Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (2012-13)

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (2012-13)

Dir. Jay Oliva (both parts)

A two-part animation adapted from the 1986 book of the same name by Frank Miller. 

I enjoyed much of Miller's comic work in my younger years, but his dialogue is very much of that particular medium and as such isn't really suitable for film. That meant I wasn't overly concerned that Batman's inner-monologue was removed in the movie version. I thought it would be compensated for through more visual means, but it wasn't.

01. Regarding Part One, what remained was the slow pacing and the deconstruction of the typical superhero genre through various TV broadcasts, offering up conflicting views of the action and the possible motivations of the very different kinds of sociopaths.

Peter Weller, excellent as live-action RoboCop, was piss-poor as Bruce/Batman. His delivery was lifeless and flat. It sounded like he'd just wakened and was reading his lines from the back of a cereal packet. Andrea Romano wasn't on casting duties for this one and it shows. Almost everyone was ill-suited to their character.

02. Part Two of the story was the part of the book that I thought would be the hardest to get right onscreen because it has some complex social commentary and cold war politics that weigh heavy on the action, but I enjoyed it more than Part One, solely because of the conflict at the end, with the person who was under orders from the moronic US President, and the short scene that followed it. The rest of the movie was as weak and/or as stupid as the first part.

Unfortunately, when it came to giving what should have been a rousing speech and meaningful exchange with [spoiler], Weller's delivery once more failed to do it justice.

If memory serves, the story stayed very close to the source material, which was a good and bad thing. The stocky character designs were respectful, too, although they lacked the grittiness.

- Batman's chin is fuckin' enormous. -