An anime-style omnibus of Batman shorts. Madison Ave will tell you that this fills in between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but don’t focus on that too much. Yes, it is more Nolan’s Gotham than anyone else’s, but it is not a direct representation of that.
Perhaps it is my inherent distaste for anime, but the acting is atrocious. Whenever I watch something like this I feel like I am watching Voltron.
Some of the stories here are really cool. The one featuring Deadshot is particularly awesome, as is Batman’s reflections on learning to work through physical pain. The emphasis, for the most part, is on tone and mood as opposed to plot. This works well in many of the pieces, but is spread a little too thin in the others (the cops dropping baddies off at Arkham witness a fight – this is a story?)
This is better than the truly lame Superman: Doomsday but not by that much. The allure of being associated with The Dark Knight only goes so far.
The DVD features the usual chunk of unnecessary extras, although the lengthy bio on Bob Kane is actually pretty terrific. Much is made about Stan Lee and Siegel & Shuster’s Jewishness, but watching footage of Kane I felt like I was over a plate of stuffed derma at the 2nd Ave Deli. To wear cape & cowl on Saturday? Unheard of!
