Batman: Gotham Knight – Review

Designed to obviously stir up interest among fans with the release of Dark Knight, imagine my enthusiasm as an anime fan when I had heard that an anime movie was underway for DC Comic’s Batman. Gotham Knight features six stand-alone, but connected stories about Batman, Bruce Wayne and the cast of colorful characters we’ve all come to know and love in Batman Begins.  This straight-to-DVD animation delves into Batman’s relationship with Gotham City and each vignette shows a different aspect of the city as it relates to the need for a savior. However, If you think this is a theatrical Batman movie or something like the animated American TV shows then you’re probably going to be bored, confused, and disappointed.

Although the animation for each segment is performed by different studios, when viewed as a whole, the animation is largely Japanese anime-ish. The shortcoming is not the anime art style, but the animation technique itself, which sometimes makes the lip-synching sloppy and the voices too over-the-top. Where the animation dissapoints, the music makes up for it as it is nothing short of fantastic. The soundtrack boasting a full orchestral score that would make some live-action movies ashamed. The content is a little slower than we’re accustomed to and though some fantastic action is here it’s definitely not a nonstop thrill ride.

The in-between segments range from pretty good, to intriguing, to abysmal. Overall, Batman Gotham Knight is effective in portraying the many facets of Batman in an anime style. I’d like to have seen a more pronounced anime aesthetic, but overall it was quite good. But, no matter how good, casual viewers may not have the patience or interest to truly enjoy some of the episodes, and newcomers may find the jumping plots and different animation a bit much.

Coming off the hype for the Dark Knight, I must admit it was great to have a new Batman project. I felt like this one might have been better suited for those who are particularly interested in animation or seeing some really experimental stuff. Overall, it’s not a completely tight package, but it’s mostly good, as I enjoyed myself for the majority of it. For a Batman fan, I’d say yeah definitely get this. If your a casual fan, no, but I would reccommend just watch the last two features if someone you know owns it.