4 Razors

The Dark Knight

  • Title: The Dark Knight
  • IMDB: link

“Why… so… serious?”

In a summer of super heroes and villains both on screen and off screen The Dark Knight rises above and knocks all of them off the charts. This film will stand the test of time going darker and deeper into a world of crime and punishment than anybody ever has for a comic book film. The Dark Crusader (Christian Bale) holds on to what little humanity he has through his close companions Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine) and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), if not for them he would loose all compassion and be swallowed into his own mask of self-pity and battling ego.

Alfred, is life time friend and butler, keeps it real, he reminds Bruce Wayne from time to time that causalities occur and it’s his role as Batman to endure and move on. Sometimes you have to accept the loss of a few innocents to save the masses. Lucius is Bruce’s right-hand man at both running his company and building him the most recent vehicles, uniforms and gadgets to keep Batman safe on the streets of Gotham. Lucius also does a great job of reminding Bruce when he is crossing over into territory that goes too far in the name of saving Gotham City and its residence.

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Batman Begin Again!

  • Title: Batman Begins
  • IMDB: link

Diehard fans of The Dark Knight have long since given up on a cinematic treatment that gives us a definitive Batman.  We all long to forget Adam West’s camp-o-rama, Burton’s Batman was just weird and violated some central tenets of the Batman mythology, and Schumacher?  Well, the less said the better. (Two words: Bat Nipples).  So news that Christopher Nolan was giving us a Batman: Year One tinged reboot of the series was met with equal anticipation and dread.  Nolan is certainly a genre-fan favorite, considering the success of Memento, but he’s otherwise unproven, and the superhero film is not an easy one to get right.

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Batman: The Animated Series Redux

  • Title: Batman: The Animated Series – Volume Four
  • tv.com: link

After a couple of years working on the animated Superman cartoon Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and their team returned to the mean streets of Gotham to present The New Batman Superman Adventures.  The hourlong block was divided into one episode of Superman and one of Batman, including a few crossover episodes. 

The new Batman episodes revamped the look of the show into a darker and sleeker look while keeping the original style.  Dick Grayson had moved on, Tim Drake would become the new Robin, Batgirl joined the team, and Batman took to the streets of Gotham to pursue the cowardly lot of villains.  For reviews of previous seasons click here for Season One, Season Two, and Season Three.

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The Adventures of Batman and Robin

I’ve played my share of Batman video games and by far my favorite remains The Adventures of Batman and Robin for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.  Capturing the look of the Batman the Animated Series the game, with high quality graphics, and music from specific episodes, made you feel like you are playing the show itself, and was a blast to play.  Take a look inside as we review the game!

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Batman the Animated Series

  • Title: Batman: The Animated Series – Volume One
  • tv.com: link

No digital cartoon here folks.  Despite the fact that many cartoons had gone to digital at the time it came out Batman the Animated Series is old school, in more ways than one.  Hand drawn on cells with painted backgrounds with a limited color palate and a breath-taking style that merges old school images into a new and exciting storytelling.  Producers Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm deserve all the praise I can muster for this wonderful creation that got better and better year after year.

As you watch the main titles you notice they never say Batman (that’s pretty ballsy for a “kid’s show”).  From these early images you can see the importance of the visual look to the series, which is very important on a show where the main character doesn’t talk much.  Building on core concepts of who and what Batman is while adding a new dark art deco style and flair to the look of Gotham the creators make almost all the right choices including retuning the Joker‘s balls and allowing him to be a wickedly scary demented killer.

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