Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)

Directed by: Yasuhiro Aoki, Futoshi Higashide, Toshiyuki Kubooka, Hiroshi Morioka, Jong-Sik Nam, Shoujirou Nishimi | 73 minutes | action, drama, animation, adventure | Original voice cast: Kevin Conroy, Jason Marsden, Scott Menville, George Newbern, Corey Padnos, Crystal Scales, Alanna Ubach, Hynden Walch, Corey Burton, Gary Dourdan

Batman is back in fashion thanks to ‘The Dark Knight’ (and the monetary gain associated with his comeback). Hollywood bobos aren’t crazy. As soon as hard money can be earned by capitalizing on the success of a franchise, the men in suits will not stop there. However, the bat man is treated with respect. The ambitious ‘Batman: Gotham Knight’ is a worthy tribute to the comic book hero and not a cheap attempt to knock some extra money out of the pockets of comic fans. Animated film ‘Batman: Gotham Knight’ is, according to the press info, a film that highlights the events between ‘Batman Begins’ and ‘The Dark Knight’. Just like the glue between the cinema films. That sounds good on paper, but in practice it turns out not to be true.

‘Batman: Gotham Knight’ consists of six separate stories that have little in common with the Christopher Nolan films. Well, old blockbuster acquaintances such as Lucius Fox and Scarecrow appear in guest roles. If you are not familiar with the cinema bangers, you can still enjoy these six animated films, because they each highlight a certain aspect of Batman’s personality. One story revolves around the urban legend who has become the winged vigilante. Gotham residents consider Batman a supernatural force. Another work revolves around the ingenuity of the superhero who does everything in his power to spare his victims. The training of the Dark Knight will also be discussed and you will learn more about his somewhat dubious work ethic. If you’re familiar with the title character’s comics then this film offers little new, but it’s cool to see a faithful adaptation of Batman where underexposed sides of his personality come to the fore.

What makes ‘Batman: Gotham Knight’ really special is the fact that six Asian directors directed the stories. The entire print consists of Asian animation that looks dazzlingly good. Six different stories in six different styles, similar to ‘The Animatrix’. The result of this change in style is that Batman and the other characters look very different every time, which is sometimes confusing. The voice cast is also different from the movie. Christian Bale and his Hollywood cronies are not participating. Kevin Conroy (known as the voice of Batman in the 90s cartoon series) takes Bale’s honors and does it very well. It takes some getting used to hearing other voices, but it is never disturbing. While not every adventure is equally captivating (sometimes a story ends rather abruptly), no Batman fan should miss this DVD. This disc is too special for that. The fact that the film has an epic soundtrack, a skilled voice cast and high production values ​​only makes it better.