This is a piece that I wrote for my film criticism course. Thought I would share.
Batman, Gay Icon or Dark Knight, we still love him
Batman first appeared in comic form in 1939, over seventy years ago. Since then he has featured in six motion pictures, multiple television shows and endless cartoons, not to mention the thousands of comics that have inspired all these incarnations. In that time you would think that nothing new could come from a character that has been tackled by countless writers and directors over the years. But it just isn’t so. With every new writer there is a different story. With every new artist there is a different image. And with every new director we are given an all new perspective on a character that has dominated popular culture for the better part of a century.
It seems that every month DC comics throws Batman at a new artist or writer (or rather they are thrown at him). This is the modern state of the comic book industry. One that gives characters a constantly changing face as every time an artist gets his hands on a chance to draw Batman they are eager to turn him into something new and different. What they think he should be. What they want him to be. Sure, he will almost always have a cape, a gruff voice and vanish into thin air before saying goodbye, but the way he vanishes, the way he fights, the way he gets the job done, will always be shifting.
This phenomenon is harnessed and compressed in Batman’s latest incarnation in Batman: Gotham Knight. In seventy five short minutes we are treated to a six segment, ‘movie length’ animation written by six writers and directed by seven directors (that’s right, seven, for six segments. You figure it out). Each titled segment lasts about ten minutes and features individually styled Japanese anime animation. The emphasis really is on individualism as each segment has its own look, feel, style and themes. The film website IMDB.com places the film in the thriller, Sci-Fi, Crime, Action and Animation genres, highlighting the breadth of the Batman’s adaptability.
Throughout his history in television and film Batman himself has been represented as a vigilante detective in the 1949 TV Serial, a camp superhero in the 1960’s TV series and a brooding avenger of Gotham’s citizens in the recent Christopher Nolan films, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. This same range is shown in Batman: Gotham Knight when in the first segment a group of children share their experiences of encountering Batman. Each comes away with their own unique take on the character in a range just as diverse as he has been written in. Right from the offset this film demonstrates the diversity of the Batman character while at the same time provides its own twist on the cultural icon.
But isn’t that the joy of comic book characters? Their ever-changingness (yes, it’s a word)? Across mediums and time Batman’s masks are forever falling to the floor. The Batman. The Caped Crusader. The Dark Knight. Camp Icon. The World’s Greatest Detective. That guy with the pointy ears. Whatever you call him he will always be there. Who knows what form he will take next but that is all part of the game.
If you are one of those people in search of a true comic book adaptation, one that thinks Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man needs to be more ‘quippy’ or that Hugh Jackman was a terrible Wolverine, then this film will rub you both ways. On the one hand, there is plenty to keep you whinging for a while. Killer Croc’s origin is dodgy to say the least. On the other hand however, Batman: Gotham Knight will tickle the fanboy in anyone.
