Tag Archives: movie reviews

Guess who’s back?  Back again?  It’s Batman in The Dark Knight Returns Part 2!  And this one…  whew, this one is crazy.

I think I liked Part 1 better than Part 2 – maybe because for what Part 2 lacks in story in comparison to Part 1, it it makes up for in sheer lunacy.  Seriously, this movie is nuts.  It features:  Superman fighting the USSR’s military and just… killing people, the joker on an insane murderous rampage, nuclear explosions and Batman fighting the cops – and that’s none of that is even in the climax of the movie.  It’s nuts.

Like I mentioned yesterday, Peter Weller is the voice of Bruce Wayne/Batman in these flicks rather than Kevin Conroy, and I know I already mentioned the speech he makes near the end of this flick, but wow, is it awful – it bares repeating.  Kevin Conroy is great as the voice of Batman, and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  (Check out the trailer below:  “Tonight, we are the law.  I am the law!”  Yuck.)  Oh, and while I’m’ taking shots at people, Michael Emerson as The Joker just wasn’t working.  Again, just call Mark Hamill – and again, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

This movie is nuts, but if you watched Part 1, you’ll need to watch Part 2 to see how the story ends…  and it’s not the most satisfying of endings, but it’s worth checking out for any Batman fan.  I give Batman:  The Dark Knight Returns – Part 1 a 7 out of 8.

Whew, that’s a mouthful of a title, huh?  But there’s plenty of Batman in The Dark Knight Returns to justify the two movie story – and it’s existence – but not much more than that.

Of the two parts, I’d say that part 1 of The Dark Knight Returns is the better, more entertaining half of the story.  It’s fun to get acquainted with this new Gotham City and a new Bruce Wayne – they’re both older and they’ve both changed.  I’d of never thought I’d see Bruce Wayne driving a race care and thinking something tot he tune of, “This would be a good death…  [to die in a race car accident]  But not good enough.”  It calls into question whether or not being Batman was about thrill seeking, revenge, or justice, or if somewhere along the road, the line got blurred, but it doesn’t matter anymore, because Bruce hasn’t been Batman for 10 years, and he’s kinda old.

This movie features Peter Weller as the voice of Bruce Wayne/Batman rather than Kevin Conroy, who is almost always the voice of Batman in any animated presentation since the late 80s, and Weller is OK, but he just doesn’t hit the mark – it’s not so noticeable in Part 1, but he makes a speech in Part 2 that I didn’t believe for a second.

It’s an interesting story with interesting characters, but unless you’re really into Batman, you might want to skip this one – especially if you saw The Dark Knight Rises and you didn’t think it was anything great.  On the other hand, if you couldn’t get enough of DKR, then this is the movie series for you.  I give Batman:  The Dark Knight Returns – Part 1 a 7.5 out of 8.