Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: An anthology of tales covering early adventures of the Caped Crusader's endless fight against the criminal underbelly of Gotham.
Review: As I've stated numerous times, I'm a big fan of Batman, and an anthology tale is a perfect way to present his kind of adventures. It's made better by the fact that there is a, somewhat, ongoing continuity from tale to tale. They also have Kevin Conroy voicing Batman, and that's usually the highlight in my mind. With that said, this wasn't as good as it could have been. I didn't like the changing art styles, and the stories felt like they were trying too hard to complement the Nolan films rather than standing on their own merit. This isn't to say the film is bad--because it's not--it simply lacked a certain flair to make it memorable. The segments are too generic with, maybe, only one or two stories exemplifying the deeper struggles of the character. It would seem few sources can do Batman justice the way the animated series was able to.
Have I Got a Story for You: This was a decent way to start things off, but the animation in this segment is the absolute worst. Why does everyone look so fat...including Batman? Anyway, a bunch of kids are telling each other their interpretation of crossing paths with Batman. We can assume their stories all occurred in succession of one another as Batman is fighting the same assassin across Gotham. Coincidentally enough, the same fight that the kids have witnessed across town concludes before their very eyes. The amusing aspect to this segment is that the one kid that had no tale regarding Batman manages to help Batman defeat the assassin. Eh, this wasn't too bad, and it had it's moments.
Crossfire: This is probably the weakest of the stories since you know what's going to happen almost immediately. Two detectives, working under Gordon, are transporting a criminal to Arkham as one of them remarks how they are simply cleaning up after Batman. Amidst their arguing, the two detectives become caught up in a literal crossfire between two crime families. Of course Batman comes to the rescue and changes the opinion of the one detective. I wouldn't mind such a scenario typically, but this whole doubting Batman and changing your tune routine has been done many, many times before.
Field Test: This was one of the better entries as we see Bruce exploring multiple options in his attempt to be a better crime fighter. Consulting with Fox, Bruce fits the Batman suit with some kind of electromagnetic field generator that can reflect bullets. Later on, when Batman tests out the device, fighting the same crime families from the last segment, he notices an unexpected side effect; one of the bullets ricochets from Batman and hits one of the criminals. Batman does save the guy, but Bruce returns the device to Fox. Bruce says he's willing to risk his own life fighting crime but doesn't want to endanger others. Oddly enough, this was the first tale to actually have Batman/Bruce as the focus. I liked that we saw Bruce exhausting all the assets at his disposal in order to make Batman more effective.
In Darkness Dwells: This was probably a missed opportunity compared to the other segments since you had a few classic villains to work with. Once more we have the Scarecrow using his fear toxin for nefarious purposes; he has captured a Cardinal for whatever reason I'm not sure. Helping Scarecrow either directly or indirectly (again, I'm not sure), Killer Croc assists in the fight against Batman and infects Batman with the fear toxin. However, Killer Croc is defeated way too easily, and Scarecrow hardly does anything before being defeated as well. The ending was interesting with an injured Batman probably in need of help, but they let that be its own separate entry; this aspect only emphasized the wasted potential of this segment.
Working Through Pain: Batman, wounded from his encounters in the last segment, flashes back to his time studying a kind of mysticism in India. While trying to become strong enough to fight crime, Bruce came across a woman, named Cassandra, who was willing to teach him mental strategies to control one's physical pain. Over months, Bruce mastered the techniques and became virtually unaffected by the standard pain thresholds of a regular person. One night, villagers come to mess with Cassandra who takes a nonviolent approach and demonstrates her mastery of this art. Bruce, unable to sit idly by, intervenes and dispenses with the villagers. Cassandra then asks Bruce to leave since she realizes he only wanted her techniques for his own purposes rather than to better oneself. As Bruce leaves, she remarks that she would not be able to help him with his internal pain. Cutting back to the present, the segment ends as we see Batman angered by a heap of guns that we can assume remind him of his parents' death. It's always a treat when we discover all the training Bruce went through to become Batman. In many ways, it shows how Bruce was not entirely honest in his approach while also delving into the anger and sadness Batman keeps bottled up.
Deadshot: To close things out, we have a decent story and another classic villain in the form of, you guessed it, Deadshot. This segment begins with Bruce remembering the deaths of his parents, and that feeling of powerlessness that drives him. Despite his apprehension to use firearms, Bruce discusses his understanding of the appeal with Alfred. We then cut to Deadshot performing an assassination in his typical, over the top, manner. Deadshot is then, seemingly, hired to assassinate Gordon in another roundabout manner. Batman intervenes but Deadshot reveals his actual target was Batman himself. The two fight atop a train with Deadshot appearing to gain the upper hand. Disappointingly, Deadshot is dispatched with as easily as Killer Croc and Scarecrow were. Later on, Bruce is discussing with Alfred how he wishes he could have saved his parents, but this is cut short by Bruce noticing the Bat-Signal. Not too bad of an ending, but this entire film needed the kind of epic music the animated series always implemented to enhance the drama.
Overall, this was a cool idea hindered by mostly lackluster stories. I enjoy the idea of side stories, but they could have been more meaningful in the way "Working Through Pain" was able to present. Because of the Nolan connection, it appeared as though they didn't want to take any chances as whatever they did would be retconned if needed. I don't mind leaving out the rogues gallery of villains, but it could have turned an otherwise mundane tale into something memorable. If you can't get enough Batman, I'd say check this bad boy out, but keep in mind there are more interesting and compelling adventures out there.
Notable Moment: In the fifth segment when we see that Batman can overcome physical pain easily, but he's consumed by his internal pain. It's this conflict that usually provides for a more compelling Batman; unfortunately, a lot of the Batman media out there forgets this.
Final Rating: 6/10
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