Review of Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)

'Batman: Gotham Knight' is a 2008 direct-to-DVD anthology film of six short animated superhero films set between 'Batman Begins' (2005) and 'The Dark Knight'. It tells the story of Batman battling against the mob in Gotham City, as well as other villains, including Killer croc and Scarecrow. The producers have said that it is not necessarily meant to be canon to the "Nolanverse", and that any of the six segments could easily fall into any Batman continuity. The films/segments are written by Josh Olson, David S. Goyer, Brian Azzarello, Greg Rucka, Jordan Goldberg and Alan Burnett.

The short films are al based on Japanese anime art style, each segment has its own writing and artistic style. All six films of the feature star Kevin Conroy, reprising his voice role as Batman (from 'Batman: The Animated Series'). Personally, when i starting watching this, I felt like I'd wasted my money. Mostly because the first segment looks terrible, they started with one of the weirdest and crappiest looking anime I've ever seen. Plus the story isn't that good either. I will admit that they do get better as they go on, as does the animation. By the end i was quite enjoying it, but it is by no means better than other animated Batman films I've seen, like 'Batman: Under The Red Hood' and 'Batman: Mask of the Phantasm'. I do like how all the stories interlink, but due to the constant change in animation, it becomes difficult to follow. It does paint a clearer picture of the mob situation we see in 'The Dark Knight'. 

If there's any reason to buy this film, then it is the special features, which I will be going through on Sunday in my Weekly Blu Ray Review, but I will tell you this, it comes with four bonus episodes from 'Batman: The Animated Series', the second of which ('Heart of Ice') is what part of the story for 'Batman & Robin' was based on (I know that film brings back bad memories but remember, the animated series is critically acclaimed and award winning).

So this one isn't a must buy, it doesn't feel like your watching a movie. The animation is annoying, it's difficult to follow (due to the changes in animation). So I'm going to say only purchase 'Batman: Gotham Knight' if you are interested in seeing a few links in the "Nolanverse". You could even buy it just for the special features. I am going to give the film a 6.5/10.