two in my favourite of the DCDTV's so far. I can't wait for part two...and I echo the sentiments regarding Michael Emmerson as Joker. That one line...brilliance.

 

You should check out the sneak peek for part II.

 

If it's on the DVD I can't. I watched it on PPV.

 

Well it looks like its not online yet.

 

Redbox stopped carrying the DC and Marvel animated movies awhile ago.

 

I Liked It! I'm shocked.

The Good:
-It tells the story, as opposed to just hitting the main beats.
-It evokes rather than tries to directly copy Miller's panel work.
-The color scheme is nicely muted, no bright color popping like in Year One. Adds to the measured pace.
-Peter Weller was excellent.
-It Keeps the moral ambiguity. It sanded down the sharpest points of the book a bit, but it never comes out and declares that the Batman is an unequivocal good thing. That's one of the primary reasons DKR is superior to Watchmen.

The Bad:
-The 'heat wave breaking' sequence could have been more intense. Trying to keep close to the book, probably hurt this part the most.
-That 80s pseudo-slang was painful in the 80s

The Ugly:
-The GCPD Ventilation System leads directly into the sewer?

 

I did notice that this felt more like a movie and less like a rushed 70 minute story. I guess it's just as well they're doing this over two movies.

Who voiced Batman in the B:TAS version of this story? Michael Ironside, right? I think he was better than Weller.

I think the best part about this presentation was the relationship between Batman and Robin, the way they bonded together.

 

I preferred Weller to Ironside. Something about Ironside's version sounded, ironically enough, too young to my ears.

 

I had to watch it twice, but Weller grew on me the second time.

 

I have to admit, however. There's part of me that thinks they should have used the BTAS cast for this one. Conroy's "old Bruce" voice from "Batman Beyond" is pretty much the voice I "hear" when I read DKR Batman anyway.

 

Can't disagree on that.

 

It's a crappy job, but someone's gotta do it.

 

It was part of Gordon's 'tough on crime' initiative.

 

Which usually involves marching all the cops into the sewer.

 

And I hear Adam West!

 

There IS a part of me that always wishes they'd given West a chance to do the part straight. I'm sure there is an alternate universe out there where instead of Tim Burton's film, the 1989 Batman movie was an adaptation of "TDKR," with Adam West reprising his role ala Shatner and Nimoy with "Trek."

 

They did, to a degree, in The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians, the final season of the Superfriends franchise, which was story-edited by future Batman: TAS producer Alan Burnett and took a more serious, comics-influenced tone than previous seasons. West took over the role of Batman from Olan Soule in the final couple of seasons. (The second-last season, called The Legendary Super Powers Team, might've been more serious too, but I haven't seen it in ages, if ever, so I can't be sure.) West played a lighter, less grim Batman than the one we know today, but he played it straight rather than for laughs, and had some serious emotional moments. Most notably, that season's fourth episode, Burnett's "The Fear," was the first ever screen adaptation of Batman's origin story, as the Scarecrow discovered Batman's fear of Crime Alley and used his devices to amplify it, forcing Batman to confront his past. While not as dark as B:TAS, it was surprisingly intense for its time, something of a prototype for what B:TAS would be. West didn't exactly knock it out of the park, but he did a solid job. There's also the series finale, "The Death of Superman," where West gets a nice dramatic moment or two when Batman is dealing with the (putative) death of his friend.