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Gotham Knight is an animated feature created to help bridge the gap between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but it fails to do so. It does manage to be pretty entertaining to a Batman fan, however. Despite DC seemingly downplaying the Japanese studios’ role in animating the feature, the shorts are animated by different, prominent animation studios from Japan.

Touted as “Batman’s Animatrix,” it lacks the creative direction and length of the Matrix’s animated adaptation, but still manages to entertain through its an hour and fifteen minute length, though with more than a few bumps in the road.

“Have I Got a Story For You”

The opening short of Gotham Knight is by far one of the best of the 6 shorts. “Have I Got a Story For You” centers on a group of four skateboarding friends, with all but one bearing witness to The Batman, telling different accounts of how they percieved him. Animated by Studio 4C, the same guys behind Tekkon Kinkreet, the entire short has an extremely stylized visual style that I really enjoyed. Each account of Batman is very different, culminating into an appearance by the true Batman in the end.

This short benefits from the fact that it wasn’t scared to try something different. Its striking visual style may turn off some, but those who accept the unique art direction are in for a great treat. Like I said, this is by far one of the best shorts, definitely ranking in the top two.

“Crossfire”

This short is a piece of crap.

Oh, you want me to say more? Well, alright.

“Crossfire” focuses on two cops, members of the Major Crimes Unit created by James Gordon. One, a man named Allen, doesn’t trust Batman and is against his vigilante ways. The other, a female cop named Ramirez, appreciates what Batman has done for the city and believes Allen should appreciate him more. They transport a criminal back to Arkham, which has become an entire island of criminals, and are eventually caught between a gang war and are saved by Batman.

This short, which is surprisingly animated by Production I.G., has a lackluster art style that doesn’t benefit from I.G.’s realistic pedigree, with anime such as Ghost in the Shell. It’s a rather ugly, boring short with bad writing. It is quite possibly the worst short on the disc.

Crispus Allen and Anna Ramirez apparently are featured in a few of the subsequent shorts, but they look dramatically different due to the different animation style and direction of each short.

“Field Test”

“Field Test” isn’t bad nor exactly substantial. It was animated by Bee Train (Tsubasa Chronicle, .hack), and I think your pleasure with it will verge on how much you like a bishounen Bruce Wayne.

This short focuses on Bruce testing a new technology that allows him to deflect bullets with an electromagnetic field. While testing the new feature of his suit, it causes someone else to get hurt, and he gives it up, stating that he alone should be harmed by his actions.

There really isn’t anything especially bad or good about this short. It doesn’t really tell that interesting of a story, but it doesn’t tell a bad one. The oddly portrayed Bruce took some getting used to, and can definitely turn off a good many people. The batsuit in this short looked pretty cool.

Yeah, I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel with things to say about this one. Like I said at the start, it’s neither bad nor exactly substantial. It’s just decent.

“In Darkness Dwells”

“In Darkness Dwells,” another short animated by Madhouse, doesn’t fall victim to the same lackluster animation quality of “Crossfire.” Its unique art style could be a detractor for some, but I found it at least unique, and that’s what I was looking for with Gotham Knight.

“In Darkness Dwells” tells the story of Batman journeying into the sewers after an 8-foot tall reptilian man was reportedly spotted, with a hostage being taken. He is ambushed by Killer Croc and eventually faces off with Scarecrow, who is alive and well, and had helped twist Killer Croc into what he is.

This short has some decent action, a very sharp art style and the reappearance of Scarecrow. This short is definitely better than “Crossfire,” and you’ll probably enjoy it more than “Field Test.” There isn’t anything outstanding about it, however.

“Working Through Pain”

“Working Through Pain” is my favorite short for a number of reasons. The animation style is strikingly realistic, the locale is unique and the story is actually substantial. Studio 4C, who also animated the first short, handled this one, and carries the same excellent quality that it had, though it focuses more on a realistic portrayal of the man behind Batman attempting to learn to handle the pain he comes to experience in his journeys as Gotham’s hero.

“Deadshot”

I rather saddened that “Deadshot” was the final short in Gotham Knight. Riding off the excellence that was “Working Through Pain,” we’re thrown into an action-only short with a similar art style to that found in Ninja Scroll, which fits the short’s content rather well. This is the third and final short animated by Madhouse, and is most likely the best they handled on the disc. It does not, however, reach the quality of shorts 1 and 5.

“Deadshot” has a simple premise. Ace assassin Deadshot is hired to take out Gordon, Batman gets in the way, and his target switches to Batman. A chase and a short fight play out, and it’s over.

This short lacks any substance. Some may want the final short to be climatic and full of action, but while this one does satisfy while watching, it leaves you feeling rather empty afterward. You realize there wasn’t really anything to it, and at its core, the action wasn’t all that spectacular in the first place.

Also, a line Bruce spouts near the beginning about guns directly contradicts his feelings at the end of short 5, which irked me.

-As a Whole-

Batman: Gotham Knight isn’t a bad purchase – it’s worth the money for fans of the legendary ‘Dark Knight.’ It does not, however, deliver much of what it promised, and with the exception of two very good shorts (at the opposite ends of the spectrum of realism), it treads the same mediocre road all the way through. Also, despite the fact it being said to do so, it does very little when it comes to bridging the plot gap between Begins and The Dark Knight.

A shame, really. If only the other shorts would have shown the quality of the first and fifth, then we could have had a must-buy. Shoddy writing and lack of creativity are the two true main recurring flaws of Batman: Gotham Knight, and two specific excellent shorts cannot manage alone to pull the weight of the entire feature.

Review by member Heiae — [ original post ]