8.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
Batman along with new sidekick Robin have finally reclaimed Gotham City and allowed a ray of hope to penetrate the reign of terror that The Mutants had cast upon his city. With Batman back in the spotlight the extended media coverage has awoken a far worse evil at Arkham Asylum The Joker! Forever destined to be mortal enemies The Joker has a diabolical scheme that may pull Batman down to the darkest levels of insanity. While on the horizon a global catastrophe races towards Gotham and with it comes a familiar face The Man of Steel though this time he has Batman in his sights. Witness as the aging Dark Knight wages a tireless war against crime while proving that courage and will are indeed timeless.
Starring: Peter Weller, Michael Emerson, Mark Valley, Ariel Winter, David SelbyComic book | 100% |
Action | 94% |
Sci-Fi | 72% |
Adventure | 66% |
Animation | 57% |
Crime | 11% |
Film-Noir | 9% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
German: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, German SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Successfully adapting Frank Miller's seminal 1986 limited series, "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns," would be a monumental challenge and undertaking for anyone, geek god Christopher Nolan included. It's long been considered unfilmable. Apparently, though, executive producer Bruce Timm doesn't scare so easily. For Warner Bros. Animation's fifteenth and sixteenth DC Universe animated original movies, Timm and his fellow producers decided to finally give comic fans the one film they've spent more than twenty-five years begging to see. And, having now watched both parts, I can safely say it couldn't be much better. The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 was a far more successful adaptation than I expected, and a more fully realized animated film than the bulk of DCU original animated movies on the market. It lacked the depth and complexity for which Miller's take on the Dark Knight mythos is revered -- specifically the comicbook's running narration and the insight it provided into Batman's perspective and actions -- but as a traditional animated venture, it excelled.
The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 still doesn't offer much in the way of Miller's original narration, an unfortunate necessity for the filmmakers and a bittersweet change for fans of the comic, but it doesn't pull any punches either. On almost every front, Part 2 is an intelligent, able-bodied adaptation of its source, a surprisingly bloody, hard-hitting actioner, and a thrilling conclusion to director Jay Oliva and writer Bob Goodman's carefully crafted and beautifully animated superhero saga. Part 1 came close. Part 2 closes the distance, pounces on its potential and goes for the jugular.
The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 features a strong, occasionally shaky 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation. The strong? Colors are bleak yet brave and bold, primaries erupt, black levels are inky, and contrast is spot on from beginning to end. Detail is excellent too, albeit to a fault. The animators' line art is clean and nicely defined, color fills are stable, and every last nuance in the animation is allowed to shine. "Camera" moves, though, particularly zooms, sometimes distort, soften or pixelate the image a bit. Each instance is minor and, more crucially, traces back to the animation rather than Warner's high definition encode, but it still amounts to a slight distraction, especially for those viewing the movie on larger displays. Which brings us to the shakier aspects of the presentation, all of which are thankfully in short supply. Static, horizontal banding plagues the Gotham City skies, some exceedingly negligible artifacts creep into shots involving smoke or falling ash, and slight aliasing appears from time to time. Is any of it a deal breaker? Not at all. Fans of the DCU animated movies should be well acquainted with such anomalies by now, and know that these issues are largely a result of the modestly budgeted productions and have very little, if anything, to do with the technical quality of the Blu-ray presentation.
The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track that handles the Gotham City chaos and unrest in stride. Dialogue is intelligible and carefully prioritized in the mix, voices are decently (not perfectly) grounded in the soundscape, and dynamics are more than sufficient for the task at hand. The LFE channel, meanwhile, cranks up the intensity of the battles spectacularly, sinking its teeth into every meaty punch, explosion, roaring engine, machine gun burst, charging horse, collapsing staircase, nuclear flash, thunderous clash and struggling heartbeat. The rear speakers aren't quite so aggressive (blame the movie's at-times two-dimensional sound design), but they fill Gotham and its shadows with enough ambience and atmosphere to pull their weight. Directional effects are assertive and precise, pans are smooth and the soundfield is reasonably immersive, particularly when Part 2's action scenes are out in full force. Ultimately, I doubt The Dark Knight Returns could sound much better than it does here. Fuller, more encompassing sound design would help, but that has little to do with Warner's lossless efforts. For all intents and purposes, Part 2 sounds great.
Rather than go quietly into the night, The Dark Knight Returns goes out in spectacular fashion, both as a pulse-pounding DCU animated movie and as a successful adaptation of a Batman story long deemed unfilmable. This isn't the live-action adaptation fans have been clamoring for since 1986, of course, but it comes about as close as a direct-to-video animated production could. And if this is as close as we ever get, I'm okay with it. As for The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 Blu-ray release, Warner delivers a strong AV showing and a solid assortment of extras. I suspect we'll see a tempting combo release of both movies in the future, perhaps with additional scenes edited into the film's full three-hour cut. For now, though, Batman fans of all stripes owe it to themselves to pick up the conclusion to Oliva and Goodman's adaptation of Miller's seminal Dark Knight epic. In a word, it's fantastic.
+ Bonus Digital Comic
2013
with Figurine
2013
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #15
2012
10th Anniversary | Commemorative Edition
2011
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #8
2010
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #6
2009
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #9
2010
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #23
2015
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #13
2012
DCU
2014
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #3
2008
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #18
2013
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #25
2016
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #7
2010
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #21
2014
Deluxe Edition | DC Universe Animated Original Movie #15 & 16 | Seamless Cut + Frank Miller Documentary
2012-2013
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #14
2012
2009
Commemorative Edition | DC Universe Animated Original Movie #2
2008
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #30
2017
Commemorative Edition | DC Universe Animated Original Movie #4
2009
2011