Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)

This direct to video, six animated shorts compilation sets out to bridge the gap between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Now interlude programming such as this are difficult as they have to walk a very fine line. It has to be worth the time to watch and further the story between the two films but it can't be so enmeshed in the storyline that if someone does not see it they will be lost when they go to see The Dark Knight. I think on the whole the shorts were entertaining but did little in the way of furthering the story that ended with the previous film and be picked up in the next. There shorts, while canon, are unnecessary to the plot developments and it felt like nothing had been gained in watching them.

I thought it would have been more interesting to explore the relationships with Batman (Kevin Conroy) and Lieutenant Gordon (Jim Meskimen) or maybe what's been going on between Bruce and Rachel. We don't get any mention of the Joker who's alluded to at the end of Batman Begins and is the primary villain of The Dark Knight. Some of the plot lines left dangling from Batman Begins are only passingly addressed such as Arkham Asylum now encompassing all of the Narrows or the gang war between the Russian (Corey Burton) and Sal Maroni (Rob Paulsen) who are fighting for dominance in Gotham. Most of the adventures are self-contained episodes although there is a loose continuity that runs through all six. Some are even direct continuations from the previous short.

We do get to meet some new members of Batman's rogue gallery including Killer Croc and Deadshot (Meskimen) who both could possibly return to torment Batman in the theatrical future. We get to meet some members of Gordon's Major Case Unit, some who believe that Batman should not be interfering in police affairs. We even get a brief glimpse of the Scarecrow (Burton) who was still at large at the end of the previous film. The story nature is of a more adult-oriented as befitting the two films it falls between and some of the shorts are quite entertaining. I just wish more could have been done. It would have been nice, and more connected, if the actors from the films had done the voice-over work for their characters providing a continuity through both mediums. If more had been done to connect the plots to the films as well, I think the shorts would have been more satisfying. It looks like this was a chance wasted in order to cash in on the popularity of the new film as the DVD was released little more than a week before the premiere. The producers of the shorts therefore would never have intended for these to take a rightful place between both films considering the three year gap.

Favorite moment: In the "Field Test" short Batman has gained a new technology from Lucius Fox (Kevin Michael Richardson) which can deflect small arms bullets from him while in battle. While utilizing the new gadget in the field, one of the deflected bullets injures one of the gang members and Batman decides that the device works too well. He's not comfortable with placing other people's lives on the line, even if they are crooks. It's a biting examination of Batman's conscience in that the people he deals with are scum but do not deserve loss of life. He's more than willing to accept a greater risk to his own life than the lives of others, whether they are innocent or guilty.