Batman and Harley Quinn

Ranking the Batman Movies: #6

6. Batman: Gotham Knight

(2008)

Directed by Toshi Hiruma and Bruce Timm

Batman…Kevin Conroy

James Gordon…Jim Meskimen

Alfred…David McCallum

Lucius Fox…Kevin Michael Richardson

The Scarecrow/The Russian…Corey Burton

Sal Maroni…Rob Paulsen

And here is the most experimental Batman movie of all. To be honest, that’s probably the reason I like it so much. It’s a unique approach to the character that doesn’t undermine what we know of him, but expands our understanding. To achieve this we don’t follow a single narrative. Instead, there are six vignettes telling different stories involving our hero. They’re not officially part of the Nolan series, they seem to fit snugly in the space between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, referencing events in the former quite often. This also looks different than anything else in the canon. Most of the animated flicks either try to look like the comics or one of the animated series. Gotham Knight does neither. It plays with different styles and color palettes. In a bold move, even Batman himself is rendered in a number of different ways. Understandably, this may be a bit too eclectic for a some folks but to me it’s a magnificent effort.

Ranking the Batman Movies: #11

11. Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman

(2003)

Directed by Curt Geda and Tim Maltby

Batman…Kevin Conroy

Robin…Eli Marienthal

James Gordon…Bob Hastings

Barbara Gordon…Tara Strong

Alfred…Efram Zimbalist Jr.

Batwoman…Kyra Sedgwick

Carlton Duquesne…Kevin Michael Richardson

The Penguin…David Ogden Stiers

Dr. Roxanne Ballantine…Kelly Ripa

If you couldn’t already tell, the Batman franchise dabbles in a number of genres. Here, we get sort of a whodunit. The question isn’t who the bad guy is, but who is this other good guy? Actually, good girl in this case. Someone calling themselves Batwoman has also taken to the streets of Gotham to fight crime and is effective, but sloppy. Of course, our hero has to get to the bottom of this because Batwoman doesn’t live by the same moral code as he does. Her techniques are dangerous and ruthless. It’s a solid Bat-tale with a terrific twist that we can’t quite see coming. It’s also notable for being the only movie on the list to show Bruce in an interracial relationship. The best part about that is that I make a bigger deal out of it than the movie which never mentions it.

Ranking the Batman Movies: #14

14. The Batman vs. Dracula

(2005)

Directed by Michael Goguen

Batman…Rino Romano

Alfred…Alistair Duncan

Vicki Vale…Tara Strong

Dracula…Peter Stormare

The Penguin…Tom Kenny

The Joker…Kevin Michael Richardson

This time around, The Dark Knight takes on the real Prince of Darkness, Dracula. Things start normally enough by Gotham standards. The Joker and The Penguin bust out of Arkham Asylum in an effort to find a stash of loot somewhere in Gotham Cemetary. Bada-boom, bada-bing, Penguin manages to wake up Dracula who then tries to take over the city by creating an army of the undead. Admittedly, it is a bit odd seeing Bats take on a supernatural villain, but it’s well done. Also odd is seeing The Joker as someone else’s pawn. Speaking of The Joker, he’s part of the reason for this movie’s low ranking. I am not a fan of Kevin Michael Richardson’s voice-work as the Joker or the way the character is drawn. The overall effect is he’s much more brutish, lacking any of the character’s normal refinement. Finally, “vs. Dracula” is a little more graphic than I was expecting but it fits the plot since we are dealing with vampires here.

Batman: Gotham Knight

Directors: Yasuhiro Aoki, Futoshi Higashide, Toshiyuki Kubooka, Hiroshi Morioka, Shoujiru Nishimi.

2008. Rated PG-13, 76 minutes.
Cast:
Kevin Conroy
Kevin Michael Richardson
Gary Dourdan
David McCallum
Parminder Nagra

Six vignettes on the crime-fighter’s early career in Gotham. Basically, it seems to depict a period of time after Batman Begins but before The Dark Knight and even attempts to fill in the one glaring plot hole from the former.

This is no softening of the legend to make it more palatable for the kiddies. It’s a journey through Gotham’s grimiest streets and even the Caped Crusader takes plenty of lumps. Gotham as a whole is represented as desolate as we’ve ever seen her and everyone in town is in a decidedly somber mood. We get to see Batman (Conroy) try out some new gadgets courtesy of Lucious Fox (Richardson), including one he rejects because it works too well. The scene of this rejection is one of the few that offer any insight into the character. The entire section about him learning to deal with pain does this as well. Surprisingly, the action is more graphic than anything I can recall from the rest of Batsy’s onscreen canon.

The animation can be seen as overly experimental. When used properly, visuals enhance the story being told without becoming the story. Here, because they’re so in-your-face and change from one scene to the next you can’t help but be distracted by them. It may not have been so bad if they hadn’t kept changing Batman’s appearance. Early on, it was okay because the story is being told by some kids who all got a glimpse of him in action but don’t really know how to describe him so they use their imaginations to fill in the blanks. One even describes him as an actual giant bat. However, his look keeps changing even after the story has moved away from that tactic. In one scene he’s kinda fat, in another he’s rather plainly built, looks Japanese in one then finally he looks like the Incredible Hulk squeezed into the cowl and tights. Because this movie seems to heavily favor style over substance, you get the feeling it’s more about perfecting the craft of Batman rather than the character. Of course, the fact that a different director worked on each segment probably has a lot to do with it.

This is pretty much for us jaded fans who like their Batman real gritty. This isn’t for casual fans because it can be cryptic at times and none of the villains people are familiar with are on the loose here, just a few generic bad guys. Don’t get me wrong, they inflict some serious pain on our hero but the charisma that the super villains bring is sorely lacking. It isn’t for most youngsters, either. They’ll either be mortified or confused by it. Or both. Still, it's a look at a part of the character's existence that's not often seen, or truncated to fit into a more traditional narrative. Therefore, leave this for us fanboys.

Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman

Directed by Curt Geda and Tim Maltby.
2003. Rated PG, 75 minutes.
Cast:
Kevin Conroy
Kimberly Brooks
Kelly Ripa
Eli Marienthal
Elisa Gabrielli
David Ogden Stiers
Kyra Sedgwick
Kevin Michael Richardson

Carlton Duquesne (Richardson) is having gangster issues. The Penguin (Stiers) is employing him to supply the muscle that will ensure that a dirty deal gets done. At every turn, Duquesne’s henchmen take a beating at the hands of new Gotham hero, the mysterious Batwoman. Not even the Dark Knight himself knows who she is, where she came from or what she’s up to. With room enough for only one vigilante in town, one and a half if your count Robin (Marienthal), Batman sets out to discover her identity.

Duquesne is also having daughter issues. He and his all grown up little girl just can’t see eye to eye on anything. She also resents the fact that because of his problems in the underworld he insists on sending a couple of goons with her everywhere she goes. Nevertheless, she manages to break loose long enough to start up a romance with Bruce Wayne.

Visually, we get the classic blocky style we’ve come to expect from Batman: The Animated Series. This is no more or less in terms of quality.

The story seems to be moseying along in an easily predictable manner. Thankfully, we get a great twist near the end that really spices things up. It really elevates what was a decent but ho-hum affair to a very nice experience.