Batman The Dark Knight Returns Part 2

“Stop laughing.”

 

          With the resurgence and somewhat over-saturation of superhero related media, it’s easy for some things to slip through the cracks.  One thing that hasn’t been talked up enough is the direct-to-video animated film “The Dark Knight Returns” Part 2.  Released in January as the second and final installment to the adaptation of Frank Miller’s masterpiece of a graphic novel of the same name.  It finds an aging Bruce Wayne returning to the streets of Gotham as Batman after a ten year absence.

 

In this second part it covers the final two issues with Batman’s confrontation to an even more crazed version of the Joker and an epic battle with his once friend Superman.   As with part one of the “Dark Knight Returns” there is no voice-over and this part is basically the big action set pieces that are so kinetic and really bring what falls between the panels to life.  The voice-over work is decent, not as dramatic as I was hoping for.   But the visuals more than make up for it and the music by Christopher Drake is a booming and grand-tastic as a Hans Zimmer score.

The scene with the Joker and Batman at the amusement park which leads to the hall of mirrors that rivals “Enter the Dragon” and the haunting moments in the Tunnel of Love where the Joker lays waste to dozens of couples is eerie and fantastic all at the same time.  The final moments with Superman and Batman is what geeks and even regular fans of the characters have talked about for years: what would happen if Batman and Superman fought?  In the comic it’s a couple of pages but for the film version we get an almost ten minute brawl that has images that are awesome and unbelievable.  You get the feeling that these are two true titans at battle.

If you haven’t seen either part of “The Dark Knight Returns” you are seriously missing out.  As a whole this film is grand in scale and rivals any live action film.  The action is solid, the beats are rapid and as I said the music totally immerses you in the world that was created for the page and explodes on the small screen.  If you are a fan of the Christopher Nolan Bat-verse, you need to do yourself a favor and get this film into your home and witness this unbelievable version of Batman that you will never see on the big screen.

 

--Robert L. Castillo