Review of Batman: Gotham Knight (2008) by Brooks C — 18 Aug 2012

Batman: Gotham-Knight is an anime movie tie-in that consists of six interlocking stories that show Batman's origins. Each story has its own narrative and its own style of anime character design. Being like films, such as The Animatrix, each segment addresses certain background stories and certain character traits that were either hinted at through the Nolan films, or shown but never explained. This review will tackle each story and which ones are least to most favorite.

The first story deals with a group of teenage kids who hang around in Gotham's ghetto. They begin to tell each other stories and rumors about Batman and his current reputation he's gained amongst the people of Gotham City. None of them have seen the Batman, so they rely on what they've been told. Until things take a toll for the worst. The style of animation done in this segment is reminiscent of the film Tekkonkinkreet. There isn't much attention to detail, but the frame rate quality is better. It does a good job at reflecting the naive minds of the young generation that is presented. There isn't much action and relies more on narrative. Overall 6.5/10.

The second story involves two Gotham law enforcement officers: Crispus Allen and Anna Ramirez. After taking a demolitions expert that Batman captured in the first segment to Arkham Asylum, the two begin to argue over Batman's credibility. Believed by Allen to be a vigilante and Ramirez to be a savior to Gotham, their quarrel eventually puts them in the middle of a crossfire between the Russians and Sol Maroni. At the end, Ramirez gets held at gunpoint by one of the mobsters, but is later rescued by Batman. This segment features animation done by I.G. Productions. The same company that did Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Having been written by Greg Rucka (Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow), this story has a lot of tension, action, and atmosphere to earn my respect. Everything is evenly paced and the gun fight scenes are very fun to watch. Overall 9.5/10.

The third story deals more about Bruce's personal life. When he isn't busy as Batman and works at testing equipment developed by Lucius Fox at WayneCom. Bruce is given a sensor by Lucius Fox that deflects fire directed at him. Bruce secretly takes a PDA from Ronald Marshall while at his golf tournament. Secretly infiltrating Sal Maroni's ship as the caped crusader, he uses the PDA and the sensor to fight the Russians and Maroni's men amidst the ensuing battle. One of the Russians is hit by ricochet bullet from Batman's sensor and Batman decides to get the victim to a hospital. The animation was done by Bee Train. The company known for .hack//sign and Tsubasa Chronicles. Most of this story deals with Bruce as an individual and less as Batman. This fact makes the segment considerably more tamer than all of the rest. I liked it better than the first segment, but not as much as the second. Overall 8/10.

The fourth story is about a priest that is kidnapped by Killer Croc during a riot in the Narrows and is held hostage in the Gotham Sewers by Scarecrow. Batman, Commissioner Gordon, Ramirez, and Allen work together to have Batman infiltrate the sewers and get the priest out of harm's way. This episode was animated by Madhouse. Who worked on anime like Shigurui: Death Frenzy and Texhnolyze. Most of the animation in this segment is very dark and grungy. Everything in this segment is more situation and catastrophe oriented, than fist and gun reliant. It has a lot of atmosphere to make it worthwhile. Overall 7.5/10.

The fifth segment picks up right after the last. As Batman attempts to leave the sewers, he gets shot and wounded by a man who became infected by Scarecrow's hallucinogenic gas. As Batman mends to his wound and loses blood in the process, he begins to reminisce his time in India as a young man under the training of a rejected Indian woman named Cassandra who taught him how to control his pain. This segment was animated by Studio 4C. Who worked on anime like Halo: Legends and Memories. This segment is the most memorable in the sense that the viewer begins to learn more about Bruce/Batman and how he matures. There's a lot of great pacing and atmosphere. Overall 8.5/10.

The final segment picks up after the last where Bruce starts his own gun collection with the firearms he recovered in the sewers. Though he vows never to.

Use one due to his parents' deaths, Bruce is nonetheless attracted to the charisma of the object and understands its importance to mankind of the modern generation. He then comes into contact with an expert assassin named Deadshot, whom is hired by the Russians to assassinate Commissioner Gordon. Everything becomes a race for Batman to foil the plot. The animation was done by Madhouse. The character designs are reminiscent of the classic Ninja Scroll (Done by the same company.) and the action scene of Batman and Deadshot in the train tunnel is very well done. Not as good as the second segment, but still great. Overall 9/10.

Batman: Gotham-Knight is very worthy addition to the Nolan films and contains some great moments. I do wish that there was a little more action, since this is anime and what does one have to expect? It's not as good as the classic Mask of the Phantasm, but hey it's always good to see what anime can do with certain characters when done right isn't it?