The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2

**My review of Part 1**

When I heard that DC’s animated adaptation of Frank Miller’s classic Batman story The Dark Knight Returns would be split into two movies, I wondered why they don’t just make one longer movie. But then Part 1, released last fall, stood very well on its own as a movie.

Well, after seeing Part 2, I’m sticking with my original opinion. Many sequels (the good ones, anyway) require the viewer to see the previous installments to understand the story, but the movies themselves can stand alone as complete works. That’s not so in this case.

The movie picks up right where Part 1 left off. At the end of Part 1 (SPOILER!), the aging Batman (perfectly voiced by Robocop himself Peter Weller) defeated the savage leader of the violent gang known as the Mutants. Now, the Mutants have splintered into several gangs (one of whom have dubbed themselves the Sons of Batman and see the Dark Knight as their new messiah), and on top of this, Batman faces some new challenges. His greatest ally, Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon (David Selby), is retiring, and while the new police force sees him as a threat, two figures from the past remerge: the Joker (Michael Emerson), who’s been in a catatonic state for ten years in the absence of his arch-nemesis, and Superman (Mark Valley), now a tool for the American government in fighting the Soviets (the comic was published during the Cold War, and instead of trying to rewrite the story or adapt it to modern geopolitical issues, the filmmakers just left it).

Part 1 was a pretty close adaptation of the comic, though it made appropriate changes accounting for the differences between a still panel and a moving picture (for example, Miller’s long patches of internal narration are eliminated or adapted into regular dialogue). Part 2 similarly adapts to the movie form, but this time, some more stuff got left out.

The comic explored themes of vigilantism and demagoguery regarding superheroes; Batman’s return may have brought hope to Gotham in a dark time, but it also inspired more violence in those who see him as an idol. It makes the reader really think about whether Batman is actually doing the right thing. You don’t get that opportunity with the movie because these themes didn’t make it, and the Sons of Batman are mostly left by the wayside until the finale (meanwhile, the swastika-pastied thug, a prime example of Miller's warped and gratuitous sensibilities, made it onscreen). Another casualty of the adaptation is the development of certain characters. For instance, in the comic, Superman’s loyalty to his country, to the point where he's doing the government's dirty work, is clearly a result of his righteousness and patriotism extended to too far a degree. That isn’t explored here, so he just seems like a jerk, the stereotypical brainless grunt but with a cape.

Basically, all the film leaves time for is the fights, specifically two big ones, and in this respect the feature is entertaining. The first fight is Batman’s final confrontation with the Joker, while the evil clown massacres a talk show audience (Fun fact: Conan O’Brien voices the unfortunate talk show host, who was modeled after David Letterman in the comic) and county fair. This is one of the most violent stretches ever shown in a Batman production, quite bloody for a PG-13 film, even an animated one. Emerson makes for a very good Joker, less darkly funny than most versions but more evil and just unabashedly cruel. Heath Ledger’s take in The Dark Knight is still the definitive portrayal, but between this film and John DiMaggio's portrayal in Under the Red Hood, DC Universe Animated Original Movies have produced two of the better Jokers onscreen.

The second is the climactic showdown between Superman and the Dark Knight on the streets of Gotham. It’s a little bit ridiculous to see a robotic exoskeleton-wearing Batman tear objects out of the ground and pummel the Man of Steel, and some of the internal dialogue from the comic is changed into dopey spoken words. Still, it’s very enjoyable, and certainly adapts the epic fight from the comic (which gives you an adrenaline rush despite consisting solely of still drawings) as well as it could for a motion picture (and it sure beats the anticlimactic final fight between Batman and Bane in The Dark Knight Rises). And after all, it’s a cartoon, so it seems a little silly to complain about it not being realistic.

Despite some changes, the movie isn’t bad, but it doesn’t seem like a full film. While Part 1 is a complete work, Part 2 just seems like an extension of the first part. Watching it by itself is like catching the second half of a movie. But put both parts together, and this is one of the best animated adaptations DC has yet produced.