There's no such thing as being 'Too Old for this shit' when it comes to Batman.
Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation back once again! Folks, we are les than 20 days away from Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, the biggest and one of the most important DC films ever made. And for this film, I decided to take a lot at various DC Animated films related to the movie. So welcome peeps to the lazily dubbed: Road to BVS and on this first installment, we're taking a look at the animated adaptation of the story that Batman v Superman is most influenced by: The Dark Knight Returns.
The Dark Knight Returns is a two part animated adaptation of the 1986 comic by Frank Miller which is said to be one of, if not, the greatest Batman stories ever told. It is the tale of an older, more worn down Bruce Wayne donning the cape and cowl once again after a 10 year retirement to reclaim Gotham City, which has reached an all time low in crime. This crusade has him face reemerging villains, new gangs, the police, and it all leads to a confrontation with the Man of Steel: Superman.
As I said earlier, The Dark Knight Returns as of this year is 30 years old and it shows: Ronald Reagan's still president, Superman's stopping Soviet nuclear missiles, it's totally a product of its time; and because of that, when it was made into an animated film, you'd think the story would be more updated when adapted into movies, but no. From comic to film, The Dark Knight Returns is largely one for one like the comic it's based on from its distinct art style to the dialogue; and I think that works a lot to the films' advantage as it makes it kind of like a period piece. Some may find it silly to call it that, but considering the impact The Dark Knight Returns had on not just Batman but on comics when it came out and considering it's a story that contains social commentary on the world as it was thirty years ago, is it that much of a stretch to say that it is a period piece, as far as comic books go?
The first part part of the films deals with Bruce Wayne's coming out of retirement as Batman and the movie does an excellent job portraying him as much slower and not as durable as he used to be, which is assisted by the great performance of the character's voice actor Peter Weller (A.K.A Robocop) who really sells the older and more grizzled take on the caped crusader. Weller's delivery combined with the story told really makes you want to cheer Batman on and in turn makes the moments of triumph that much greater.
One of the elements of the Batman lore was that Batman himself is responsible for the villains that wreak havoc in his city; in other words, a lot of villains in the Batman mythos become villains in response to him and his actions. This is something that's tackled in both parts one and two as there are people who are against Batman returning and use that as the exact reason why him coming back is a bad thing for Gotham and, without going too heavy into spoilers (of a 30 year old story), the actions of The Joker in this film also leads credence to the notion that maybe Gotham would be better off without the Batman. Speaking of Joker and Batman, their battle is also a very fun one in the Part two film (as most conflicts with Batman and The Joker are) and to me was the height for the two part film.
The only thing that would make this image more patriotic is if Superman were eating Apple Pie with the American flag in the background
The Dark Knight Returns films could've, and in my opinion, should have ended with Batman and his encounter with The Joker but there's still the stuff with Superman in it. I know that the most talked about part of The Dark Knight Returns was the fight between Batman and Superman and that fight in the movies was just as great in the Part 2 movie. But Superman's story, and I suppose the small portion of the story that features the larger scale of the DC Universe, is nowhere near as interesting as Batman trying to take his city back. As I said last year when I shortly mentioned The Dark Knight Returns in my post on Batman v Superman: The Dark Knight Returns is an excellent Batman story, but it really doesn't do justice for Superman.
But in summation, The Dark Knight Returns Parts 1 & 2 is an excellent story of an old soldier gearing up and jumping into one final war. If you want to experience The Dark Knight Returns as a story then do yourself a favor and pick up the deluxe edition of the animated movie as it puts both parts into one singular 2 hour movie and as an adaptation, it cuts out all of the fat of the original comic and delivers all of the iconic moments that long time fans of this story remembers.
I hope you all enjoyed reading this and I hope you're ready. This is just the first stop on the Road to BVS folks, come back next time when we take a look at Superman: Doomsday. Til then, I'm The Shaman of Animation.
Take Care...
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