Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 (2013)

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Absolutely amazing

A lot of fun.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

I thought this movie was just good but nothing special. 7.4/10

A lot of people consider "The Dark Knight Returns" as one of the finest if not THE finest book ever written about Batman. I would have to agree with that sentiment, and it's more than just because of the quality of the plot. It's a reflection of society, politics, fear and control.That being said, a lot of that is left out of this pair of movies, which is a shame.Conversion from one medium to another is always challenging. Most of the time, it's a miss, where one champions the other and there's just no comparison. Honestly, most of the time if I read the book, I don't enjoy the movie, and if I watch the movie, I refuse to read the book because I have a pretty good idea of just how different the two mediums can be. I think it is impossible to accurately translate ANYTHING from one medium to another, without having to cut something away or modify something important, in order to make the story functional in both."The Dark Knight Returns" has a theme, and that theme is certainly R rated material. From the swastika-over-her-nipples thug that Batman has to fight post-Mutant, to the philosophical single-page stories thrown into the book to give atmosphere to this new, semi-futuristic Gotham, there was something special in the design and overall feel of the book.Unfortunately, in order to appeal to a wider audience, a lot of this is lost in translation. Allow me to explain.There was a constant, recurring theme of public morality that resurfaced over and over again in the book that is merely touched upon in the movie. Batman, in previous installments, has always just been a phantom, an apparition in the background of Gotham, something people who lived there were familiar with, but had no real opinion on, or at least not one that was addressed in the course of the stories. In the book, this was a major theme. Ten years after Batman hung up the cowl, and the people of Earth did away with their superheroes, pubic opinion shifted in a similar way that it has shifted for us, now, in the year 2016. While the book does not use the idea of Political Correctness, it does use the general debate over a public that has become sleepy to the idea of justice, who, instead of fighting the powers that be have instead surrendered to it, and when you think about it, that's precisely what we have today. I think it is reflected most specifically in the idea of Political Correctness, where our discussions have all but been quieted for fear of offense and labels.Anyway, this theme is touched on in the movie, but ONLY touched on. It is not a driving force, not a recurring theme. It feels like a lot of the jokes do, falling flat as references to the book without support from the plot of the movie, which is always something I don't like in films. References that go outside of the film, as a kind of wink-wink to those people in the audience that read the book, is always a stopper in the flow of the movie, when the person who didn't read the book doesn't get it. I'm reminded of THE HUNGER GAMES, in which Gale, the original love interest of Katniss, tells us he has something like 27 entries into the lottery for the games, but we are never told as to why. For the people that read the book, it's not a problem.For me, I didn't understand. And it plagued me throughout the movie, ultimately revealing a constant theme throughout that brought my rating for it way down as a result.In my humble opinion, references should be left out altogether, only used if they actually contribute to the plot. Otherwise they should be discarded outright.On the positive side, the action was intense, the animation of good quality. Some of the voice acting was questionable, in the choices of the Commissioner and especially in that of the Joker. I did not have a problem with Seller's take on an aged Batman. I thought that part went just fine.Without the R rating, a lot of the darker themes of the book were smoothed over, polished to make them slightly less dark. A lot of the time, the character's thoughts told a lot of the story, traded in here for commentary that ALMOST felt out of context. I say ALMOST. Considering how hard it is to have thoughts communicated in a film, it's understandable what they did with that.At the same time, some of the more precious moments of the book never get screen time. The man who pushed another man in front of a subway train actually had a recurring, albeit small, point in the book, which gets a PG-rated reference here, instead of a point-maker like it does in the book. Harvey's conflict of having his face fixed is not nearly as powerful on screen as it is in the book. The general's death is also more beautifully depicted in the book, and feels slightly forced in the movie.The emphasis of Superman's near-death experience when being enveloped in a nuclear blast is also done a little too quickly here, showing the ghastly form of a near-dead Superman only briefly, for the sake of a PG-13 rating.All of which could have been fixed, if only an R rating could have been allowed. This is the Batman film that NEEDED an R rating, reflecting Frank Miller's dark and powerful storytelling, complete with grisly imagery and a dark sense of humor. It was SUPPOSED to be nearly horrifying, as a final testament to the Batman, and the end of a long, tiring battle between who he was and who he wanted to be.

In the second part we follow as Batman has now to face two new threat from his old days. The first is the Joker who after being in a stage of potato for years his now active and he is terrifying as f**k and great voice work by Michael Emerson from Lost and Person of Interest. The other threat well is written in the title(!) the Man of Steel, this one fight that in Batman versus Superman everyone wanted to be like the one from the comics and this movie. Unfortunately this didn't happen ,but the fight between those to titans is climatic,intense and epic!!!As for the animation and voice work just lie with the first part,flawless and it is a really fast pasted story with little to no time to get relaxed. The great part is that this doesn't bother me for it is done fine and that is also other theme of the story, time is running low for Bats as his campaign is get noticed by the Government ,which isn't happy with his vigilante ways, so they can be only two ways this ends ,either they stop or Batman stops and so release the dogs of war!!At this point I have nothing more to write about this flick. Crazy, this one of the few times of my life that I am unable to add something more to what I am saying or in this case writing, for I already gave praise to this part of Batman Mythology in the first part of the Returns ans feel free to check my review out.To summaries the best way to watch this two part movie is to watch one after the other or find the DVD version which has them combine. Have a great time!

It's funny that i can draw parallel with my review for « Mad love » that i didn't praise even if it's also similar to the comics. So i was afraid for this one and it's a surprise that i like it and i wonder why ? my first explanation is the quality of the source : « DKI » is a cult comics among the best ever because Frank Miller has really understand the character, his universe and like « Watchmen », he writes for adults putting super heroes in perspective with the society, political power. This story of an old batman is totally riveting and watching it on a screen helps me discover things that i haven't seen so far : 1) with a girl for Robin, Bruce can be more warmly 2) the 4 parts can be tied : 1 & 3 is about old enemy having rehabilitation with the help of a shrink ; 2 & 4 is about a powerful leader who has to bite the dust ! 3) Miller has guessed all the terror attacks : Gotham twin towers exploding, killing an audience having fun, chaos after a bombing,… Another great thing in this adaptation is that all the memorable moments of the comics are still there. I expected the censorship to cut a lot but there wasn't a single : the fascist babe, Joker burning skulls, the TV shows, the soviet attacks, … After all this praise, now the few disappointments : first of all, the only thing that get cut is Batman's voice-over : it's a pity as it showed that he was nearly suicidal and surely sadistic ! Next, the animation is really good and looks likes the art of Miller/Janson with a reminiscent of « Akira » but the animators lack skills in scale, perspective : the room are too big for the characters, etc… and for sure, the biggest flaw is the colors ! Varley was talented and in my opinion, « DKI » is black, gray, blue… Here the colors are yellow and the mood totally changes ! When you see the opening race, you have indeed the tone for all the movie, too luminous and too bright ! That's why when Gotham flinches at the end, we don't have the feeling of the total panic the comics told us about ! If they can change their tones for « DKII », so i'm sure it will be then a incredible hit !