Gothamite
Well-Known Member
Doesn't seem to be a thread for this.
Anyway, I bought this yesterday and I was very pleasantly surprised to find that it was a lot better than I expected it to be. With the exception of the first 'episode', the whole thing blew me away and the designs were just amazing. Batman has never looked scarier in other media, ever. Even in the episodes where he was wearing the grey costume, he looked like a menacing vampire; but the beauty of it was that it wasn't overly-stylised and silly (once again, with the exception of the first episode); it seemed realistic and consistent, other than some minor moments of silliness that were cool enough to make up for it.
The episodes relate to Batman Begins quite well, but aren't necessarily direct continuations of it, nor do you have to have seen Begins in order to understand what's going on (other than a few minor details that you'd probably cop on to, anyway). The 'set-up' of Batman Begins is basically the same in the episodes:
I also loved the look of Gotham City in most of the episodes. While it was very realistic and gritty; most of the time it looked like a place out of a nightmare. It was truly frightening and intimidating. Oh and the music...damn. Hot diggity damn. There were, like, FOUR different Batman themes and at least two of them were absolutely mind-blowing.
What didn't I like? Well...honestly...the voice-acting! Kevin Conroy was not suited to this project at all and it was abundantly clear that he was only involved to appease die-hard fans. There were moments when he was cool, but overall, his performance seemed a bit phoned-in and pedestrian and in my opinion, anyone who hadn't watched the original Animated Series extensively would probably say "WTF? That guy sounds nothing like Batman!". His age didn't help, either. Conroy is a man in his fifties and he was portraying a man in his early thirties and it just looked wrong. His 'Batman voice' also lacked the intensity of the early Animated Series days. His voice was just plain and normal, throughout. There was only one of the episodes where he seemed truly suited to the role, as he did in BTAS. Honestly, I would have far preferred Christian Bale in the role.
As for the rest of the cast, Lucius Fox and Crispus Allen (my favourite character in the whole thing) were quite good; but Jim Gordon was awful. He lacked the gruffness and maturity of Bob Hastings or Gary Oldman and he didn't sound at all like a man who smoked 40+ a day. Alfred was okay, but his accent seemed forced.
Other than some minor problems I had with the overall animation-style (that probably stem from my disdain for Animé, anyway) such as the lack of lip-synch and the occasional appearance of the characters as though they're two-dimensional, the only other major problem I had with the movie was the first episode, "Have I got a Story for you?" which was just absolutely awful and no way to open the movie. First of all, it was a blatant copy of an existing Animated Series episode ("Legends of the Dark Knight"). Secondly, the designs throughout the episode were the only instance in the whole movie where I actually cringed by how much I didn't like them. Lastly, all of the action takes place during the ******* DAY! WHAT THE ****?!!
If it was up to me, this episode wouldn't exist, and "In Darkness Dwells" (my favourite episode in the whole thing) would be ten minutes longer.
Anyway, the recurring thought I had while watching this was:
1. This is the best of the DCU Straight-to-DVD movies, ever.
2. People are always talking about a 'more mature' Batman animated series on Adult Swim or something. THIS is what that needs to be.
9/10
Anyway, I bought this yesterday and I was very pleasantly surprised to find that it was a lot better than I expected it to be. With the exception of the first 'episode', the whole thing blew me away and the designs were just amazing. Batman has never looked scarier in other media, ever. Even in the episodes where he was wearing the grey costume, he looked like a menacing vampire; but the beauty of it was that it wasn't overly-stylised and silly (once again, with the exception of the first episode); it seemed realistic and consistent, other than some minor moments of silliness that were cool enough to make up for it.
The episodes relate to Batman Begins quite well, but aren't necessarily direct continuations of it, nor do you have to have seen Begins in order to understand what's going on (other than a few minor details that you'd probably cop on to, anyway). The 'set-up' of Batman Begins is basically the same in the episodes:
- Bruce Wayne isn't an almighty genius like he is in the comics and Lucius Fox provides most of the technological and scientific smarts Batman needs.
- Alfred is a little bit taller and tougher-looking
- . Batman can glide around the skies with his hi-tech cape and his body armour can deflect a lot of gunfire.
- The Batmobile (in one of the episodes, anyway) is more of a muscled-up tank than a demonised drag-racer.
I also loved the look of Gotham City in most of the episodes. While it was very realistic and gritty; most of the time it looked like a place out of a nightmare. It was truly frightening and intimidating. Oh and the music...damn. Hot diggity damn. There were, like, FOUR different Batman themes and at least two of them were absolutely mind-blowing.
What didn't I like? Well...honestly...the voice-acting! Kevin Conroy was not suited to this project at all and it was abundantly clear that he was only involved to appease die-hard fans. There were moments when he was cool, but overall, his performance seemed a bit phoned-in and pedestrian and in my opinion, anyone who hadn't watched the original Animated Series extensively would probably say "WTF? That guy sounds nothing like Batman!". His age didn't help, either. Conroy is a man in his fifties and he was portraying a man in his early thirties and it just looked wrong. His 'Batman voice' also lacked the intensity of the early Animated Series days. His voice was just plain and normal, throughout. There was only one of the episodes where he seemed truly suited to the role, as he did in BTAS. Honestly, I would have far preferred Christian Bale in the role.
As for the rest of the cast, Lucius Fox and Crispus Allen (my favourite character in the whole thing) were quite good; but Jim Gordon was awful. He lacked the gruffness and maturity of Bob Hastings or Gary Oldman and he didn't sound at all like a man who smoked 40+ a day. Alfred was okay, but his accent seemed forced.
Other than some minor problems I had with the overall animation-style (that probably stem from my disdain for Animé, anyway) such as the lack of lip-synch and the occasional appearance of the characters as though they're two-dimensional, the only other major problem I had with the movie was the first episode, "Have I got a Story for you?" which was just absolutely awful and no way to open the movie. First of all, it was a blatant copy of an existing Animated Series episode ("Legends of the Dark Knight"). Secondly, the designs throughout the episode were the only instance in the whole movie where I actually cringed by how much I didn't like them. Lastly, all of the action takes place during the ******* DAY! WHAT THE ****?!!
If it was up to me, this episode wouldn't exist, and "In Darkness Dwells" (my favourite episode in the whole thing) would be ten minutes longer.
Anyway, the recurring thought I had while watching this was:
1. This is the best of the DCU Straight-to-DVD movies, ever.
2. People are always talking about a 'more mature' Batman animated series on Adult Swim or something. THIS is what that needs to be.
9/10
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