Greetings,
I know I give a lot of love to these DC animated movies, but, I must admit, I do have a favorite. It is that one, in particular, that I will be discussing today, Batman: Gotham Knight. And it is fantastic.
Now this one is quite unique in the way it is presented. It's not one movie/story, necessarily, but six vignettes put together by different writers, animators and directors. However, there is some cohesion that threads them all together, some more than others, so it's almost something of a miniseries. But different. I think the best way to talk about this is to go through each of the pieces, one by one, and give a very quick synopsis of their plots. I probably won't say much about that, since I would like you to all experience this for yourselves. But I will do my best to give everyone a little taste. So here we go.
"Have I Got a Story For You?" - In this opening short, we follow a group of kids as they tell stories of when they each saw the infamous Batman. Each one has a different take on his looks and his abilities. I have to say, I wasn't crazy about this one at first, but then I realized that this was actually a very good way to start. Gotham Knight, in its entirety, is different people giving their own version of how they see Batman, so why not begin with a story that does the same?
"Crossfire" - Here, a bit like the first, we get an idea of how Batman appears to others. In this case, though, we see how he is viewed by some cops. Specifically, we are dealing with Crispus Allen and Anna Ramirez. They are partners who don't exactly agree on whether or not Batman can be trusted by anyone, especially their boss, James Gordon. And all of this comes to a head during a confrontation between to gangs, wherein they are caught in the crossfire, hence, the title. Now Batman is not in this so much, as the story is really about the other characters, but he arrives when he is needed.
"Field Test" - This is the first one where Bruce Wayne/Batman appears as the main character, and it is a young version of such. It seems to be how he was as he was just beginning to do the whole Batman thing. The plot is about Lucius Fox designing a device that will protect Batman from some guns, and it comes in handy when he's out taking care of some bad guys. But maybe too well. The story tends to remind us how Bruce Wayne is willing to put himself in danger, but not anyone else.
"In Darkness Dwells" - In this one, the police are called to a riot that breaks out in a cathedral where people say the cardinal was abducted by a strange creature. Batman and Gordon agree that Scarecrow may be behind what is going on. This is an interesting point since it ties this into events in the movie Batman Begins. So a ton of crazy things happen in this story culminating with Batman getting wounded and leading us into the next vignette.
"Working Through Pain" - I'd say that this piece and the previous one are the most linked together of any of these shorts. It really is just a continuation, a part two even. Here we find a wounded Batman wandering through the sewers and reflecting back on some events that took place in his past. He remembers volunteering at a relief effort where a man is operated on without being anesthetized, and he also thinks back on some time he spent being trained by a woman named Cassandra. She was an outcast in her community for trying to learn things that only the boys were allowed to learn. What she does is try and help Bruce work through his pain. Now this one here is my favorite, and it is so for a lot of reasons. But more than anything, I love the final few shots. There is this image we see that is very powerful and poignant when we think of who Bruce Wayne, and in turn, Batman, is. And I don't know if this was intentional, but these scenes do seem to hand us right over to what happens in the final vignette.
"Deadshot" - So guess which villain shows up in this one is? You'll never guess. Okay, I'll tell you. It's Deadshot. So since he is an assassin, the plot centers around the attempts to assassinate someone. But who? That, I am not going to tell you. And that is basically what the story consists of. The ending is very well done, though, and it really ties up, not only the end of this story, but the whole collection. And yet, it has a bit of an open ended feeling to it. Not in a sequel bait kind of way, but in a way that let's us know that, even though the story is over, the story isn't over. We leave Bruce Wayne as he remembers that he's Batman and this is what he does. Good ending.
So there you have it. This is a very good movie to watch, especially is you are a Batman fan. It's brilliantly put together, with great animation and fantastic stories. Everyone involved did such a good job. And I have to speak, of course, about the voice over work. We get a lot of wonderful acting here from the likes of Gary Dourdan, Parminder Nagra, Ana Ortiz, Alana Ubach and Kevin Michael Richardson, one of the best voice over actors ever, just to name a few. And of course, we get the official voice of Batman, Mr. Kevin Conroy. I've mentioned him before, but I have to say it again. This guy is incredible and the only person who should ever voice Batman. Like ever!
Now one more thing. I own this movie on a two edition DVD, and if you're going to buy it get this one. You will, obviously, get the movie on disc one with a entertaining commentary, but you also get some good features on disc two. There are four episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, presented by Bruce Timm, who is a major part of the DC animated universe. Then, we get a documentary about Bob Kane, one of the creators of Batman. Finally, there is a very informative featurette about the villains that our hero has had to face. It's really good.
So, as I said, this one is my favorite. I think if you like the tone of the Christopher Nolan Batman films, you'll like this one a lot. Even if you don't, though, Batman: Gotham Knight is definitely something that should be seen.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
