The Dark Knight Returns Parts 1&2 (2012–13) Review

  

By: Kameron McBride

Comic book movies have been incredibly popular in theaters but also in the direct–to–DVD market. And while Marvel has been über successful with their Avengers gambit, DC Comics has owned the latter with their "Animated DC Universe" series. 

I haven't watched many of these cartoons but they do seem to have a new one out every time I turn around. When I heard they were adapting Frank Miller's genre–defining The Dark Returns graphic novel into an animated movie while using the very particular art style of the book. At first I had my doubts but after watching a trailer I bought in and purchased the first. After having watched the first and the second tonight I can say you should definitely check these out if you are at all a fan of Batman.

The voice cast is terrific, featuring Peter Weller as Batman, Michael Emerson as The Joker and     My only regret is that they couldn't convince Bryan Cranston to voice Commissioner Gordon after he did such a great job in Batman: Year One. Emerson is also a good Joker, not as good as Mark Hamill but still a solid pick.

The one thing that's lost in translation to these movies is Batman's inner–monologue, one of my favorite aspects of the graphic novel. In the book it gave us a unique insight into the Batman character and some of my favorite lines grew out of these moments. 

My other complaint is that the fight between Superman and Batman goes on a little longer than it probably should. It feels a little cartoon–y but it's nonetheless satisfying.

Most importantly, I think this is the appropriate format to give fans something neat to see. It's not $10 for one viewing and the movies are only about an hour apiece, which makes it worthwhile alone. Obviously they aren't exceptional pieces of film but for what they are I can't imagine cartoons like this being made much better. 

Every great moment from the novel is brought to vibrant life and I think the story even makes perfect sense without having read the novels before. You obviously need the obligatory knowledge of Batman but other than that, these movies work.

As for special features, each DVD includes some cool documentries, the best of which is probably "When Worlds Collide," a doc about Batman vs. Supes on the Part 2 Blu–Ray. The best secret might be that each disc also includes a few episodes of the Batman: The Animated Series cartoon, which was one of my personal favorites growing up.

So you should check these out. They're both fun and as relevant as ever with great animation and voice work. They handle Miller's original vision with care and give us another good character study of Batman.