My quick rating – 7.3/10. Batman Knightfall Part 1 wastes little time getting things moving. It opens with some of Gotham’s animated scumbags trafficking a truckload of women and children. Then Azrael (Pablo Schreiber) arrives to dispense his own extremely violent version of justice. Batman isn’t far behind, naturally, and before long the two are throwing down while the credits roll. It’s a pretty effective way to say, “Yeah, we’re not screwing around this time.”
Arkham Asylum has been destroyed, because apparently, Gotham’s worst criminals weren’t already causing Batman enough headaches. Now every inmate is loose in the city, and Bruce Wayne (Anson Mount) has the unenviable task of rounding them all up while simultaneously dealing with a brand-new problem named Bane. Because when your life already consists of being punched by supervillains every night, what you really need is a gigantic man who looks like he was assembled from nothing but protein powder and sewer snacks.
It is safe to say that I entered into this movie with absolutely no knowledge of the Knightfall story. While I have not been a big DC comics guy, I usually have some idea about the main stories to be able to recognize the names and key events. This made it rather fun to enter into the film with this lack of knowledge.
And, so far, I’m interested.
The animation is very good, and the voice cast does solid work across the board. While there are lots of action sequences, the film manages to develop the bigger picture of the story and doesn’t just turn Gotham into a two-hour punching bag. My one real complaint is Azrael. It’s obvious that there is much more to his character, yet at this stage it seems like they give us enough information to realize that he is important, but not enough to fully understand him. I have no idea how much of that was explained in the comics, so comic fans, yell away.
And yes, I’m sure one complaint is going to be echoed across the internet. WE NEED ALL THE PARTS.
This thing ends with me wanting the next chapter, which is exactly what a first installment should accomplish. But it also means we’re now stuck waiting around for the rest of the story. Just like Gotham civilians waiting for Batman to finish brooding on a gargoyle.
It’s also nice seeing DC animation firing on all cylinders again. For years, DC had Marvel decisively beaten in the animated-movie department. Then X-Men ’97 showed up and reminded everyone Marvel hadn’t completely forgotten how cartoons work.
Knightfall – Part 1 isn’t reinventing Batman, but it’s a damn entertaining start to a story I somehow missed the first time around. The animation is sharp, the action delivers, the voice work is strong, and there’s enough here to make me genuinely interested in where this goes.
Now give me the other parts before I forget what happened. And if you are wondering about the full title, some sites are going with Batman: Knightfall – Part 1: Knightfall. Repetitive much?
