The Dark Knight is one of the biggest releases of this summer, if not the year. How do you prepare yourself for such a monumental picture? By watching previous depictions of Batman in movies, of course. We’re making our way through ten feature length incarnations of the Dark Knight’s stories, from Adam West to animation. We invite you to join us for the ride as we analyze the good, the bad, and the Bat.
(And yes, we’re actually re-watching all of these old flicks rather than just relying on our memory, so we can honestly evaluate each of them in preparation for The Dark Knight).
Day Ten: Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)
The last of our preparations to watch The Dark Knight is only a few weeks old, so I’m not going to dive into an in depth analysis of this anime-styled take on Batman. If you like anime, you’ll probably like what they’ve done here to help bridge the gap between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. If you don’t like anime, the visuals here probably won’t be for you. There’s still some good information to be gleaned from this, especially since at least one of the stories comes from a writer behind The Dark Knight.
So, for those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to watch Batman: Gotham Knight, here’s a few things to know before you step into The Dark Knight.
1. People don’t know what to make of the Batman
Batman: Gotham Knight features two stories that show people not sure just what Batman is, or whose side he’s on. Is he a living shadow, a bat creature, or a cyborg? Is he for justice or is he just a lawless vigilante? The worst of these are the cops, who are divided about whether Batman is helpful or a hindrance.
2. James Gordon is building his forces
When we last left Gordon he had been promoted from Sergeant to Lieutenant. Now he operates the Major Crimes Unit, made up of police officers hand picked by Gordon. That means Gordon is putting together the honest cops that he can trust - a far cry from Gordon’s statement in the first movie that he couldn’t rat to anyone because there’s no-one to rat to. Two officers in particular to show up here are Crispus Allen and Anna Ramirez.
3. The Narrows have been lost and reclaimed by the asylum
The Narrows was the section of Gotham hit hard by the Scarecrow’s attack in Batman Begins. In the movie they raised the bridges to the Narrows, shutting off the island. As police officers deliver an inmate to the Asylum, we learn the entire island is now the asylum, not just the building itself. Officers are told not to stop for people alongside the road, because they were most likely inmates.
4. The addition of Batman hasn’t slowed down crime
Mobsters may not know what to make of Batman, but they’re still fighting the good fight amongst themselves. In Gotham Knight the primary fight is between The Russian and Sal Maroni.
5. Batman is continuing to improve his armory
In Gotham Knight, Bruce Wayne discovers an item made by Lucius Fox that would grant him a kind of bulletproof shield. Unfortunately the device winds up deflecting the bullet into a nearby hoodlum. Batman does not kill, even unintentionally through something like that, so he stops using it… but it’s a sign that Batman won’t rest with the few gadgets he already had.
6. The Scarecrow is still at large
I missed this on previous viewings of Batman Begins, but the last we see of the Scarecrow is him being on the receiving end of Rachel Dawes’s taser dart, seizing uncontrollably as the horse he’s riding on disappears into the mist. He isn’t captured, that we see, and thus is still around for Batman: Gotham Knight. He’s not captured here either, which means he should still be at large in The Dark Knight.
That ends our series, revisiting the portrayals of Batman through his different interpretations and incarnations. Hopefully you’re ready to watch Christopher Nolan’s second chapter, aware of the highs and lows of Batman’s filmography.
Final Rating:
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Prepare-For-The-Dark-Knight-Batman-Gotham-Knight-9555.html
