Gotham Knight is divided in to 6, 10 minute segments so I’ll be doing a general review followed by 6 mini reviews of each segments.
Have I got a Story For You (written by Josh Olson): This segment was written by a relative newcomer to the comic and animation world Josh Olson, he has a vast screenplay writing background that showed brilliantly in this segment. Watch closely and you might notice the episode is actually done Tarentino style (backwards in laymen’s terms) which added a little something extra that I didn’t expect.
Crossfire (written by Greg Rucka): Rucka mentioned in the interviews before the premiere that he struggled with writing this since the characters, two police officers, are talking for a vast majority of the segment. Being a necessity for the storyline, I have to sympathize with him. The talking did seem to make it drag on forever, but the ending made up for almost all of the drawn out talking. I enjoyed it, even though it’s not my favorite segment.
Field Test (written by Jordan Goldberg) This story took an interesting twist on the idea that Batman will never kill anybody. It portrays his conflict between his own protection and injuring others. This was really fun to watch, again not my favorite, but it was very action packed and kept me intrigued for the whole piece.
In Darkness Dwells (written by David S. Goyer) The most interesting of the traditional Batman story lines. Batty has to fight not only Scarecrow but his own mind. Scarecrow has released fear toxin and Batman has to not let it get through and break his concentration. It ends with a prelude to the next segment Working Through The Pain.
Working Through The Pain (written by Brian Azzeralo) By far my favorite segment in the movie. Working Through the Pain is more about Bruce Wayne the man, and less Batman the super hero. We know Batman is a badass, but why? Well this segment helps answer that nagging question. It was a new and refreshing story, a welcome departure from the typical “Batman kills bad guys” storylines.
Deadshot (written by Alan Burnett) Deadshot features a conflict between not only Batman and a villain, but his biggest villain in his world, the bullet. It takes an interesting look at the gun, and its false sense of power. It was a fitting end to Gotham Knight. It’s a classic Batty story that ends right where I assume Dark Knight will begin, or very close to that.
Wrap it up you nut case!: The animation might not have been my thing but the writing sure was! It was definitely a welcome change for a Batman fan like myself, and a fitting prelude to the movie of the summer. Look for a full review of the DVD on EyeCraveDVD.com in the next week or so.
