Review of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 (2012) by Haravikk K — 15 Apr 2013

A visually interesting but largely unsatisfying and vastly over-hyped animated Batman adventure.

The basic premise is of Bruce Wayne grudgingly (or perhaps inevitably) returning to the role of Batman which is an interesting enough story, with Harvey Dent undergoing rehabilitation at the same time, the stage seems set to see both Two Face and Batman return to form. Instead Harvey's story is handled poorly and feels more of a footnote to other major villain; a steroidal, filed-teeth, ice-cream cone nippled idiot leading a vast gang of youths armed with military grade weapons who murder indiscriminately, yet don't appear to receive any police attention (in spite of being incredibly easy to find). Batman has a lot to work with in terms of story, but the plot of this film is haphazard and unremarkable, lurching from one set piece to the next; it is mindless action in the purest sense, with no impression whatsoever of the supposed world's greatest detective, meanwhile plenty of time is wasted on a foolish and unconvincing new Robin.

The production values are high, but the visual style is a mess with unconvincing CGI often clashing with the standard animation. Male characters, including the supposedly old Bruce Wayne, aren't simply well built, they're some kind of freakish figures that more closely resemble gorillas than people; the over accentuated characters worked well in the art deco styled animated series, but they haven't worked since, and are entirely out of place in this film. The inclusion of a lengthy scene with Batman in a full-blown tank also serves to completely remove the viewer from any sense of reality or genuine struggle for the character.

Voice acting is yet another sore point in the franchise's recent history; while Peter Weller is one of the better alternatives to Kevin Conroy his performance still lacks a great deal, though given the constraints of the terrible plot and poor visual choices I'm not sure that that's surprising. Many of the extra characters such as police officers provide better voice work than the main characters that hog most of the spotlight.

This film is over-hyped, and somehow well regarded in spite of being one of the worst depictions of Batman in the franchise; what should be a dark and brooding return is too focused on being bloody and full action in an attempt to cover the lack of any substance, and it's a huge disappointment.