Batman: 5 Beautiful Days & 6 Glorious Gotham Knights
This anthology of new vignettes blends the stylish with the absurd. Borrowing heavily from the continuity of the previous screen incarnation (Batman Begins), these six stories are produced by the marketing wizard who brought us Batman Begins and, by the end of this week, The Dark Knight. Voiced by animated mainstay Kevin Conroy and penned by Brian Azzarello, Alan Burnett, Jordan Goldberg, David Goyer, Josh Olson and Greg Rucka, it’s an inconsistent yet irresistible must-have for any Batman super freak. Blending cyberpunk with a number of styles and costumes from a number of different eras, there’s something for everyone in this movie.
The visuals are astonishing. I’ll say it again: the visuals are astonishing. Not since the gorgeous and ambitious 1992 theatrical Christmas Day release of Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm has an animated budget been this grand. It makes me miss the days when most cartoons films were actually cartoons instead of carbon copies spit out of a CGI machine. Somehow (through computer wizardry or Photo Shop) they’ve managed to juxtapose real, living landscapes in the background and foreground. Shockingly realistic fire effects crackle in some scenes and cityscapes bring a new level of realism to the fore. It’s a sight to behold.
While fanatics may take umbrage at the creative license of some of the shorts, I took it all with a grain of salt and simply enjoyed the ride. For me, nothing is ever going to top Mask Of The Phantasm where the animated counterparts are concerned. Gotham Knights is a hell of a project, though, and definitely worth at least a five-day rental. They’re on to something when the lady of the house looked up from the kitchen multiple times to bask in the eye candy that the film was pumping out at the speed of light.
Unfortunately, there’s not one Joker tale among the bunch, which is more personal complaint than anything else. Killer Croc? Check. Deadshot? Check. Scarecrow? You betcha. And the two-disc collector’s set is chock full of extra documentaries (Batman and Me: The Bob Kane Story, A Mirror for the Bat featurette, 4 bonus Batman: The Animated Series episodes and a sneak peek at the spring 2009 animated release of Wonder Woman). A longer Dark Knight trailer would have been appreciated, but this is a small complaint for such a pretty, collaborative effort.
You can find Batman: Gotham Knights at Family Video, Blockbuster, Hollywood Video or wherever DVDs are sold and rented.
All this week Tom Waters will be reviewing Batman graphic novels and DVDs on the way to Friday's release of Batman's The Dark Knight playing locally at Dipson Market Arcade Film & Arts.
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nykidd83
jesus tom waters dont u have anything else to write about besides batman? whens it time to grow up? one post about batman is enough - this is your 3rd or 4th in less than 24 hours.. cant u find something else to write about? completely ridiculous!
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NSphere
I could be wrong, but I believe "Batman Beyond" was in there too ("The Animated Series" was probably my fav.)
And for the record I have no problem with articles like these. Some things are inappropriate for this site, but there's nothing wrong with a little arts and entertainment. Variety is the spice of life and it gives me something else to read.
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tomwaters
nykidd,
Apparently, your mouse is broken and you're incapable of clicking to the next newsworthy item. Perhaps you haven't heard of a 'journalistic series'. And no, I'm never going to grow up. Didn't you know? I'm a Toys 'R' Us Kid. You seem like one of these people who throw the word 'mature' around because they're such authorities on the term. Have a great life (or lack of it)
Tom Waters www.tomfoolery4.wordpress.com
P.S. NSphere, you're right. Batman Beyond (the animated series) makes four). I was rushing to make deadline. My bad.
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ToughintheStreets
Except theres no variety....
Doesn't look like a series. Theres nothing in the heading that suggests that each article is part 1, Part 2 etc. of a whole. Typical BRO response. Criticism is met with "go read something else."
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tomwaters
Furthermore, on the issue of growing up, perhaps I should find solace in watching a brown ball travel back and forth across a field or a black circle coast back and forth across frost. That's infinitely more stimulating than the printed or illustrated word. Lord, oh Lord, why can't I learn to get into big boy pursuits?
Tom (again)
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tomwaters
I don't lie down very easily, toughinthestreets. Haven't before, not starting now. As far as Nykidd is concerned, it takes a real man to hide behind a screen name psuedonym and waddle his way to the computer...
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ToughintheStreets
Where does it say anything anywhere about sports being associated with growing up? Did someone mention it and I missed it? Has BRO started reporting on sports? Relax Tom, no one in a varsity jacket is going to give you a wedgie or cram you into your own locker. We're just saying. All the Batman with no explaination is a bit much...
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ToughintheStreets
It also takes a real man not to stoop to the level of retaliating with personal attacks like that.
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nykidd83
wow tom, thank u for further proving its time for u to grow up. get a life and accept criticism.
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tomwaters
anything you say, 'kidd'. i guess that's my final 'explaination'.
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nykidd83
wow tom, thank u for further proving its time for u to grow up. get a life and accept criticism.
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tomwaters
Criticism would be a commentary on the grammar or structure of the piece, or the prose itself. You might want to dust off your degree in journalism, sport.
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nykidd83
"explaination" - well let me tell u something tom, this "kidd" knows how to spell "explanation". im looking forward to your story about the joker tomorrow!
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tomwaters
Last word freak, arentcha'?
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nykidd83
you might want to dispose of your degree in journalism tom, bc u suck at it....
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Eisen
I've been enjoying the batman posts. :)
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tomwaters
Thanks, Eisen, I'm not going to indulge ny's tiny baby ego anymore. Henceforth I'm not going to acknowledge his nonsense. After all, it is after ten o'clock, and his mommy is probably warming up his hot cocoa before she tucks him in to bed in the basement.
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tomwaters
One final and crippling statement: all three Spiderman movies: $2,496,346,518. All three X-men movies: $1.163 billion. Five theatrical releases of Batman films (in the latter half of the 20th century): $1,624,772,639. The projected opening box office gross for 'The Dark Knight'? 180-190 million. Check and mate. Yeah, I'm a little boy with better verbiage and more talent than you could ever have. I'm also a comic book freak, but I'm part of a new legion. Have you checked the theater marquees this summer? We're taking over. The big screen now belongs to us. Like it or not, comic book geeks own the summer blockbuster industry. That's gotta sting, doesn't it? We support the movies in the theaters, we pay for the dvds when they release the first day, we buy the comics and we make the industry, period. There are apparently a few billion people who don't want to grow up. If it means turning into an insipid douche bag with a tiny brain and a sad crusade against one of the longest standing art forms, I never want to grow up. I'll be writing graphic novel reviews with BRO for a long time. Love me or hate me, I'm not leaving. Feast on that.
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JAramini
Alright Tom, I've been a contributer to Buffalo Rising before so I'm not hiding behind a pseudonym. I also thought that there was an excess of articles about Batman. I'm as excited about the upcoming movie as the next guy, but I thought that the number of articles you've run was a bit surprising. I'm not so much surprised that you wrote so many, but that BRO chose to run this many in such a short period of time. It's not particularly Buffalo-centric nor what we see much of on this site.
I wasn't going to comment, I was just going to get over the unusual story choice, but then I read your comments and was really disappointed. If you're publishing articles in an online forum, you need to have much thicker skin. I had a few trolls commenting on pieces I ran here, but I got over it. Resorting to simplistic name-calling really weakens your point. You think you're defending yourself, but in reality you look no better than your common internet troll. If you'd like to address criticisms that were levied against you, that is fine. But to try to insult the people who have commented on your stories removes you from a position of authority and makes you look really bad.
I hope you keep writing, but in the future learn to rise above insulting people in the comments to your stories. It's unprofessional and makes me question any journalistic integrity you may have.
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Your_Intellectual_Superior
Will you leave if we give you back your juice money?
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TranspoGuy
JAramini - well said
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ToughintheStreets
I think alot of BRO contributors should take note of what Jaramini said.
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tomwaters
Jaramani, Well put. I'm not going to waste my time or energy on sinking to their level anymore. Besides, that time could be spent writing more comic book reviews. Or reading comics for that matter. You've got a good point.
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UnionAMG
"Best. Episode. Ever." -Tom Waters
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DJK
omigod tom, holy freakout! Obsess much?
By the way, Tim Burton's Batman film came out in 1989, not 1990.
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Brette
Truly I been kinda enjoying the series, but maybe the boyz are getting all wigged out cuz they're a little frightened by the intense pictures, Tom. From now on you may want to pic pix that are more G than PG-13 so they don't get so agitated, n'kay? And we'll try to find a nice adult who can sit with them at the movie tomorrow.
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ECB
Tom,
Thanks for the series. You've had your BRO virginity taken away quite aptly. You know there are people out there who are enjoying this, who will go to the movie or buy a book because of it. Pay attention to the RaChaChas, Eisens, Brettes, NSpheres, Scooters--the list goes on forever--of this site.
I sort of look at the commenters who complain about the existence of a post as someone who would complain to a store manager for carrying things they don't like rather than simply taking what they went there for.
I'll look forward to anything you care to stock our shelves with in the future.
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UnionAMG
I really don't think anybody would care about the Batman post... its that there have multiple posts over several days that just seems odd. I'm part of the crowd that if I don't like it, I just move on to the next thing. But I understand the haters' point that the multiple posts seem a bit off topic for the nature of the website.
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tomwaters
UnionAMG, Amen to you. You hate my stuff? I can totally live with that. Good for you for having the werewithal to move on. You've got a better spine than most jellyfishes who threaten a man with legal action when he's already run the gauntlet (and then some) on first amendment rights. Thanks for not talking a whole bunch of nonsense because your genitals are tiny and you have no conception of how the freedom of speech works. Your ego is obviously intact and you know how the world operates. You must not be a shut in with your mother's computer. Good on you, pal, truly. Criticize my writing all day long, but don't talk nonsense about comics if you have no clue what you're talking about. I couldn't be any more sincere here. Maybe smaller minds will get the picture.
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