John's Movie Musings

Remember The Animatrix from a few years ago? The Matrix producers got some artists together to make a collection of short stories around that universe. If you've never seen it, go check it out. Especially since most of the stories are better than the sequels.

Since that project turned out to be so popular, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight get the same treatment in Batman: Gotham Knight. I'm not certain, but it looked like many of the same animators returned for this disc. That's a good thing, since these guys all have a unique style to their art and are famous for a reason.

So does it all work for Batman like it did for The Matrix? Well, sorta. There are six stories (as opposed to nine in The Animatrix), and I felt like I wanted more. While still very good, the styles of the artists are too similar. In The Animatrix, variety in the art gave each story a new sense of freshness that didn't solely rely on the writing.

Unfortunately, the stories here miss more than they hit. The first one is great and there's a story centered around the cops from The Dark Knight that's interesting, but the rest are kind of bland. One is especially boring and makes very little sense in the Batman lore. Batman: Chakra Knight (or whatever it's called) shows up in the middle and really killed my interest in the rest of the disc.

I'd recommend this only for the diehard Batman fans.

Grade: C+