Review of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 (2012) by Rameez K — 13 Oct 2012

Based off of Frank Miller's time with the Batman character. This film is as good as enjoyable as the comics.

Smart move on Warner Bros.' part to split this film into two (2) parts, a two and a half hour animated film would be weird and wouldn't feel right, and apart from feeling right, it would have felt rushed. Batman is voiced by Peter Weller, the man who played Robocop. Now that's awesome.

The story here takes place ten years after Bruce Wayne retiring his crime-fighter persona known as Batman after the death of his sidekick Robin. Commissioner Gordon is retiring, and the city is overrun by a group/cult of criminals known as the mutants, it's literally infested by them. As I said, on Warner Bros. Films, to make this into 2 parts benefits them, a good chunk of the film is spent focusing on the impact of a world without Batman, how he reacts to this new threat, his relationships with his colleagues and most importantly the legions of people divided in the society discussing the effect of Batman. Did he really help the city, or was he one of the crazies too? The answers to those questions are shown through news segments. Batman novels usually have that theme tied to them. Popular characters Two-Face and The Joker make appearances in sub-plots which enhance and progress the main plot.

The action scenes are minimalistic, the big set-pieces were chosen to be hand-to-hand combat scenes. Both Batman films (Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight Rises' being the other one) this year have vastly improved in terms of action quality. The camera is steady, it only moves at points of impacts and the sound mixing to go with the scenes is minimal too, you hear the background noises, while the combatants are beating the hell out of each other. The great thing about animations is, you can get away with a whole lot more. Violence is a big piece of the film, at times it's hard to watch the punishment being dished out.

Something which I really appreciated in this film and I've always missed in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is the surreal/supernatural element of Batman. At times, the character of Batman is used to tell some great horror stories too, whether it be in purpose or inadvertent. Not necessarily horror, but a lot of creepy set-pieces. This film does those, there's a scene where Batman goes to his cave to 'regain his strength' not physically but mentally. It's a chilling scene, which sends goosebumps up my spine every time.

The color palette is desaturated, sucked down and depressing. It went well with the whole story the film was trying to tell, a story of a city under siege.

DC and Warner Bros. keep delivering on their animated films. Under The Red Hood, Year One and now this. Their Batman - centered stories seem to be very well done, whereas the Justice League films need work. This is one of the best adaptations of the character Batman to ever be made.