Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight Blu-ray Movie Review

An Even Darker Knight

Reviewed by Michael Reuben February 11, 2018

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is the first entry in the ever-expanding DC Animated Universe since the massive thirty-film 10th Anniversary Collection released last year, and appropriately enough, the latest film represents a departure for the series. The first foray into the so-called "Elseworld" of alternate superhero universes, Gotham by Gaslight breaks new ground both visually and narratively. Fans of the TV series Sherlock may recognize an antecedent in that show's venture into Victorian times with Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, but Gotham by Gaslight actually came first—in a 1991 graphic novel drawn by famed illustrator Mike Mignola. As the film's creative team relates in the disc commentary, transporting the Caped Crusader back in time required a top-to-bottom redesign of Gotham City and its inhabitants, and the results are a breath of fresh air for a series that was starting to exhibit hints of creative weariness.

Gotham by Gaslight doesn't give a specific date, but the title itself lets us know that we're in a 19th Century environment before the advent of electricity. (It's there, but in its infancy.) Horse-drawn carriages crowd the streets by day, and darkness shrouds them by night. The speediest possible communication is a written note transported by whomever one can pay to deliver it. (This actually becomes an important plot point.) The devices used by Batman, who is voiced by the reliable Bruce Greenwood, are limited to mechanical contrivances like ropes, hooks fired from spring-loaded guns and batwing projectiles. Stately Wayne Manor exists somewhere outside the city, but we never see it. Instead, Batman's civilian identity of Bruce Wayne spends his days in a local townhouse, attended as always by his faithful butler Alfred (ably voiced by Anthony Head, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Giles, making his DCU debut).

In this reimagined Gotham of yesteryear, Batman's deadly adversary is Jack the Ripper, transplanted from England to America and appearing mysteriously out of the shadows of alleyways and back streets to butcher the city's prostitutes and any other woman he deems to have loose morals. The first victim we see him kill is a stripper whose name will be instantly recognized by any Batman fan, and similar references to familiar names and places are sprinkled throughout Gotham by Gaslight.

Newly returned from a European trip, Bruce Wayne dons the Dark Knight's signature cowl to hunt down the vicious predator, but he's not alone. An actress with a fiercely independent streak is also hunting Jack, and while her name may be Selina Kyle and her path often crosses those of Gotham's feral felines, no one calls her Catwoman. Voiced by Dexter's Jennifer Carpenter, this version of Selina is a crusader for women's rights by day and a vigilante for justice by night. She's fearless and handy with a whip, and it's only a matter of time before she and Batman cross paths in their common pursuit.

Director Sam Liu, a DCU animated veteran, works hard to keep the Ripper's identity a mystery, but alert viewers should be able to spot clues in the elaborately antique world he builds around Batman and Selina, which includes a World's Fair financed by Bruce Wayne and filled with wonders like an electric-powered ferris wheel and an intensely bright beacon that can cut through the darkness of the city's nightly gloom (three guesses what it becomes). The script by Jim Krieg introduces numerous familiar regulars in suitably backdated capacities, including Commissioner James Gordon (Scott Patterson), his devoted wife, Barbara (Kari Wuhrer), attorney Harvey Dent (Yuri Lowenthal), who is here Bruce Wayne's old college buddy, and Hugo Strange (William Salyers), still chief psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum and suspicious from the moment he appears.

But perhaps the most novel element of Gotham by Gaslight is what's not there. Thrown back into the steam age, Batman sheds the dense layers of technological gimmickry that the character has accumulated in contemporary iterations, as each Batmobile has become more like a James Bond vehicle outfitted by Q and each new Batcave has become more like a techno-geek's workshop. (The latter point was parodied in the recent LEGO Batman Movie, where Batman's lair was portrayed as a robotic assembly line worthy of Chaplin's Modern Times.) Here, in an era before there were even internal combustion engines, let alone microchips, Batman has to rely primarily on his cunning and his formidable fighting skills. He prowls the rooftops instead of roaming the streets, and his detective abilities are more Sherlock Holmes than Lisbeth Salander. He even has his own crew of Baker Street Irregulars, who are, of course, all orphans like him and whom he steers to the orphanage funded by Bruce Wayne and operated by the saintly Sister Leslie (Grey DeLisle).

Even within the era's technological limits, Liu and his animators manage to stage several impressive set pieces, including a battle atop a dirigible that fares about as well as the Hindenburg. But experiencing a version of Batman stripped to his essence is a novel twist in this world of ever-proliferating Dark Knight tales, and it's one of the chief pleasures of Gotham by Gaslight. It reminds you of the qualities that first gave the character his appeal. Let's hope that future ventures into the Elseworld take similar advantage of such opportunities to rediscover beloved but now overly familiar comic book characters.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The creative team says in their commentary that they had to reinvent Gotham City from the ground up to fit the story's 19th Century setting, but they have retained the same minimalist style that will be familiar to anyone who has followed the animated DCU. Colors are even more subdued than in the series' contemporary settings, with a few notable exceptions like the cabaret show in which Selina Kyle is a featured performer, the strip club performance starring Jack the Ripper's next victim and especially the opening of the World's Fair, which is set in daylight and has the colorful and shiny surface of something brand new. But even in these brighter scenes, colors remain understated without heavy saturation, presumably in order to maintain a consistent overall style. Several sequences involving raging fires exhibit intense yellows and oranges, but on the whole Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is a dim affair dominated by nighttime shadows. The creators confirm that the darkness was a deliberate strategy, especially in scenes where the Ripper's identity must be concealed. Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray capably reproduces these effects with solid blacks and just a few fleeting instances of banding.

As usual, Warner's animation group has aimed for the lowest possible bitrate, squeezing Gotham by Gaslight and its large complement of extras onto a BD-25 so that the feature's bitrate is limited to just a fraction over 15 Mbps.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight's 5.1 soundtrack, encoded in lossless DTS-HD MA, is surprisingly active and immersive for a film that has shed much of the series' technological elements. The rear channels are used extensively, with footsteps horse-drawn vehicles or flying objects shifting frequently between front and back, and these traveling sounds help expand the sense of space in the film's reinvented Gotham. The vocal performances are clearly rendered and appropriately prioritized, and the dynamic range is broad, with solid bass extension in major set pieces like the dirigible disaster and the final showdown between Batman and the Ripper (which, in true comic-book fashion, involves massive destruction of property). The understated score is credited to DCU veteran Frederik Wiedmann.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary with Executive Producer Bruce Tim, Screenwriter Jim Krieg and Director Sam Liu: This is a relaxed and informal commentary covering a variety of subjects, including casting, the reinvention of Gotham for a different era, and early script concepts that were explored and rejected.



• A Sneak Peek at DC Universe's Next Animated Movie, Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (1080p; 1.78:1; 8:33).



• Caped Fear: The First Elseword (1080p; 1.78:1; 20:45): This "making of" featurette provides a useful history of the extensive "Elseworld" of alternate superhero universes initially created in print and now making its way into animation. It also describes the research that went into designing a 19th Century version of Gotham City and its inhabitants.



• A Sneak Peek at Justice League Dark (1080p; 1.78:1; 8:14).



• A Sneak Peek at Batman: Bad Blood (1080p; 1.78:1; 11:45).



• From the DC Comics Vault: Batman: The Brave and the Bold, "Trials of the Demon!" (1080p; 1.78:1; 22:58).



• From the DC Comics Vault: Batman: The Animated Series, "Showdown" (480i; 1.33:1; 21:19).



• Trailers
• Batman vs. Two-Face

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Longtime DCU animated fans should enjoy Gotham by Gaslight for its reinvention of familiar characters and its redesign of Batman's landscape. Newcomers would probably be better advised to familiarize themselves with earlier entries in the series before embarking on this Victorian detour. The Blu-ray's quality is consistent with that of earlier DCU animated films and is, accordingly, recommended.