Not to be confused with Christopher Nolan’s epic “Dark Knight” trilogy, “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns pt. 1” is an animated adaptation of Frank Miller’s 1986 graphic novel of the same name. In the comic book world, it is considered to be one of the all-time legendary comic book runs (it ran 4 issues). Though there is no possibility it will ever achieve the same level of acclaim, because it is a retelling and that is just the nature of retellings, that does not mean it is far off. It is actually very good, arguably the best original animated movie DC Comics has put together to date, its only competition being “Batman: Year One.”
“Returns” shares a few similarities with “Rises,” as one can tell Nolan took some inspiration from the comic in crafting the finale to his trilogy. One of those similarities is that Bruce Wayne has been retired for a long period of time (10 years here). The Bruce we find here struggles with an almost post traumatic stress disorder, still having nightmares of his parents death from his childhood. His relationship with Jim Gordon, who is a month from retirement at the ripe old age of 70, is as good as ever. Gordon even knows that he is Batman, and they casually older times over dinner. When asked about Dick Grayson (the original Robin), though, it is said that neither communicate any longer.
With no Batman to ward off the evil, Gotham is getting darker by the day, as a new threat to the city arises in the form of the mutants. A past-his-prime Batman reemerges from the shadows to once again rid the streets of Gotham of this new evil. With Gordon in tow, the aged Batman also recruits a new Robin, a female Robin.
The adapters of the comic did a number of things right, the first being that they stuck to the script, or the source material. The main downfall of most adaptations is that there is a team of writers put together, who pick and choose what to keep the same, then add and subtract what they feel is necessary. The problem with that approach is that the team of writers are never legendary as is a Frank Miller, in this particular case, otherwise they would not be writing for such a low budget project, so what is remade is usually something of much less considerable quality.
On a technical side, the quality of the animation is pretty good. It is obviously nothing like a classic Disney feature film, or Hayao Miyazaki anime movie like “Spirited Away,” however, it is about as much as one could ask for, considering the scale of the project. If there is one difference in preference I have, it is that I would have loved to see Batman in a more black and gray, like “The New Adventures of Batman,” rather than the blue and gray. But that is what he is drawn like in the comic book.
In these adaptations the one thing I give a pass on altering are the fight scenes. Because comic books are limited to slides, the confrontations between Batman and his adversaries are not told in great detail, rarely lasting longer than a page or two. DC’s animation team shines in this respect, the two gems being Batman’s two fights with the mutant leader.
Unfortunately with all the praise inevitably comes a few criticisms. Being that it is a part 1 obviously indicates the part 2. I could understand it and give it a pass, if this one seemed so large that it would seem unreasonable to include the rest, however, it is only 76 minutes. The way I feel is that they could have just made a larger 2 hour movie, instead of asking fans to pay what will eventually total around $40 dollars, once part 2 hits store shelves.
A few more small criticisms have to do with a choice in voice casting, and a form of dialogue. Set in a near future, the mutant thugs have their own slang that they speak, which just does not translate very well to the movie. Maybe back in ’86, when the comics came out, it sounded kind of cool, but it is about as lame as slang can get. In writing, future slang is just one of those things that should never be dabbled in because it will never be gotten right. As far as the voice goes, it is the choice to use Peter Weller (Robocop) instead of Kevin Conroy. Not that he does a bad job, in fact he is pretty good, but I grew up with Conroy voicing the “Animated Series,” so he is Batman to me. It was most likely casted this way for the purpose of giving Batman a more age hardened voice, which is understandable.
Whatever cons I have with the movie, it will not stop me from recommending it.
8/10
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