My own self

Ah, the much-awaited movie's somewhat less awaited anime-style animated prequel! They do flaunt some interesting names in the credits, though - Brian Azzarello, David S. Goyer, Bruce Timm, to name a few - so I had some expectations.

Batman: Gotham Knight is a miniseries of six short movies made in different animation-styles but with the same voice-actors for the same characters. The movies each have an individual structure, theme and plot, but they take place in the order they're put on the DVD, and they do tie together to form a bigger story bridging Batman's role in Gotham between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

Having Kevin Conroy voice Batman is a great pleasure and a privilege. To me, this is how Batman is supposed to sound. Of course, it does contain a certain feeling of loss, too, as it makes me wish for more of the original Batman the Animated Series instead of all this modern stuff... Hearing Conroy's Batman still sets one heck of a mood, though. And the darker style of these animations totally works with his scary Bat-voice.

The individual stories are better than the whole, I felt, and the focus seems indeed to be on the individual narratives rather than the big picture story. (For instance, animating Alfred into looking like he does in the comics in one episode, thin, balding and with a mustache, and having him look more like Michael Caine in the next, that takes you very much out of the feeling that this is one continuous story)

The first one, Have I Got A Story For You, is clearly inspired by the old Batman Animated-episode Legends of the Dark Knight - and indeed, I hear that episode is included among the bonus material on the two-disc version of this release. Like that one, it features some youngsters of Gotham meeting up to tell each other rather excitedly about their individual recent sightings of the Batman - and their wildly differing experiences of him. Well done story which very well sets the tone of this DVD: we are to see what impression Batman has been making on Gotham since Batman Begins - not follow his personal life. The DVD is about Batman as the Gotham Knight, not as the person. More than any story, this opening one clearly establishes that. Still, it's not that interesting, and probably holds the animation-style I liked the decidedly least of all the six as well. Interestingly, while this is one of the episodes featuring a Batman the furthest removed from the viewer's access, it's maybe the one where he by the end of it appears the most human.

The second one, Crossfire, shows us the look the Gotham police have grown to have on Batman, just like the first one shows how he's seen by the younger crowd among the civilians. Needless to say, this particular episode is thus much darker and grittier. Batman comes off as very impressive, but also as very, very dark and scary. The episode is probably my favourite of the entire DVD, and I have no problems admitting that that's a big reason why.

The third episode is called Field Test, and lets us far closer in on Batman than we have been so far on the DVD. We're actually seeing Bruce Wayne in this episode, and quite a lot, too, and where the first episode dealt with idolisation of Batman and the second of a combination of suspicion and begrudging respect, this episode in the end mainly deals with Batman's limits and ethics. Which is of course a theme closely tied to the first two, but seen more from Batman's own perspective than from the city's.

In Darkness Dwells is written by Goyer, who co-wrote Batman Begins, and it brings back Jonathan Crane as the Scarecrow. This episode features lieutenant Gordon rather heavily, and his uneasy co-operation with the Batman, underlining the odd combination of distrust and respect the two have for each other. It bridges very directly into Working Through Pain, where we finally get truly close to the Dark Knight, following his struggle to get out of the sewers despite his wounds and into safety while thinking back on his training by a rogue fakir in dealing with pain - both external and internal. The episode features his old trauma in relation to guns rather heavily, which neatly sets up the final piece of the DVD.

Deadshot is an interesting way to end the DVD. He's not one of the more famous Batman villains, neither to readers of the comic or more casual fans familiar with the character mainly through other media. He's still a rather interesting and engaging one, and, as portrayed here, rather eerily charming. I've personally not read his original arc in the Batman-comics, but I found myself wondering, as I was watching this, if Batman's gun-trauma was used as interestingly there or not. Because here is a man who is basically the DC universe's version of Marvel's Bullseye, the guy who can hit just about anything, but who unlike Bullseye prefers traditional guns in most situations. Batman has a very big and interesting rogue's gallery, but none so closely tied to the idea of the gun as Deadshot. A very good way to end the DVD, in my opinion, and featuring another of my favourite animations here.

All in all I'd say the disc is recommended for those interested enough to want to see it. However, if the concept of six short animated episodes set between the two major live-action movies sounds uninteresting to you, you'd probably not change your mind watching this. Still, it's done with style and care, and shows both affection for and interest in the character and the franchise on the creators' end. I wholeheartedly applaud the effort.