Essentially this is the
Animatrix to
The Dark Knight and it's just as awesome, aside from the bridge-factor. Like
Animatrix bridged the
Matrix Reloaded and
Matrix Revolution,
Gotham Knight does not do that so well from
Batman Begins to
The Dark Knight. Still, there are six decent or very good animations packed into this hour and fifteen minute straight-to-DVD. Because it was split in six different shorts I'll review each short on it's own and then give an overall review at the end.
Note, I have had absolutely no exceptions of
Gotham Knight and had no idea of its goal to have it as a gap between
Batman Begins and
The Dark Knight so I'm going to review it as a stand-alone rather than a bridge like IGN.com did. Also, aside from the animated series, I am a virgin to all things Batman and I've just recently gotten into it (example: just read "The Killing Joke"). IGN mentioned that most of the themes in these shorts have previously been covered but to me they were completely new so I was thrilled. So, enough of my intro-babbling. Onto my review.
The Good of Gotham Knight: Have I Got A Story For YouI love seeing a story from the perspective of the citizen's of Gotham, especially the teens of Gotham, which this first story covers. Four skateboarding kids tell of their encounter with Batman that day in very extraordinary fashion. Each interpretation gave way to a different Batman. One batman was a "living shadow" while another was an actual flying bat while another was a giant robot, which was pretty cool. At the end the real batman shows up and I won't give away the ending but it was a nice short.
The Bad of Gotham Knight: Have I Got A Story For YouIt was a sweet and simple short. Nothing bad about it.
TOTAL: (8.5/10)
The Good of Gotham Knight: CrossfireNow we see my Batman from the perspective of the cops over at the Major Crimes Unit of Gotham. This is the first short to feature another character from
The Dark Knight: Officer Ramirez. This was an okay short. It's nice to see that a good cop is actually against Batman and his ideals which causes conflict with Gordon and Ramirez.
The action sequence was pretty cool once Batman got in the mix.
The Bad of Gotham Knight: Crossfire
I didn't like the voice of Gordon in this and the prison scene I didn't entirely get.
TOTAL: (7/10)
The Good of Gotham Knight: Field TestThe Bad of Gotham Knight: Field Test
Field test is probably the weakest short of the whole package.
TOTAL: (6.5/10)
The Good of Gotham Knight: In Darkness DwellsThe Bad of Gotham Knight: In Darkness Dwells
TOTAL: (8.5/10)
The Good of Gotham Knight: Working Through PainThe Bad of Gotham Knight: Working Through PainTOTAL: (9/10)
The Good of Gotham Knight: DeadshotThe Bad of Gotham Knight: DeadshotTOTAL: (9/10)
Peace
Afterward I went with Brian, Kelsey and George to a restaurant called El Coyote and then we saw The Wackness (my second time) at the Landmark Theater where they had couches!
Peace
Peace
Peace
Essentially this is the Animatrix to The Dark Knight and it's just as awesome, aside from the bridge-factor. Like Animatrix bridged the Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolution, Gotham Knight does not do that so well from Batman Begins to The Dark Knight. Still, there are six decent or very good animations packed into this hour and fifteen minute straight-to-DVD. Because it was split in six different shorts I'll review each short on it's own and then give an overall review at the end.
