Reviews for Batman: Gotham Knight (7.83) 6d2j6v
PHa-Q Aoki Yasuhiro Higashide Futoshi Kawajiri Yoshiaki Kubooka Toshiyuki Morioka Hiroshi Morioka Hiroshi Nam Jong-Sik Nishimi Shoujirou If you have ever watched the Animatrix, you will have a good idea of the format of Gotham Knight. It is, like the aforement... Home Twitter - Unrated m1e6r
22.10.2008 21:19 - rs6484)
If you have ever watched the Animatrix, you will have a good idea of the format of Gotham Knight.
It is, like the aforementioned title; a collection of short films relating to Batman, each made by different studios and ergo have different art styles and narrative approaches.
The time line of these episodes is apparently set in-between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, though I must it I fail to see any relevance to this point.
Each film is very much it's own story and does not appear to tie in with the other episodes and therefore I will review them individually and ditch the standard format.
*** You can skip down to the bottom for a brief review of the OVA as a whole.
Have I Got a Story for You (Studio 4°C)
The first thing that may strike you about this short, is the art style which is very dynamic and I would say not typical of most Anime.
Four skater kids meet up in a skater park warehouse all claiming to have seen Batman. They each describe their encounters and tend to exaggerate their encounter by adding fantastic attributes to Batman such as being able to turn into a shadow or being a type of killer robot.
All claim to have seen Batman, all but on of the skaters. As the friends recollect their stories Batman burst into the skate park fighting a goon and the kid who didn't have a story to tell now has the chance to experience the super hero up close and personal.
This is one of my favourite of the 6 short films. The minute it starts it will evoke memories of Kid's Story from the Animatrix; which is well placed as both are by the same studio. From the minute the first skater appears to the very subtle use of 3D. the similarities are very apparent.
Rating: 9
_________________________________________
Crossfire (Production I.G)
Two cops from Gordon's crew are caught up in a confrontation between two gangs. Heavily out gun and out-manned, with their care blown to pieces they seem to be heading for certain death when Batman appears on the scene in an attempt to rescue them.
The main crux of the story in this short is about the Police trusting Batman. The story didn't really captivate me much on this one and although the high standard we have come to expect from production IG is present in the animation, I still felt a little underwhelmed.
The look of this Batman is very comparable to the recent Batman Hollywood movie and looks pretty bad-ass in this rendition.
Rating: 6
_________________________________________
Field Test (Bee Train)
Lucius Fox helps Batman to create a device to deflect small-arms bullets off the Bat-suit. Later that evening Batman has the chance to try out this new device as he is caught in the middle of a gang war. As the battle ensues a bullet which is successfully deflected from the Bat-suit, hits one of the gang .
One aspect that stood out for me is the fairly different approach to Batman's look. His face mask almost reminded me of Berserk.
The story itself was pretty decent but maybe felt a little shallow.
The animation was good, but I felt the backgrounds were a big forte in this movie.
Rating: 7
_________________________________________
In Darkness Dwells (Madhouse)
A cardinal is abducted by what witnesses claim to be a creature that resembles a giant Lizard who then disappeared into the Gotham sewer system.
Batman goes to investigate and as he literally wades through the underworld eventually facing off against this Lizard man. During this encounter he is poisoned by a toxin and to make matters worse he realises he will have to face another of his arch-enemies.
This is one is one of the more action packed of these shorts and provides many exciting and originally animated scenes. What stands out here is the great use of unconventional camera angles and some very smooth animations.
This films also adds entertainment by featuring two known Batman villains such as the Scarecrow and Killer Croc.
Nice art style which seem very stylised in part due to the heavy use of large areas of pitch black shadows.
Rating: 9
_________________________________________
Working Through Pain (Studio 4°C)
When Batman is hit by a bullet and starts to hallucinate, he starts to think back to a time when he was in India as an apprentice of a woman named Cassandra.
She is a type of guru and after some convincing, decides to teach Batman in the art of managing pain. It is a hard task and doubts start to form in Batman's mind as to whether or not he will be capable or reaching the same level of resilience to pain as his master.
This is short takes upon itself to show you some back story to one of Batman's powers, which is to be able to ignore a high degree of pain. This short takes away some of the action and focuses more on the emotional side of Batman's psyche.
It is interesting to see some of this back story, but the story never seemed to unfold very well and left me feeling somewhat unimpressed.
Rating: 7
_________________________________________
Deadshot (Madhouse)
A celebrity is murdered with a surgical sniper shot taken by the notorious sharpshooting villain known as Deadshot.
After further investigation Batman believes that Deadshot's next victim will be Gordon - the Police chief himself.
Whilst trying to protect his allie in the Police force Batman comes to realise that Gordon was never the true target and turns from the hunter into the hunted.
This final film of the OVA is very much an action packed affair again and succeeds very well in that regard.
Heavy use of CG which I felt was pretty fitting and very well executed.
This Batman is drawn in a classic style and is depicted in his classic blue and grey costume.
Style of this Anime very much reminded me of the Ninja Scroll movie.
Another film which emphasises Batman's dislike for fire-arms.
Rating: 8
*** General Review:
It is hard to write a review with a single score, when all six films are very much unique pieces.
Each episode is very unique and therefore the trip through these six films constantly provides a fresh style to keep you entertained.
There is something here for most types, from the traditional action to some depiction of Batman's more philosophical sides.
Some one-liners are dangerously close to being cheesy, pulled off successfully only by the fact that they are being said, by the Dark Knight himself.
Additionally I would like to add that I felt the soundtrack to these films was very strong and besides being pleasing to the ear also matched the pace of each short very well.
It's definitively a must-watch for fans of the franchise and can be recommended to general fans of Anime for being a showcase of shorts by some of the top Anime studios.
One half of the films felt really solid and memorable where as the other three ranged from mediocre to barely interesting.
At very least, half of these short films will entertain you and at best all six will offer something of interest to the Batman fan.
On the whole, I would say that this marriage of Anime and Batman is a very successful one.
It is, like the aforementioned title; a collection of short films relating to Batman, each made by different studios and ergo have different art styles and narrative approaches.
The time line of these episodes is apparently set in-between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, though I must it I fail to see any relevance to this point.
Each film is very much it's own story and does not appear to tie in with the other episodes and therefore I will review them individually and ditch the standard format.
*** You can skip down to the bottom for a brief review of the OVA as a whole.
Have I Got a Story for You (Studio 4°C)
The first thing that may strike you about this short, is the art style which is very dynamic and I would say not typical of most Anime.
Four skater kids meet up in a skater park warehouse all claiming to have seen Batman. They each describe their encounters and tend to exaggerate their encounter by adding fantastic attributes to Batman such as being able to turn into a shadow or being a type of killer robot.
All claim to have seen Batman, all but on of the skaters. As the friends recollect their stories Batman burst into the skate park fighting a goon and the kid who didn't have a story to tell now has the chance to experience the super hero up close and personal.
This is one of my favourite of the 6 short films. The minute it starts it will evoke memories of Kid's Story from the Animatrix; which is well placed as both are by the same studio. From the minute the first skater appears to the very subtle use of 3D. the similarities are very apparent.
Rating: 9
_________________________________________
Crossfire (Production I.G)
Two cops from Gordon's crew are caught up in a confrontation between two gangs. Heavily out gun and out-manned, with their care blown to pieces they seem to be heading for certain death when Batman appears on the scene in an attempt to rescue them.
The main crux of the story in this short is about the Police trusting Batman. The story didn't really captivate me much on this one and although the high standard we have come to expect from production IG is present in the animation, I still felt a little underwhelmed.
The look of this Batman is very comparable to the recent Batman Hollywood movie and looks pretty bad-ass in this rendition.
Rating: 6
_________________________________________
Field Test (Bee Train)
Lucius Fox helps Batman to create a device to deflect small-arms bullets off the Bat-suit. Later that evening Batman has the chance to try out this new device as he is caught in the middle of a gang war. As the battle ensues a bullet which is successfully deflected from the Bat-suit, hits one of the gang .
One aspect that stood out for me is the fairly different approach to Batman's look. His face mask almost reminded me of Berserk.
The story itself was pretty decent but maybe felt a little shallow.
The animation was good, but I felt the backgrounds were a big forte in this movie.
Rating: 7
_________________________________________
In Darkness Dwells (Madhouse)
A cardinal is abducted by what witnesses claim to be a creature that resembles a giant Lizard who then disappeared into the Gotham sewer system.
Batman goes to investigate and as he literally wades through the underworld eventually facing off against this Lizard man. During this encounter he is poisoned by a toxin and to make matters worse he realises he will have to face another of his arch-enemies.
This is one is one of the more action packed of these shorts and provides many exciting and originally animated scenes. What stands out here is the great use of unconventional camera angles and some very smooth animations.
This films also adds entertainment by featuring two known Batman villains such as the Scarecrow and Killer Croc.
Nice art style which seem very stylised in part due to the heavy use of large areas of pitch black shadows.
Rating: 9
_________________________________________
Working Through Pain (Studio 4°C)
When Batman is hit by a bullet and starts to hallucinate, he starts to think back to a time when he was in India as an apprentice of a woman named Cassandra.
She is a type of guru and after some convincing, decides to teach Batman in the art of managing pain. It is a hard task and doubts start to form in Batman's mind as to whether or not he will be capable or reaching the same level of resilience to pain as his master.
This is short takes upon itself to show you some back story to one of Batman's powers, which is to be able to ignore a high degree of pain. This short takes away some of the action and focuses more on the emotional side of Batman's psyche.
It is interesting to see some of this back story, but the story never seemed to unfold very well and left me feeling somewhat unimpressed.
Rating: 7
_________________________________________
Deadshot (Madhouse)
A celebrity is murdered with a surgical sniper shot taken by the notorious sharpshooting villain known as Deadshot.
After further investigation Batman believes that Deadshot's next victim will be Gordon - the Police chief himself.
Whilst trying to protect his allie in the Police force Batman comes to realise that Gordon was never the true target and turns from the hunter into the hunted.
This final film of the OVA is very much an action packed affair again and succeeds very well in that regard.
Heavy use of CG which I felt was pretty fitting and very well executed.
This Batman is drawn in a classic style and is depicted in his classic blue and grey costume.
Style of this Anime very much reminded me of the Ninja Scroll movie.
Another film which emphasises Batman's dislike for fire-arms.
Rating: 8
*** General Review:
It is hard to write a review with a single score, when all six films are very much unique pieces.
Each episode is very unique and therefore the trip through these six films constantly provides a fresh style to keep you entertained.
There is something here for most types, from the traditional action to some depiction of Batman's more philosophical sides.
Some one-liners are dangerously close to being cheesy, pulled off successfully only by the fact that they are being said, by the Dark Knight himself.
Additionally I would like to add that I felt the soundtrack to these films was very strong and besides being pleasing to the ear also matched the pace of each short very well.
It's definitively a must-watch for fans of the franchise and can be recommended to general fans of Anime for being a showcase of shorts by some of the top Anime studios.
One half of the films felt really solid and memorable where as the other three ranged from mediocre to barely interesting.
At very least, half of these short films will entertain you and at best all six will offer something of interest to the Batman fan.
On the whole, I would say that this marriage of Anime and Batman is a very successful one.
Comments (1) 22g1a
