Amazing
I was trying to think of a joke for the title. I couldn't think of anything that made sense. So, that's the title. I don't know why the Hell I would open up a review like that.
Anyway, my first review was for The Dark Knight Returns: Part 1. Fast forward four months, and Part 2 has been released, so I'm doing a review for that. Like most of my reviews, this will contain spoilers. You've been warned.
The Good
The Joker - Who doesn't love the Joker? He was also awesome in this. Although I didn't like the voice actor, he was still awesome in the film. He went in there, pushed Batman to the limit, and put up one Hell of a fight. Plus all the killing he did at the carnival (is that what it's called?). Speaking of killing...
A LOT of violence and killing - I've never liked how Joker and people never killed anyone in Batman: The Animated Series or other thing. I loved how they didn't tone anything down, that they just went in and had Joker go on a massive killing spree, until getting killed himself (more on that later). Not to mention how Joker had a batarang thrown in his eye.
- Carrie Kelly - I was once again pleasantly surprised by Carrie in the film. I expected to go into Part 1 and just hate her, but I had the complete opposite. She was possibly my favorite part of Part 1, and while she wasn't my favorite in Part 2, she was still very good. I also like how she doesn't wear a mask, only her glasses. I think it adds some personality to her.
Batman vs. Joker: For the Final Time! No, really - Yeah, hearing Joker vs Batman for the final time sounds like some marketing gimmick. But this was the last time (in this universe at least). It was an epic fight, resulting in the death of the Joker, along with his body being burned, Batman almost dying, and it kept going. You thought it would end, then they had a swerve and kept it going a little while longer. It was great.
- Superman - I had heard Superman was in the original Returns comic (or the sequel. I forget), but I hadn't read it, so I didn't know what to expect from him. He was very good in the movie. He looked good, he fought well, and it was interesting to see him.
- Green Arrow - Poor Ollie. Cool to see him, but an archer with one arm? Sad...
- Actually depressing - The death of Batman, Alfred, and Wayne Manor all within the same three minutes. That's a lot to take in. I didn't cry (I almost did, but only one film has gotten me to that point), but it was still very sad. More later...
- Batman vs. Superman - When I first heard that a 10-year older out of shape Batman was going up against a 10 year older stronger Superman, I was like "WTF!?!" How the Hell would Batman survive? But it was very well done. Superman was weaker from the nuclear missile, Batman had that armor that increased his strength, it was great. The fighting was awesome, and it was nice to see Superman taken down a notch.
- Commissioner Gordon - He was still very good in this. Not much to say.
- The new police commissioner who's name I forget - While I disagree with the new commissioner's views on Batman, I did like the character.
- Brief comic books - Like the first film, this one features quick appearances from famous DC Comic books, this time the Flash comic story "Flash of Two Worlds" and something else big that I forget for some idiotic reason.
- Bruno - I think that was her name. Anyway, she only appeared at the beginning, but I liked her from what I saw. And I was surprised by two things. 1: That they would have her on camera topless, and 2: That they would have her wear Nazi symbols on her breasts. Nothing was too revealing, the Nazi symbols covered them up, but I was still amazed they weren't forced to have her put a bra on. And that they were allowed to put Nazi symbols there. I assume that's how it was in the comic it's based on, and that's why it was done, but its still impressive.
- Batman - Why did I take so long to get to him? He was... different in the film. He seemed a bit out of characters at times, but still cool.
The Bad
- Voice Acting - I'm not a fan of the voice acting in this film or the first. I was fine with Carrie Kelly, but that's about it. It would of been that hard to get Kevin Conroy to voice Batman again? Or Tim Daly or George Newbern (I think I spelled that wrong) to voice Superman? And the Joker's voice actor. Just, Ugh.
- Since when does Batman kill? - I've been a fan of Batman for years. I've always known him as a guy who won't use guns and won't kill. He did both. What the Hell?!?
- Nuclear Missile vs Superman - How does Superman have trouble moving a nuclear missile? It's Superman! He's lifted the weight of the Earth with ease. How does a missile give him trouble? I don't care if it was nuclear, there was no kryptonite. And how would the thing exploding hurt him? Again, he's SUPERMAN!!! The only thing that can hurt him is kryptonite and the overwhelming power of someone like Doomsday or Darkseid.
- Bruce's disguise at the beginning - Why was Bruce dressed up and fighting in an old woman costume? That was just weird.
- Other heroes mention - Why would Hal Jordan leave the Earth? I don't care what kind of agreement was declared, it was weird. And why no mention of Flash or Martian Manhunter?
- What was the agreement anyway and why did it happen? - They never quite explained what it was. And shouldn't it of started some kind of Civil War like in Marvel? Closest we got was what happened to Green Arrow.
- Catwoman - Aside from her being GOD UGLY in the film, which is sad with how hot she usually is, she was just pointless. She added nothing.
- Catwoman in a Wonder Woman costume - Joker tied her up and she was found by Batman. But why was she wearing a Wonder Woman costume? IT was just weird.
- Green Arrow's beard - A one armed man can't shave once in a while? I'm fine with the goatee, but he had no reason to look like Santa.
- Batman didn't die - As said before, I was close to crying when Batman died. It was sad and tragic. But then he appears underground to have the Mutants and Sons of Batman together and building a new Batcave? WFT!?!
My Final Verdict
This was an amazing film. Yes, there's a lot of stuff in the bad category, but it's mostly nit picks that don't detract from the film at all. It was a great film, probably better than Part 1 which is surprising. I can't wait to see what DC does next for animated movies.
My Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars.
