Such a frustrating disappointment

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

First part of the animated adaptation of Frank Miller's classic comic book miniseries, The Dark Knight Returns. The comic was highly influential on the direction of superhero comics over the last 30 years. It tells the story of how Bruce Wayne returning to being Batman after a ten year absence and how the world has changed without him. This first part deals with Batman return to battle a gang known as the Mutants that is terrorizing Gotham, as well as the release of Harvey Dent (aka Two Face) from Arkham Asylum.For the most part, it's faithful to the comic so no complaints there. The animation is decent but I can't help being disappointed it isn't more stylized. There was an episode of the 1990s Batman cartoon that featured different stories told by kids about Batman. One of them was an homage to The Dark Knight Returns. The animation in that tried, despite its television limitations, to match the style of the Frank Miller/Klaus Janson artwork from the comic. I think this would have been better served had it also tried to match that art. Instead it's fine for what it is but it isn't particularly impressive or stylish. Christopher Drake's music is very nice and at times evokes a John Carpenter vibe that I liked. The voice work is solid but I miss Kevin Conroy's Batman.It's hard to capture what made the comic work, particularly because so much of what worked was due to the time in which it came out. Translating it faithfully word for word or picture for picture doesn't necessarily mean you can make it click the same way it did in another medium made at another time. The sad reality is this story has been copied and ripped off in various mediums since its release. Batman as a character is now firmly established in the public consciousness as the grim & gritty Dark Knight, whereas at the time the source story was first released it was cutting edge stuff. So the impact is lessened is what I'm saying. That's not the fault of the people who worked hard on this; it's just that too much time has passed and this just can't have the same impact it would have had it been made 25 or 30 years ago. It's still a fun watch, particularly for comic fans, but it will likely leave some viewers wondering what the fuss is all about. Best seen as a whole with part 2.

Why this isn't a ten for overall reviews is beyond me, it's probably one of the best, if not the best Graphic Novel adaptations I've seen, it took me away from the nonsensical and very general and basic story lines. It has a grounded and gritty tone to it which I like.*SPOILER ALERT.*I also like the Political side to it between the American government sending superman out to tell batman to stop and superman having to say if you don't stop I'll have to stop you. (That isn't a quote by the way just me generalizing the situation) However, that scene alone is chilling because you know that the government are just afraid that it'll give hope in Batman, not the government; they had made a treaty but they'd left Gotham to crumble into chaos again, so Batman took action because the government weren't. I like how each story of each character is as important as each other, you didn't feel like one dominated the other and this gives such an awesome and brilliant way to go, sometimes any type of hero media with more than one character can be empty like hmm.... Avengers: Age Of Ultron perhaps. My favorite part had to be the Gotham rising scene against the nuclear attack and the aftermath and Batman rallying people together, that was the imagery of hope there on the screen and that's what Batman is to Gotham, that symbol of hope. (Just like superman is the hope of metropolis or the world you could say.The Story is on point and the visuals are beautiful. so it's a 10/10 for me.

This is a spoiler free review, so you don't have to worry xD. Batman is like one of the best superheroes in the DC universe, and this movie just proves the point!. This movie is very interesting without any unnecessary scenes/plot. Story is superb and well- written. The action scenes doesn't fail the expectations of Batman fans and the casual viewers themselves. Is it boring? NO! Violence and stuffs like that? YES! A lot of violence actually, and gore and stuff..I still haven't watched the second part yet, but I will write a review once I have seen the movie.Overall - It is a good movie, You can gladly spend 1 hour and 15 minutes of your life to watch this. Again, the only thing bugging me is the violence and It's PG-13.. So I'd give a solid 9.5 on 10...Hope this review helped, please check out my other reviews !!!! :)

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, not to be confused with the live action film The Dark Knight, is a two part animated straight to DVD release by DC Comics and Warner Home Video based on the classic graphic novels by Frank Miller. In this story a fifty-five year old retired Bruce Wayne is called back into action by Gotham City plunging into chaos as a result of a new and deadly gang and their brutal mutant leader. In Part two of the films we see that his return is not met exclusively with positive reaction however, as many are understandably against a self-regulated masked vigilante being such a key aspect in the cities safety, including a newly appointed police commissioner and even the United States president. These films are excellently animated with a stunning use of angles and lighting being clearly considered of the utmost importance in the drawing of every single frame. The movement of the characters and objects very fluid and at no point appears to be preformed half- heartedly. However, the title character of Batman/Bruce Wayne himself does often seem out of place when standing next to other characters because of how he is drawn as too large and almost gorilla like at times.The voice acting by every single member of the chosen cast is excellent with each member, even Conan O'Brian, never once feeling out of place. Peter Weller in particular does an amazing job bringing proportional weight to the voice of a largely figured Batman/Bruce Wayne. The cast of characters is very strong; especially with the second part bringing in some additional iconic characters as a surprise. The first half introduces a new villain and although some argue that it should have been a more recognizable character others would argue that the fresh face brought forth an element of unpredictability and was excitingly different and effective.The overarching topic of discussion within the movie's narrative is if the extreme cases that make a character like Batman a possibility justify the presence of said character or not. Is there a point where a vigilante can be, or should be, above the law or government? For the most part these films do a tremendous job of showing both sides of this argument, although it does lose something in its clear bias in favour of the hero's perspective throughout. From a personal perspective I view this film, both of its parts together, as the ultimate superhero movie despite its occasional faults. It isn't held back in what he can do and say because of its intended audience being adults, although I wish they had gone more in depth about the ideological debate and that it had not definitively chosen its side preemptively. I would recommend this film to anybody interested in superheroes that are old enough to withstand some of the more graphic scenes within.