I got to watch this film in late June when my steelbook finally arrived. I was really looking forward to watching this film, as some of my favourite Batman content derives from the animated medium, such as Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010).
I think it was the right decision to split the film adaptation into two parts as it allows for more accuracy to the source material as well as great depth of characters and better pacing of events. I didn’t feel as though this film rushed anything particularly, which was an issue I had mildly experienced while rewatching Batman: Year One (2011).
While watching the trailer I thought parts of the animation style looked slightly off; however, despite my apprehension, the animation style grew on me immensely over the course of the narrative.
It appears that DC are spawning a new animated universe, incorporating this style of animation. Two previous DC Universe Original Movies have already showcased this style; Superman: Man of Tomorrow (2020) and Justice Society: World War 2 (2021). While the animation has certainly grown on me I do still prefer that of the DCAU (DC Animated Universe) and the DCAMU (DC Animated Movie Universe), the former of which being the more iconic.
The narrative of this film really intrigued me. I love the Batman stories that deal with the crime families and the corruption within Gotham City. While I haven’t read the comic in which this was adapted from, I found the story really interesting and engaging. I really liked how Batman hadn’t yet got the whole crime fighting gig completely figured out, due to his lack of detective ability at the time. This blurred the line between Batman and Bruce, between the hero and the human, making him feel more relatable and vulnerable.
As well as showing the audience a Batman in his early years as a crime fighter, the film also portrayed an interesting mystery. The main storyline revolves around the murders of members or associates of the Falcone crime family, one of the most feared and iconic mob organizations in Gotham City. The interesting element is, the murders coincide with holidays celebrated in America. Throughout the odyssey of the narrative the blame leaps from various members of the infamous crime family, eventually falling on Falcone’s son, Alberto. The story is written in such a way as to make the thought processes of Bruce and Gordon clear as they find their ways through the blood and grief drenched maze.
I do however believe the writers may be dabbling in some misdirection here, as to me it was clear the killer was one person, however the main characters of the story have yet to see this, so it remains a possibility that the writers want the audience to pursue one suspect while Batman and the GCPD endeavour to catch another, to then present them both with an unsuspected third party.
The characters included only added to the strong plot, and was only made better by the excellently chosen voice cast; including the services of Troy Baker, who conveys an applause worthy rendition of the Clown Prince of Crime himself. When it comes to the main characters themselves, the heroes all had relatable qualities and realistic characteristics, making you feel for them, especially in regards to Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne. When it comes to the “Big Bads” of the story, Carmine Falcone and the Joker were especially memorable, with trademark qualities and understandable motives. The film had a strong selection of characters all round, many of which made for some memorable moments throughout.
I am excited to see what Part 2 of this fantastic story has to offer, as judging by the trailer it should make for a memorable conclusion that rivals, if not exceeds, the quality and success of this installment. I can’t wait to see how the abundance of different characters such as the Scarecrow and Poison Ivy are weaved into the already sizeable universe, especially after the cliffhanger presented in this entry.
I was slightly confused by the marketing of this duology, due to the trailer for part 2 being released prior to the launch of Part 1, but didn’t affect the quality of my viewing experience at all.
Overall this is a great film that I believe fans of previous animated Batman projects will enjoy. As of writing this I have not yet read the comic it is adapted from, and so cannot personally vouch for its faithfulness. That being said, I have heard from others that the film sticks closely to its source material, which is a positive.
Surprise! Not really, but I decided to add my review of the second part alongside this review, so here goes.
I was really excited to watch this film after viewing Part 1, however I had to wait for ages because shipping was delayed on the steel book I ordered.
Just like the previous instalment, I really like the animation style that was chosen for this universe, which was an aspect that grew on me more after watching Part 1 as well as Superman: Man of Tomorrow. I think the more simplistic nature of the art style chosen for the characters works well and the animation flows nicely from frame to frame. I thought the character designs were also very nice and standouts from this entry had to be Two-Face and The Scarecrow, however all of the characters were easily recognisable in their designs, and I especially liked that of the members of Batman’s Rogues Gallery that were included. As far as I know, the upcoming Injustice: Gods Among Us animated film will not feature the same animation style as this film, however I really hope that Warner Bros. decide to implement it into other projects moving forward as I really like it, and think that the idea of this new shared universe is one that should be branched out.
On the subject of that I really like how so far this universe has taken the route of exploring unique and famous comic runs, such as The Long Halloween and showcasing groups like the JSA (Justice Society of America) as it enables newer audiences to be introduced to these characters/storylines so that they can then go and read the comics that inspired those stories, ultimately bringing more traction to the comic book industry.
The narrative was interesting and enjoyable to watch, and most importantly it was a coherent continuation of the prior instalment, and I appreciated that the 2 parts flowed nicely together. There was a couple of notable instances where pacing was a bit off in this entry however it wasn’t enough to ruin my engagement completely. An element of both parts that I loved was the misdirection implemented into the core of the plot. After Part 1 I was almost completely certain that I knew who The Holiday Killer was, it just seemed so obvious. This was the case through the majority of this film too, until around the 3rd act when it became clear that my assumption had been close, but ultimately incorrect. As I haven’t yet rewatched both parts I am unsure if there are any tell-tale signs in the first entry, however I am sure there are some aspects in both that point the viewer in the right direction if they know the characters and pay close enough attention. I know for a fact there are tell-tale elements in this film, which I will not disclose. This misdirection definitely made for some memorable moments in the story.
The characters in the film were well written for the most part, really interesting, and instantly recognisable. The one member of Batman’s Rogues Gallery that confused me was The Mad Hatter, also known as Jervis Tetch. My confusion mostly stemmed from his accent and how he acted, in the sense that I had always thought of him as American and not British. The interpretation conveyed in this film, in my opinion, more closely resembled another of Batman’s enemies, The Penguin. Oswald was actually depicted in the film, but only got a few seconds of screen time, which made him feel unnecessary and out of place. I believe it may have been more appropriate for the film interpretation to swap out the Mad Hatter for The Penguin, as it would have more closely followed the accent etc. of the character, not that there was any real need for either character to be included.
That being said, I have not read the comic event that this film, and its predecessor, are based upon so if the characters’ portrayals are faithful to the source material, then I take back everything bad I’ve said about both characters.
The other prominent characters were well written in my opinion and some standouts for me include; Batman, Harvey/Two-Face and James Gordon. The relationship these characters had with each other, as well as their respective relationships with loved ones and acquaintances really added a lot of depth to the characters and story, making the audience care about them and their actions.
Overall this was a very good animated film from DC and I really hope that they continue to build upon this new universe that they appear to be creating that, at the minute, appears to consist of contained stories that are connected through the animation style. I recommend this film to fans of DC’s prior animated features as well as fans of the characters included, and animation in general.
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