We were able to see the feature film Batman Gotham Knight at the last day of the Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008 (Sunday, June 29, 2008).
Apparently, there are not enough Batman fans here in Singapore.
There were only about 60 seats set up in front of the stage and were cordoned off; these seats are reserved for those who have tickets. For some reason, around 10 minutes before the screening time, there were only about 4 people (a family by the looks of it) seated. God knows where the rest of the ticket holders went.
The organizers then decided to let the people lined up outside of the cordoned area to take their seats. Still, we were not able to take our seats because there were just too many people there.
After the first of the six interlocking films, though, people started leaving. We then took that opportunity to talk to the organizers so that we could take the seats just vacated. :) So I enjoyed the rest of the film seated comfortably in front of the stage...still with that nagging question why did these people leave? Did they not like the film? Were they bored? Did it not suit there taste?
So let's see....
Chapter 1: Have I got a story for you
This chapter recounts how Batman is perceived by three kids. The film emphasizes how the children's (in this case, skater kids) wild imagination caused them to see Batman differently; one kid saw him as a living shadow, the other as a giant humanoid Bat (more bat than human,with claws, wings, and all), and another as a heavy robot of sorts.
As it turns out, Batman is still in pursuit of the villain and have reached the skating rink where all of the kids above are holed up. Batman (this time shown in his classic costume similar to the one in Batman The Animated Series), bloody and messy at this point and confused further by the smokescreen from the villain, was saved by one of the kids (i.e. the kid who missed all of the action earlier) by clubbing his skateboard at the back of the head of the enemy. The kid was understandbly stunned at his encounter with the real Batman and shouted "Man, have I got a story for you!"
It was towards the end of this chapter that people started leaving and that's when we took our seats. Judging from the number of people who left, I'd say they are not Batman fanatics for sure.
The story itself is okay, showing a typical Batman encounter through the eyes of several witnesses. Sounds cliche? Maybe. But the big let down IMHO is the artwork. Too much emphasis was given to how the kids in the story perceive Batman; the background is done well enough, but the characters are depicted using very simple drawings, big bodies with small disproportionate extremities, the style of which is something that you'd expect from a show on a kid's or baby's channel or something.
That's the bad news. The good news is, things can only go up from here.
Chapter 2: Crossfire
Batman delivers "The Man in Black" (presumably the same villain from chapter 1) to Lt. Gordon, who then instructs Detectives Cris Allen and Anna Ramirez to deliver him to the Arkham Asylum. After the delivery, while disputing about whether Batman can be trusted or not, they find themselves caught in the crossfire between turf / gang wars between the "Russian" and Sal Maroni. One rocket to the detectives' car later, Allen finds himself flung by Batman on top of a nearby building to save him from the explosion while Ramirez is knocked out on the street below. Batman then dispatches the remaining Russian gang members while Maroni held Ramirez hostage. Batman quickly disarmed the man who, perhaps out of fatigue or fear (of Batman), or both, stumbled and sat slumped on the ground. Batman then leaves the scene, apparently gaining the trust of the two detectives.
Nice thing about this is that it picks up right after the encounter in the first part. It shows the typical process of Batman's crimefighting: Batman looks for crook, Batman catches crook, Batman sends crook to the police. A "vigilante"of sorts tolerated and trusted by Gordon because of results; with more criminals jailed, Gotham is slowly and steadily becoming a safer place, one taken out crook at a time.
And this time, the artwork is certainly much better than the first one. Batman is now in his sleek, streamlined costume while the rest are (compare to chapter 1) better drawn and more realistic (no disproportionate limbs and bodies, or anything like that). Special effects are great, especially the explosion and the ensuing fires. Perhaps the most picturesque part here is when the ominous (almost devilish) outline of Batman steps out of the flames as he stares down Maroni.
All in all, great chapter two!
Chapter Three: Field Test
We find Bruce Wayne walking into the lab of Lucius Fox (i.e. the former research head and current CEO of Wayne Enterprises, played by Morgan Freeman in Batman Begins). Fox shows him a prototype of a shockwave sensor that generates an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) strong enough to deflect bullets. Bruce decides to test the shield when he dives into the Russian - Sal Maroni feud once again. A bullet deflected by his shield inadvertently hits one of the gang members whom Batman then sent to the nearest hospital. Batman decided not to use the shield. "It works too well. I'm willing to put my life on the line to do what I have to do. But it has to be mine. No one else's."
This part shows Bruce Wayne's morality goes. He is willing to risk his life but not willing to risk others'. Now we see the line that he is not willing to cross in pursuit of justice.
Artwork here and fight sequence is great as well. But I guess, it is just too "anime" for me. My problem with this one is how his face was drawn. Bruce Wayne is drawn in the typical anime-style shape; heart-shaped head, large Anime-eyes, with matching long hair to boot. But the voice doesn't appear to match well with the face. We see a young, clean, fresh, playboy-looking character but has a deep husky voice that we all know and love. (BTW, Batman is voiced by Kevin Conroy, the same one who voiced Batman in most DC animated series).
Aside from that, this is another excellent chapter in the film.
Chapter Four: In Darkness Dwells
Batman enters the sewers as he follows the trail of an 8-foot lizard man, Killer Croc, who abducted one O'Fallon down to the crypts, the sixth of the high-profile abductions this week. He eventually finds Croc and knocks him out, but not before being bitten by Croc and thereby infecting him with fear-inducing toxins; an intelligence report reveals that Croc is one of the subjects of the Scarecrow's fear inversion program. The experiments pumped Croc full of toxins making him more twisted and dangerous than before.
Batman then faced Scarecrow and his toxin-induced cronies to rescue O'Fallon. One methane gas explosion later, Batman finds himself on the side of a river dam. Gordon then shows up in a chopper to take knocked out O'Fallon. Although injured, Batman refuses Gordon's offer to help and jumps down to the river below as the chapter closes.
The story is fairly straightforward. No mystery here. Just follow the trails into the sewers, rescue the victim while pounding the bad guys. One good thing that it does is, with Batman being severly injured, it serves as a springboard for the next chapter.
Chapter Five: Working Through Pain
While Batman stumbles his way back through the sewers, we get flashbacks from a time when Bruce was trained by an exotic Indian woman, Cassandra, in order to deal with pain. She taught him for months on how to work through pain, how to put it in its place.
One night, after defeating men who tried to harm her, Cassandra sent Bruce away, since he has learned everything he wanted to learn, but also reveals that the pain that Bruce has is beyond her abilities; that his path is leading him down a path that he desires. Whatever. Quite the mumbo-jumbo, ain't it?
Back to the present, as Alfred came to the location where Batman is, he finds him his hands full of firearms found among the trash. And thus, hints the source, the true nature of Bruce Wayne's pain... And off to the final chapter.
Chapter Six: Deadshot
Bruce Wayne remembers the time when his parents are gunned down. He has held on to the firearms that he had found; he admired them although he has no intention of using them.
BTW, Bruce Wayne here, with such a very prominent chin, reminds me of that classic anime, Slam Dunk.
With the power of the crimelords declining, the Russian hired Deadshot to take "him" out. The leads fed to the police made them to believe that the target was Lt. Gordon, but Deadshot only used him as a pawn in order to lure out his real target: Batman himself. He eventually knocks out Deadshot after a short battle on the train.
Back in the Wayne Manor, Bruce reveals to Alfred that the fight with Deadshot was similar to the night when his parents were killed.
"It seems I've been trying to stop those two bullets all my life. It's a fool's dream, Alfred. Sometimes I think I should just be done with it."
"Perhaps, you are right, sir. But something tells me that you have a deeper purpose."
And with that, Bruce looks up into the clouds in the night sky glowing with the Bat Signal.
The end. Or rather, the beginning. Off to Dark Knight!
As much as I hate to say it, unless you like and/or familiar with the Batman mythos, you may find the movie lacking and could not appreciate the tiny things that have been put in place within the film.
Perhaps the sides of Batman that have been shown on this film will prove significant when the Dark Knight comes out later this month. I dunno (but I sincerely hope so). If so, then everything should come full circle, and we will have a trilogy of sorts (Batman Begins, Batman Gotham Knight, Dark Knight).
This film is not for everybody, as evidenced by the number of scowling faces I saw after the movie. :( Personally, I enjoyed the film, but hey, I'm biased; being the comic and movie collector that I am, I am inclined to like the film anyway.
Watch the movie, let me know what you think.
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