How did they mess this up so bad?
I am always looking forward to new DC animated projects. This one was no exception.
But from the first scene on it was quite obvious that they did not get what made the original story so special. The original elseworld story is a short though nonetheless exciting detective story that doesn‘t stray too far away from the Jack the Ripper myth it was based on. What they created in this movie is so focused on introducing characters to the story that are unnescessary and serve no purpose but the small „oh, this is that character“ moment.
Another thing that they seem very keen on doing from the beginning on is turning this film into an action movie. Everybody of course is aware that Jack the Ripper was famous for his martial arts skills. From beginning to end the movie is packed with unnescessary action scenes that go on for way too long. A fight on a blimp, a fight in Arkham Asylum (in which Hugo Strange for some reason gets thrown into a pit of zombie-like patients that tear him in half) and of course a final fight on a burning ferris wheel.
Oh, and if you seem weirded out by a steampowered grapple gun...don’t worry...Batman of course has a super fast steampowered bike.
I have to say that the twist who the villain is caught me by surprise. But only because the reveal was completely unowned and doesn’t really make any sense.
The artstyle is another thing done wrong in this movie. While the original comic had a noir style about it and was gritty which fit in perfectly with the setting, the art in this seemed completely uninspired and just the same thing they used in the last ten DC animated films.
I really like DC animated movies, but it has been a while since I was positively surprised by one in the last couple of years. And with the next one being a suicide squad movie, described as „this film has attitude“, I am not sure if it is going to change anytime soon.