Movie Viewing Date: 7/15/08
Movie Title: Batman Gotham Knights (single disk)
DVD
Reviewed By: Kip Lewis

Intro:

In time for the release of the new Batman movie, THE DARK KNIGHT, DC released its first PG-13 animated Batman movie.  Unlike previous animated Batman products, this DVD is part of the the new movie line.

But DC didn’t just stop with an animated movie.  They hired the talents of several animators from Japan and did the movie in the style of Japanese Animation.  Six different styles that is.

The story is broken up into six parts, each told by a different animated in their own style.  Surprisingly, it works well.  My favorite art style is the third (which is done in the style you see in G-Force/Gatachaman) and the fifth (which reminded me of the Bubblegum Crisis style, but I can’t say for sure it was one and the same).  But even the other art styles worked well.

Story wise, it worked, but it wasn’t a great story.  I would say it is more a character study through an adventure then an action storyline.  The first two parts are my favorites, because they’re not about Batman, but about the denizens of Gotham.  (I don’t think I’ve even used the word “denizen” in a sentence, before.)  The first story was about 4 friends telling about their own encounters with the Batman.  Each one saw Batman differently; the first saw him as a living shadow, the second as a half-human, half-demon creature and the last saw him as a robot.  The second storyline gave us the view of the police.  Two detectives in Gordon’s unit debate the value of Batman.  The first saw him as the hope of Gotham and the second saw him as a vigilante, pure and simple.
The rest of the story moves to Batman telling about what Batman values, his training, and so on.

The movie was completely captioned.

Previews/Commercials Captioned: No

Opinion Review: I like anime.  I enjoy the different styles, though I do have my favorites.  The character story was good, but I think I might have enjoyed it if they continued to show us Batman through the eyes of others.

Special/Supplemental Features Captioned: No (Note, I didn’t review the two disk version, but given that none of the supplements in the singled disk were captioned, I wouldn’t expect the second disk to be, but maybe.)

Overall Caption Rating: 4

Overall Show Rating: 4

Total Rating: 4

Do You Recommend This Show to Others Who Depend on Captioning? Yes for show, No for special features or trailers.

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