Batman DVD Reviews (minor spoilers)

[olivia_sutton]

Batman Overload (DVD Reviews)

By Olivia Sutton

 

Well, I kinda' stocked up on Batman DVDs and now that I've watched everything I'm a bit overloaded - tho' I still need to track down the DC Animated Universe movies.
Anyway here's what I now have:

Batman: The Animated Series Vol. 4 (DVD set) (aka "Gotham Knights")
I was a bit dubious about this collection, because I much, much prefer a solo Batman, than a Batman-with-a-family. However, this collection is better than I expected. First, tho' Robin is now Tim Drake and Dick Grayson has moved on to become Nightwing -- the production crew gave Tim Jason Todd's personality and backstory. This fits better than Tim Drake, who with his "Oh gee whiz" personality reminded me of Beaver from Leave It to Beaver and drove me nuts! (Mind you, I've only encountered Tim Drake in the graphic novel "A Lonely Place of Dying" where he's introduced -- and he may have been toned down later.) Jason Todd, otoh, was a street-wise kid famous mostly for his end (see the wonderful graphic novel "A Death in the Family"). Batgirl is also present in this collection. However, there are several solo Batman adventures that at least feel like the classic Batman the Animated Series program. Overall, I liked it and it finishes off the B:TAS DVD collection nicely. (I have all three previous volumes)

I also bought Batman: The Dark Knight on sale at Target (more about why it was on sale in a moment) for $10.00. 'Course, that meant I had to see Batman Begins and Batman Gotham Knight first. I checked Amazon, decided I didn't want to wait (especially with my trip to Florida with Mom to think about) and bought both at Best Buy.

Batman Begins was awesome! In some ways, I liked it better than The Dark Knight and I really liked Dark Knight. I'd somehow managed to miss all the announcements for casting, so besides those from Batman The Dark Knight that I really liked (Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman) - I was pleasantly surprised to see Liam Neeson! I must admit tho' -- as good as the training scenes between him and Christian Bale were -- I half expected him to say "You must learn to use the force, young Padewan." And so much of what he said sounded like it should have come from a script for a Star Wars movie. I also was very surprised by his return at the end of the movie (and it explained why Wayne Manor was a burnt cinder in "The Dark Knight" - something that confused me).
Again - Chicago was the setting for Gotham City - which was awesome! As I had when I first saw The Dark Knight in the movie theater - I recognized parts of the Loop and the Chicago River area. But I loved the way the movie used the back story lore of Batman -- Bruce's fall into the well, the death of his parents. The kid playing young Bruce did an excellent job! I also really liked Bruce's father -- too often there just isn't any information about him, yet Bruce seems to dedicated everything he does to his parents' memory (including as CEO of Wayne Enterprises). I also liked Christian Bale better as Batman in this film -- I really didn't like the "motorized"-sounding voice in the second movie (oh, Kevin Conroy, where are you?) - Bale did a better job playing both Batman and Bruce Wayne and I liked seeing Bruce's journey into becoming Batman.

Batman Gotham Knight was an interesting experiment. I liked having Kevin Conroy back as the voice of Batman (and Bruce Wayne). Conroy really is my Batman in a sense, and since I started watching B:TAS about a year or two ago -- he's now the voice I hear in my head when reading the graphic novels (even re-reading ones with a distinct style like Frank Miller's classic "The Dark Knight Returns"). David McCallum does a good job as Alfred, tho' I was a bit disappointed with the writing for Alfred. Michael Caine played the part perfectly in the two new movies; and Efrem Zimbalist Jr., did an excellent job in Batman: The Animated Series. Both actors gave Alfred that nice, dry, sense of humor, but also showed his caring for Bruce - the man he raised. Actually, I really like Efrem Zimbalist Jr., because he managed to put across both his understanding of why Bruce has to go out each night as Batman, and his concern for Bruce's physical and mental well-being. Michael Caine has his moments as well - in both movies, encouraging Bruce, as well as doing the "Alfred-thing" of reminding Batman of his obligations as Bruce Wayne - something that Batman tends to forget. (It's complicated).
What I didn't like about Batman Gotham Knight was the animation style. Sorry - but Japanese Animé style just doesn't work for Batman - a quintessental American hero. Even in the better stories of the six - the Japanese Animé style was distracting (especially the way Bruce Wayne was drawn - he looked like he stepped out of Star Blazers (aka Space Battleship Yamato) and into a business suit). In terms of stories, the quality varied. The first one, with three street kids telling their own stories about Batman was a direct copy of two B:TAS episodes -- I didn't really like them in B:TAS, and a third go was totally pointless. The remaining five stories are better, with each getting better as it goes on. I was probably most excited to see another take on Bane - but that "part" felt a bit flat. In fact the whole movie, with it's six inter-related parts felt kinda' flat. It also didn't really seem to do what it needed to (or stated it would) do, which was link Batman Begins with Batman the Dark Knight.
Batman The Dark Knight of course is an awesome movie. In many ways, the villians, Harvey "Two-Face" Dent, and The Joker (often named Jack Napier in the comics, but not in this movie) steal the show. Also, Batman's costume seems to be a step backwards -- less flexible and with the annoying voice-changing box, that I didn't like. I DID like the movie tho -- great cast: Christian Bale (who does do a very, very good Bruce Wayne -- I especially liked the bit where he smashes his Porsche to save Dent then claims he didn't do it on purpose), Michael Caine (excellent as Alfred), Morgan Freeman (as Lucius Fox - so nice to even see the character - sorta' a "business" Alfred for Bruce), Heath Ledger of course (fantastic as the Joker), Anthony Michael Hall (as the reporter who keeps showing up - I kept expecting him to have visions! Yep, he was in the TV version of "The Dead Zone"), Gary Oldman again as Jim Gordon (and doing a darn good job!), and even Keith Szarabajka (Chicago native and of "The Equalizer"), oh - and Eric Roberts was in one of the movies as a mob boss. Again - nice to see Chicago playing the part of Gotham City.   (To quote The Blues Brothers, "This is definately Lower Wacker Drive!" - what the movie identified as "Lower 5^th").  And the real Chicago PD Pipes and Drums band playing for the funeral.
But yeah, Batman Dark Knight -- awesome.
But about the sale part -- yep, it's widescreen, but the disc has no special features, not even a commentary, I'd have to "trade-up" to the "Deluxe" edition to get any special features -- and I hate buying something twice.
But, despite all the Batman stuff - I still want to find the two Batman "TV" movies (DC Animated), and perhaps Batman Beyond on DVD. (I'd like to SEE Batman Beyond first to find out if I like it!).
If you haven't seen Batman Begins / Batman The Dark Knight - I highly recommend them.