Review of Batman: Gotham Knight (2008) by Randall Q — 16 Jul 2012

Promoted as taking place in between "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" upon its initial release, the makers of "Gotham Knight" have gone on to retract the idea that the six shorts contained in this movie are canon to the "nolanverse." And for good reason; when I watched "Gotham Knight" after it was released, I hated it. Boring and too anime for my tastes, I said. It's the only time where I wished the filmmakers used someone OTHER than Kevin Conroy, because he sounded nothing like Christian Bale's Batman. Plus, as a huge fan of the animated series, it's really weird to hear Conroy come out of a "Cowboy Bebop" Bruce Wayne. Now I can appreciate a good anime, but the fiction Nolan created was so far from what was contained in most of these shorts that I refused to believe it took place in the same timeline. Years later, upon a 2012 bathypeathon for "The Dark Knight Rises" and with a different expectation going into the viewing, I can appreciate what the six different storytellers accomplished here.

"Gotham Knight" is best enjoyed when viewed with the understand that it doesn't tie into any specific Batman canon; it works as a single storytelling entity that could really plug into any batverse. Some of the shorts are better than others, but it's always interesting to see the different interpretations of Batman and Gotham. I'd go so far as to call it a "must-see" for any who consider themselves a hXcXc Batman fan. Each short is roughly ten minutes long, and is completely different than the one before it, and will be different than the one after it. I found the most interesting stories to be when the plot focused on the people of Gotham, where Batman is a mythical figure that swoops in during a particularly hairy situation for the citizen. It's cool to see the characters that are "regular joes" get the spotlight, and interesting to hear their takes on the new vigilante.