It would be easy to say that Batman: Knightfall, and the follow-up storylines Knightquest and KnightsEnd were the Batman team’s response to the mega-selling Death of Superman and Reign of the Supermen storylines. But nope: in an odd coincidence, the Batman and Superman teams separately came up with the ideas for massively muscled supervillains absolutely wrecking their heroes, leading to new heroes taking up the mantle. But by contrast, where the Superman storyline was relatively streamlined, the Batman one crossed multiple titles and annuals for over 100 issues over the course of a year. So how does one begin to tackle a storyline like that, and distill it down into three animated feature films, starting with the a-little-over-an-hour Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall?
The answer is: ya don’t. Or more specifically, based on the first part, you play it off more like a highlights reel as Batman (Anson Mount) has a pretty bad night – no pun intended – leading to the villainous Luchador Bane (Michael Mando) breaking his back. Along the way, there are big battles with Mad Hatter (Jason Fleyming) and serial killer Zsasz (Andrea Morgado) among others, and everyone keeps remarking on how tired Batman is… And that’s pretty much it.
That’s not necessarily a knock, by the way. Writer Jeremy Adams, currently working on both Emperor Aquaman and Green Lantern for DC Comics, does an effective job of weaving these fights at an even pace through the movie, amping up how beaten and bruised Batman is until he’s left for dead at the end. And the script also distills potentially complicated plot points like the death of Jason Todd as motivation for why Bruce is over-exerting himself, while the extremely capable new Robin, Tim Drake (Jack Giffin), is kept on the bench. Add in one of the more insane (literally and figuratively) characters in Batman mythology, Azrael (Pablo Schreiber), and it’s actually impressive how Adams gets most of these plot points across with no muss and fuss. It’s not necessarily, to borrow a comic book term, new reader friendly. But for those who perhaps haven’t read the Knightfall trilogy since 1993, it’s an effective reminder of what’s going on leading into this opening act, as well as setting up where these characters will go next.
The problem is, otherwise, there’s not much else there. “Batman is tired” is not a theme, it’s a character trait. There’s a lot of real estate in the movie spent on the origin of Bane, showing how he was born in a prison in the island nation of Santa Prisca, grew up training his brain and body, and was amped up on the mega-muscle drug Venom, freeing the prisoners before coming to teach Gotham City a few lessons. And while there could be a potential parallel there with Batman’s own origin, the movie breezes by that entirely, likely due to faithfulness to the comic book arc (and potentially, correctly, assuming that anyone picking up a direct-to-DVD movie titled Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall probably already knows Batman’s origin story). Similarly, there’s an opportunity to tweak Azrael’s origin to parallel Batman and Bane, but instead the movie keeps it comic accurate, meaning he’s a crazy guy with a split personality and a penchant for religious murder, versus a More Extreme Batman.
It’s also, quite purposefully, one third of a story. It’s the opening act, not a movie on its own, so perhaps this whole thing will play better when watched in full (Part 2 is expected to release later this year, followed by Part 3 in 2027). I understand this is part of Warner Bros. Animation’s strategy, to release these direct to DVD/streaming films at an even pace. But given the episodic nature of this story it would have been better served by a TV limited series, not a movie split into three streamlined parts released sporadically over the course of what might be as much as a year.
While Knightfall might be lacking in themes, it’s definitely not lacking in violence. Those expecting something on the level of Batman: The Animated Series, that’s thrown out the window during the opening scene which features Azrael gruesomely and graphically wrecking human traffickers, slicing their faces off, melting their faces, and doing other horrible things to parts of their bodies which aren’t faces. It’s actually shocking how horrific the violence is in the movie, and while a certain part of the comic book fandom who believes they’re only being taken seriously if there are blood and guts on screen will be thrilled, for those of us who do not need that, it’s a little off-putting to see Mortal Kombat-style fatalities in the middle of a Batman movie.
Over-the-top blood aside, the action is routinely solidly executed, and the final sequence where Bane obliterates Batman throughout Wayne Manor (spoilers for a comic book storyline that came out 30 plus years ago) is thrillingly dark. But the best of the bunch, and stand-out of the movie, is easily Robin. Giffin’s Tim Drake is plucky, upbeat, and balanced; the complete opposite of Jason Todd’s rogue Robin. And Adams and director Jeff Wamester nail the character as well, giving him some fun investigation scenes, and the best staged scene in the movie, when Robin takes on Bane solo. While the comic canonical story is leading up to the mentally unstable Azrael taking the mantle of Batman, it’s Tim Drake who really deserves the cowl.
Speaking of canonical, Mando completely changes up his voice from Spider-Man: Brand New Day villain Scorpion to play Bane. And initially, it’s a bit of a shock: Tom Hardy’s Bane from Dark Knight Rises has become so pervasive in culture that hearing a non-filtered, more “accurate” Bane is surprising. But once you get over that disconnect, Mando is excellent as the villain, imposing and commanding, even as the animation leans into the bonkers, impossible anatomy exemplified by Kelley Jones’s massively muscled Bane from the comics.
Of the other voice actors, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds star Anson Mount actually makes an excellent Batman and Bruce Wayne, only subtly deepening his voice as the Dark Knight and appropriately getting the relative softness of Bruce versus the hardness of Batman through in his performance. It’s not reminiscent of Kevin Conroy’s iconic take, nor is it the weird swings Hamish Linklater is taking as the dual role on Prime Video’s Batman: Caped Crusader. Instead, Mount feels like a classic Bruce Wayne/Batman, the sort you hear in your head when you’re reading the books.
And while she only briefly appears in this first movie, Jessica Camacho is pretty excellent as well as detective Renee Montoya… With a 10-episode (or more) limited series, characters like this would have gotten more time to shine, versus a quick character sketch, action scene, and then they’re gone for the duration. As is, perhaps we can get a Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall: Interlude: The Montoya Chronicles miniseries or something.
The main issue at play here is that Knightfall is a relatively faithful, distilled down adaptation of a comic book event that takes place in comic book continuity… Meaning there are a lot of things that went down leading into this, and a lot of setup that needs to happen to get this to the next, ongoing storyline. It doesn’t necessarily lend itself to a standalone story, and some of the choices made in 1993 that may have worked playing out over multiple titles, from multiple writers and artists just aren’t necessary in an animated movie. It’s why most of the MCU, DCU, etc, uses the comics as inspiration, versus providing reproduction. Though it’s impressive to take 119 single issues and craft a three to four hour storyline that hits the big beats from the comic books, this production would have been better served going its own direction. Put simpler? Maybe Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall should have broken the bat a little harder. Because this one is for the fans, only.
Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall hits digital platforms on August 25, and 4K UHD, Blu-Ray, and DVD on September 8.
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When did men get so f’in soft? Oh no, we don’t want to see any violence. Absolute cuck
This is a really cool thing to say! You’re a cool guy.