Review of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 (2012) by Matthew L — 29 Jan 2013

I'll give the cartoon three stars because the good (animation, story) outweigh the bad (voice acting).

The good: Watching the movie, I felt like they pretty much brought the seminal comic book to life and made the world real. I really enjoyed that aspect. The animation is smooth and evocative of the original comic book while not being entire beholden to it. They added some scenes and transitions that made the story flow more smoothly for the on-screen adaptation. Overall, very well done.

The bad: I don't agree with damn near every single choice they made for voice actors. Peter Weller had very little difference between his Bruce Wayne and Batman, and the voice just wasn't old, gruff, or menacing enough to sound right in either aspect (Steve Blum or, of course, Kevin Conroy, would have been better). David Selby was horrible for James Gordon, as he sounded so prissy and effeminate for the bold Commissioner Gordon. Gary Williams didn't sound menacing enough for the Mutant Leader (I kept thinking Frank Tatasciore would have been perfect here). Wade Williams sounded tired and weak as Two-Face.

One of the things that made the comic book so good was reading the internal monologue of the much older and somewhat less capable Batman ("Stupid old man," "This would be a good death," "Good soldier," and others). I wonder if this adaptation would have benefited from that, but I know I would have been annoyed by hearing Weller's take on Batman even more than what he does already.

All in all, this is a good one to get for the animation and for seeing the beloved comic brought to animated glory. I am happy to give DC my money for it so they keep producing these wonderful animated adventures. However, the voices are annoying as hell -- I hope they do a better job in future animated films.

(V).