Batman: Gotham Knight (2008) (V)

Directors:

Yasuhiro Aoki
Yuichiro Hayashi (co-director) (segment "In the Darkness Dwells")

Writers:

Bob Kane (creator: Batman)
Josh Olson (screenplay) (segment "Have I Got a Story For You")

Release Date:

8 July 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Crime | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Get Ready....To Rage Against Evil

Plot:

A collection of tales of The Dark Knight of Gotham City, as conceived by noted anime talents.

Plot Keywords:

Batman | Anthology | Anime | Based On Comic Book | Skateboarding

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Kevin Conroy	...	Batman / Bruce Wayne (voice)
Jason Marsden	...	Thomas Wayne / Doctor / Cop / Youth 2 (voice)
Scott Menville	...	B-Devil / Cop (voice)
George Newbern	...	Man in Black / Guido / Man / Youth 3 (voice)
Corey Padnos	...	Porkchop (voice)
Crystal Scales	...	Meesh (voice)
Alanna Ubach	...	Dander (voice)
Hynden Walch	...	Woman / Young Cassandra / Young Bruce Wayne (voice)
Corey Burton	...	Scarecrow / The Russian / Ronald Marshall (voice)
Gary Dourdan	...	Detective Crispus Allen (voice)
Jim Meskimen	...	Lt. James Gordon / Deadshot (voice)
Pat Musick	...	News Anchor (voice)
Ana Ortiz	...	Detective Anna Ramirez (voice)
Rob Paulsen	...	Sal Maroni / Mole Man / Youth #4 (voice)
Andrea Romano	...	Martha Wayne / Dispatcher (voice)

Also Known As:

Batman Anime (USA) (working title)
Battoman - Gossamu Naito (Japan)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for stylized violence, including some bloody images.

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA | Japan | South Korea

Language:

English | Japanese | Spanish | Portuguese | Thai

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | Brazil:14 | UK:15 | USA:TV-14 (cable rating) | Canada:14A (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia/Ontario)

Company:

Warner Bros. Animation

Trivia:

On the DVD commentary, Kevin Conroy admits that he had never read about the Dark Knight until he originally auditioned for the part back in 1992 on Batman: the Animated Series. When he was told the back-story of murdered parents and a quest for revenge, Conroy, who was a trained Shakespearean actor, thought they were telling him the story of Hamlet.

Goofs:

Continuity: Even though this film is intended to act as a loose bridge between Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008), during the period when Wayne Manor is being rebuilt, the final segment, "Deadshot," shows Bruce Wayne and Alfred living in the manor.

Quotes:

Bruce Wayne: It was just like that night in the alley, Alfred...the closeness of the walls, the gunfire. It seems I've been trying to stop those two bullets all my life.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Troldspejlet: (#40.1)" (2008)

Nice original addition to the Batman franchise.

This movie uses the good and original concept of picking 6 different short stories done by different directors and animation style and put them all back to back on one DVD. It's a welcome addition to the still ever growing Batman franchise.

The variation in story and style of course ensures that every short is a special and interesting one in its own way. It doesn't really get distracting that the animation style for each short story changes. Each short can be watch as one separately from the others but it's also good to watch back to back, even though the stories get hardly connected to each other. The movie doesn't have a constant chronological order and each story is about something different and features also different characters.

The first shorts don't really focus on the Batman character himself but more on the other people in Gotham and how they see him and think about him. The others are still purely about Batman though and his fight against evil. There is a nice balance between the first shorts and the later ones.

Of course not all of the shorts are as good as the others and the quality of them variates between great and entertaining to just plain boring. But overall it just purely entertains. Some of the shorts are also really spectacular to watch with its action and violence involved. I wish some of the shorts were a bit longer, since the stories felt like they had even more potential to be developed more.

Because they are shorts, the story and character development remain very restrained. This is obviously the problem with basically every short movie that ever gets made. It's mostly the reason why this is not a classic or a Batman must-see. But nevertheless the fans should be happy with the end result, since it features the Batman character from a lot of different angles and uses different interpretations of the character, which ensures that the character still remains an interesting one, even when basically everybody all over the world already know who Batman is.

Definitely good to watch!

7/10