Reviewed by Johnny McNair 

Warner Premiere – 76 mins – 2008 – Rated PG-13 – 1080p Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85: 1 – Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio

Batman is the most popular guy on the planet at the moment, with The Dark Knight in theaters breaking every record to date; Bat-mania has taken over once again. Since it will probably be several months until The Dark Knight shows up on Blu-ray, to keep fans desiring to see the man in black happy, Warner Bros. has finally released Batman Begins on Blu-ray, and to act as a side dish, a collection of animated stories related to Christopher Nolan’s vision is also available. Batman: Gotham Knight may remind many of The Animatrix, and just like that compilation, Gotham Knight touches on some interesting points about Batman, and if you’re a fan it’s worth checking out.

THE MOVIE

Batman: Gotham Knight is a collection of six animated shorts directed by some of the top Japanese animators, each having its own art style. Though none of the stories are connected, the only link that holds them together is that Kevin Conroy, who provided the voice of Batman for the animated TV show, lends his talent for all of the stories.

‘Have I Got a Story for You’ is directed by Shojirou Nishimi and written by Josh Olsen has a group of kids telling their interpretation of Batman doing battle with one of his foes as they saw it. Each kids tale shows Batman in a different form, going from a complete bat to more of a shadow figure. This segment is actually the slowest paced, and is something that has been done before in various Batman comics. The art style doesn’t jump out at you like some of the others in the compilation, but it does stick with the tone of making Batman mysterious.

‘Crossfire’ directed by Futoshi Higashide and written by Greg Rucka centers of two of Gotham City officers on Lt. Gordon’s task force, Allen and Ramirez, who both have different opinions on Batman’s presence in the city, but end up in the middle of a mob gang war, where the Bat himself shows up to save them. This is one of the better stories in the collection, because it plays like a side story from Batman Begins. The art style is also more favorable, coming close to the Batman animated series.

‘Field Test’ directed by Hiroshi Morioka and written by Jordan Goldberg shows Batman testing out a new piece of gear created by Lucius Fox that deflects bullets, but when he takes the device out in battle he realizes that it does more damage than good. This is one of the shortest stories, but it works because it’ll remind you of the scenes in Batman Begins when Bruce Wayne is testing out the memory fabric that is cape is made of and created the bat-a-rangs. The art style is well done, going for what we’ve seen in certain comic book tales.

‘In Darkness Dwells’ directed by Yasuhiro Aoki and written by the co-writer of Batman Begins, David Goyer pits the Bat against two of his comic book foes, Killer Croc and the Scarecrow. This story offers the biggest thrill of all the stories because it has plenty of action, and paces itself like the movie. The art style is fast and dark, giving you everything you’d expect from a Batman adventure.

‘Working Through Pain’ directed by Toshiyuki Kubooka and written by Brian Azzarello is one of the most interesting stories, centering around Batman, who has been seriously wounded in a fight, and is trying to get to the meeting spot where Alfred waits to help him. During this he has a flashback to his early days when he was in India, and a spiritual Indian woman shows him the secrets to fighting extreme pain. Both the pacing and the art style of this story are very effective, because as in Batman Begins it demonstrates that Bruce Wayne is just a man, he has no super powers but his will to stay alive.

‘Deadshot’ dierected by Yoshiaki Kawajiri and written by Alan Burnett, has the caped crusader going up against one of his deadliest rivals, the assassin named Deadshot. This was a nice way to end the compilation, and while Deadshot is not on the plateau of villainous Joker, he still poses a threat to the dark knight, keeping him up on his game. This one is a classic kick-ass Batman tale that we love to see, and the animation on is solid and satisfying.

Batman: Gotham Knight is not as stylized as the Animatrix, but it’s a great tribute, especially because of the talented Japanese animation directors attached the project. These six tales are short, but each has something to offer to fit into the current vision of Batman. It would be interesting to see some other DC characters such as Superman, Green Lantern, or The Flash have their own similar compilation, but it’s obvious why Batman was the top choice. If you’re a hardcore Bat-nut this Blu-ray is obviously going to be placed on your shelf.

VIDEO

Offering a 1080p image and a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, Batman: Gotham Knight is sort of a mixed bag. The different art styles of the six shorts make it a challenge for the image quality to be consistent. Some of the stories such as ‘In Darkness Dwells’ looks flat, whereas ‘Deadshot’ has a better visual flair because of its color style. There is plenty of grain in certain stories, but you’d have to assume that most of it was highlighted by choice to set the mood of this dark world. After watching other animated movies on Blu-ray, seeing Gotham: Dark Knight is a bit disappointing because the quality of the image is on the level of a standard DVD. But since this is not a feature, and more of a homage, it’s not something that holds back enjoying the material.

AUDIO

The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix is decent, providing crisp dialogue and good sound effects, but it can’t compete with what most Blu-ray’s out there have to offer. Each story attempts to play with sound differently, particularly ‘Deadshot,’ that flourishes many audio effects as Batman and his foe battle. Just listen to how the bullets Deadshot fires swoop towards their target. Basically the sound design matches what you would hear on a standard DVD, and that’s acceptable, but it would have been sweet if they went the extra mile to offer a TrueHD sound mix. After hearing how great the sound was on the Batman Begins Blu-ray, it’s easy to get spoiled.

EXTRAS

For Bat-fans there are plenty of extras on this Blu-ray to make the purchase worth it, with the icing on the cake being the four complete episodes from the Batman animated TV series. It would have been great of there was a behind the scenes featurette to talk with the Japanese directors about their concepts, but even without that there’s still plenty of goodies in the basket.

This is quite an interesting trio chosen to do the audio commentary track, featuring Gregory Noveck (DC Comics Senior Vice President of Creative Affairs), Dennis O’Neil (former Batman comic editor), and the voice of the animated Batman himself, Kevin Conroy. These guys are very passionate about Batman and have a lot to say about the character’s growth in the comics as well as on screen. For those of you who live, eat, and sleep in your Bat-jammies, this commentary was made for you.

‘A Mirror for the Bat: The Evil Denizens of Gotham City’ is a 35 minute featurette that looks at the heart of Batman’s world, the villains. Characters such as The Joker, Two Face, The Riddler and Catwoman are spotlighted, detailing how each has affected Batman’s life. This is good stuff is worth multiple viewings.

‘Batman and Me, A Devotion of Destiny: The Bob Kane Story’ runs about 40 minutes and focuses on the man who brought life one of the greatest heroes in pop culture. Interviews featuring various comic book artist and Batman experts tell the story of how Bob Kane turned his vision into a multi-million dollar empire that has graced all mediums successfully. This is worth the price of the Blu-ray alone.

There’s a 10 minute sneak peak at the new Wonder Woman animated movie that will soon be available. Interviews with the talent involved in the project focus on how Wonder Woman is being re-invented for a new generation. This looks like it could turn out to be a solid presentation that will lure in those who are not normally into the character.

One nice perk is that for those of loved the Batman animated series, there are four great episodes included as a bonus. The episodes are: ‘Legends of the Dark Knight,’ ‘Over the Edge,’ I Am the Night,’ and ‘Heart of Ice.’

BOTTOM LINE

Batman: Gotham Knight is a smart move for Warner Bros., because right now Batman is a goldmine and fans of the Bat are going to gobble this disc up. With six stories about the Bat, you can’t go wrong; and topping that with a nice batch of extras is the cherry on top. Along with Batman Begins, Batman: Gotham Knight should definitely be added to your collection as you eagerly await The Dark Knight to come out on Blu-ray.

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie: 4.0

Video: 3.0

Sound: 3.0

Extras: 4.5

Bottom Line: 4.0