Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 (2013)
Back in October I saw and reviewed Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1, so now its time to discuss Part 2. This is also the first movie I have seen released in 2013. It is direct-to-video but that still counts!
Most of what I wrote for Part 1 applies here so I'll keep this post short. The Joker plays a major role this time and I liked how he was handled. Voice actor Michael Emerson did a good job of fitting his character of the story instead of simply trying to be like Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamill, or Heath Ledger. I appreciated that he tried to do something knew while fitting with the depiction of the character in the comic and it worked out great.
Like Part 1, the second part gets rid of any monologues in order to make it more cinematic. While I appreciate this technique, it did change Superman's character. I think there could have been a way to explain Superman's motivations better while still not using monologues. Someone who has not read the original story could read Superman's story arc pretty differently from somebody has read Frank Miller's comic. But overall both parts were a very good adaptation of the comic to the screen. I need to read the comic again, but honestly after watching these I kind of feel like I already have! I'll be looking forward to any future DC animated movies done by this production team.
Next up: More Batman!
Like with the Watchmen movie, I feel like the TDKR movies make for better companion pieces to the original books than standalone adaptations. There was just enough missing to change the tone completely for someone who hasn't read the comics yet.
ReplyDeleteGood point. Doing a stand alone adaptation for works like those is pretty difficult as they have more material than the average movie length. They both were solid adaptations while putting their own little spin on things.
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