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Cartoon Network premiered "Batman: Gotham Knight" tonight, and I must say, it was much better than I expected.
In case you didn't know, "Batman: Gotham Knight" features a series of 6 shorts done by various Japanese animation directors (a la Animatrix, for the Matrix trilogy). Being a fan of both anime and Western animation, I was curious to see what this was like, and I was pleasantly surprised...
For one thing, they got Kevin Conroy to do the voice of Batman (he was the VA for the Batman animated series from the 90's). An excellent choice, because to me, he will always be the voice of Batman (just as Mark Hamill, aka Luke Skywalker, will always be the voice of the Joker XD).
Anyways... I'll get on to reviewing the various shorts.
As you can tell, I wasn't expecting much from this movie (as I only liked about 1 short from the Animatrix), and the first one didn't exactly help with that impression... It was a typical story featuring a bunch of kids talking about their encounters with Batman. (It didn't help that this story had the animation style that I liked the least.)
However, I really got into the second short, as it seemed to tie-in between the 2 current Batman movies (Batman Begins, Dark Knight).... Even though it made the betrayal of Ramirez seem all that more tragic (out of character, even...?)
Third was another one I really liked, featuring Bruce Wayne and Lucius Fox. I won't spoil it, but I found it very true to Batman's philosophy (also, it featured my favourite design for Bruce Wayne in this.... Yum. ;)
Fourth story was one featuring Killer Croc and Scarecrow that didn't catch my interest (although it did tie in to the previous 2 shorts).
Fifth one flashes back to Bruce Wayne training in India(?). Liked this one too (must stop drooling at Bruce Wayne...)
The last short featured Deadshot (a villain I'm not familliar with), and focused upon Batman's distaste for guns.
All in all, I really liked about 4 out of 6 of the shorts (which is much more than I can say for the Animatrix). Heck, the only one I didn't enjoy was the first one, and that's because it didn't seem to have anything to do with the other 5 shorts (which had an interlocking storyline).
So, if you want to see a tie-in for the new Batman movies, or like the old 90's Batman cartoon, I'd recommend watching "Batman: Gotham Knight". The animation style (for the most part) is excellent, and very much in keeping with Gotham City's dark tone.
In case you didn't know, "Batman: Gotham Knight" features a series of 6 shorts done by various Japanese animation directors (a la Animatrix, for the Matrix trilogy). Being a fan of both anime and Western animation, I was curious to see what this was like, and I was pleasantly surprised...
For one thing, they got Kevin Conroy to do the voice of Batman (he was the VA for the Batman animated series from the 90's). An excellent choice, because to me, he will always be the voice of Batman (just as Mark Hamill, aka Luke Skywalker, will always be the voice of the Joker XD).
Anyways... I'll get on to reviewing the various shorts.
As you can tell, I wasn't expecting much from this movie (as I only liked about 1 short from the Animatrix), and the first one didn't exactly help with that impression... It was a typical story featuring a bunch of kids talking about their encounters with Batman. (It didn't help that this story had the animation style that I liked the least.)
However, I really got into the second short, as it seemed to tie-in between the 2 current Batman movies (Batman Begins, Dark Knight).... Even though it made the betrayal of Ramirez seem all that more tragic (out of character, even...?)
Third was another one I really liked, featuring Bruce Wayne and Lucius Fox. I won't spoil it, but I found it very true to Batman's philosophy (also, it featured my favourite design for Bruce Wayne in this.... Yum. ;)
Fourth story was one featuring Killer Croc and Scarecrow that didn't catch my interest (although it did tie in to the previous 2 shorts).
Fifth one flashes back to Bruce Wayne training in India(?). Liked this one too (must stop drooling at Bruce Wayne...)
The last short featured Deadshot (a villain I'm not familliar with), and focused upon Batman's distaste for guns.
All in all, I really liked about 4 out of 6 of the shorts (which is much more than I can say for the Animatrix). Heck, the only one I didn't enjoy was the first one, and that's because it didn't seem to have anything to do with the other 5 shorts (which had an interlocking storyline).
So, if you want to see a tie-in for the new Batman movies, or like the old 90's Batman cartoon, I'd recommend watching "Batman: Gotham Knight". The animation style (for the most part) is excellent, and very much in keeping with Gotham City's dark tone.
