Batman faces a Lovecraftian threat in Warner Bros. latest animated feature.
Set on alternative Earth during the 1920’s, Bruce Wayne is in the Artic looking for a lost exploration party. He is joined by his three assistants: Richard Grayson, Sanjay “Jay” Tawde, and Kai Li Cain. They find the party dead, with an exception of the leader, who has gone mad, and the mysterious Grendon. Bruce captures Grendon and bring him back to Gotham. What Bruce doesn’t realize is the evil he brought back with him. Now as Batman, he races against the clock to stop the destruction of Gotham and possibly the world.
Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham was original a 2000, 3 issue mini-series, written by Mike Mignola and Richard Pace and illustrated by Troy Nixey (pencils) and Dennis Janke (inks). Mignola has been kind of an expert in stories of the supernatural since he started doing his creator own series Hellboy. Screenwriter Jase Ricci does an excellent adapting this story. Ricci does add a little more action sequences, but they add to the overall plot. Ricci is able to maintain that same suspense that’s in the comic book.
Directors Sam Liu and Christopher Berkeley really knocked it out of the park on this one. They’ve assembled a top notch team here. I loved the animation. The use of shadows was well placed, and the action sequences look great. Very creepy looking. And the entire film moves at a great pace. It know when to give you a beat to catch your breath.
David Giuntoli once again does a great job as Batman. The last time he voiced Batman was in Batman: Soul of the Dragon, where his inflections needed to be in the 1970’s. Here Guintoli is able to use inflections for the 1920’s. He really does a great job distinguishing between Bruce Wayne and Batman.
Tati Gabrielle voices Kai Li Cain, who in the comics is Cassandra Cain AKA Batgirl. While this is Gabrielle’s first DC animated movie, it’s not her first time doing voice work. She does a great job in this movie.
The rest of the cast is really solid. I really liked the voice work here. Christopher Gorham as Oliver Queen, Patrick Fabian as Harvey Dent, John DiMaggio as James Gordon, and David Dastmalchian as Grendon, just to name a few. Each voice really matched up to their character. And everyone’s inflections in their emotions truly come through.
The film does come with 2 special features:
Batman: Shadows of Gotham. A look into the different themes that are used in here. My favorite has to be producer Jim Krieg, who does his best to look like a Lovecraftian character from the 20’s. While I enjoyed this look, once again the comic creator’s are not part of this. I really feel their view and opinions really do matter when it’s their stories that are being adapted.
Audio Commentary. I really enjoy the audio commentary. It’s really interesting to get inside of everyone’s head on each scene as you are watching the film.
I really liked this film and as I said before, it’s a really nice adaptation from the source material.
This is truly a must watch.
Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham is available now for purchase Digitally and on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Blu-ray.
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