Batman: Gotham by Gaslight Review

Gotham by Gaslight is a really interesting take on the caped crusader bringing us to a familiar yet completely different world. This particular Batman resides within the Victorian era bringing all of the unique style of the times while adapting the characters and their roles. It's a very unique narrative in that it's not only surprising, but really dark in nature. There were some big twists along the way and it was decent to watch. I did however find the entire animation to be incredibly dark to the point I couldn't tell what was happening.

This was mostly present across any fight scene and that was disappointing as the combat between Jack the Ripper and Batman could have been really cool. I'm sure there was some focus on keeping things mysterious, yet I still would have liked more of a visual presence. The general animation was also rather lacking and felt rushed almost, given a dated type look to it. Many finer details that I'm used to from the style of animation weren't present and with the mix of practically pitch black scenes it seems like they were cutting animation corners at every turn.

It was great how they changed up some origins for characters and truly embraced the darker aspects of the time. They did capture the whole Victorian era well while adjusting some core aspects of the character. It felt similar, yet different enough that I'm sure this will be a surprise for Batman fans.

The general plot was interesting with some fantastic twists yet it does take awhile to get going. They could have focused a tad more on Jack the Ripper as some portions of the start felt out of place. That's a bit odd for a rather short animated film since they could have either had more action or helped build a stronger romantic subplot.

It could have also added some additional breathing room and spent time on side characters. This would have allowed viewers moments to appreciate the setting while also being able to make decent guesses on the potential killer. Instead it just rushes along after a slow start and right into a never ending action sequence.

The Conclusion

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is another fine animation effort that aims to do something completely fresh. It stumbles in some regards while still presenting an entertaining tale. I felt they really nailed the characters with the interactions between Bruce and Selina standing out.

Some of the voice acting could have been a bit more intense, but I definitely got used to it or it was generally better the further along the film went. It was far too dark at times and the animation was rather disappointing for almost all of the run time.

It could be blamed on trying to be darker in nature, but it felt lazy with most scenes being empty containing a few lines creating action you could barely see. The story was different, I didn't see some of the twists coming and if you want a more intense visceral type of Batman this is a good attempt at that.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight Review at Home with Standard Viewing

Rating Overall: 6.5