Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Motompa Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Jemima It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Robert McElwaine Batman has long since disappeared since his crime-fighting days but now at the age of 55, Bruce Wayne dons the cape and cowl to return to the streets of Gotham City to take on old enemy, Harvey "Two-Face" Dent for what should be the last time. Meanwhile the maniacal gang of hoodlums known as, The Mutants plague the streets of the towering metropolis with an impending confrontation with their vicious, sadistic leader on the cards.The latest in a fairly long list of animated adaptations or interpretations of the Batman mythos to be brought to the screen, The Dark Knight Returns was based on the four part 1986 graphic novel by the now legendary, Frank Miller. The very man who's formidable imagination brought forth such renowned works as, Sin City and Watchmen to name but two and seemingly had no involvement in any advisory or technical capacity. And if this full length version, (it was originally released in two chapters on two individual DVD releases) is anything to go by he needn't had done so as from from what I gather it remains irrevocably faithful to it's source material.It focus's on how Bruce Wayne (voiced by; Peter Weller best known for his iconic role in 1980's sci-fi action hit, Robocop) who has long since retired after the untimely demise of Jason Todd, the second Robin., making him feel compelled to return to a life of vigilantism. Gotham it seems is an even grimmer, meaner city metropolis that has become more of a breeding ground for crime and is descending in to inevitable anarchy. Arguably and some might claim irrefutably the most gritty and uncompromising depiction of the Dark Knight, it doesn't make it any less riveting and complex all be it implausible.Adroitly selecting the criminally unhinged Harvey "Two Face" Dent (Wade Williams) as the early antagonist who partially instigates the millionaire son of Gotham to don the cape and cowl once more, his dual nature is an ideal adage to the themes of the first half of the movie which explore duality. There's Bruce Wayne's double identity as the aged industrialist and the avenging Batman, with the divisiveness of public opinion over whether he is a positive force for change in Gotham or a self-imposed, meddling vigilante menace that is part of the problem and not the solution. They're handled adeptly via vox pops with Gothamites which are to be broadcast on the local news stations. Derivative it may be be but it still has the desired effect. There's also the dual sides of the official and unofficial iconic symbols of justice, a 70 year old Commissioner James Gordon (David Selby) who is on the verge of retiring with old friend and ally, Bruce entering again in to the battlefield streets of their once beloved city. One's on his way out as the other one is finding himself drawn right back in. There scenes together are relatively sparse but they hit the right note of bitter-sweet poignancy which compliments it's darker more brooding tone.Dent aside; the genuine and more prominent threat in the first half is the brutal and ominous gang which is practically an army of degenerate hoodlums calling themselves, The Mutants. Led by the imposing, towering presence of the maniacal Mutant Leader who as a figurehead personifies their carnal savagery concisely. Not since Bane; have we seen a nemesis that is potentially a match for the Batman, but then at 55 years of age he is irretrievably past his prime. But this is Bruce Wayne and although his physical frame has become more beleaguered with age, his mettle hasn't. Peter Weller with the subtlety of his nuanced vocal performance oozes a quiet resolute firmness that barely seems to waver.Returning momentarily to the themes of duality, there's the welcome if tried and tested addition of a new Robin, this time given the then more fresh spin of being a high spirited (are they anything else?) teenage girl named Carrie Kelly and voiced with likable spunky idealism by Ariel Winter. However, given Bruce Wayne's previous reluctance and the impetus behind his retirement, one wonders if his readiness to accept young Miss Kelly to be is latest sidekick is to push foward the plot. It feels like expedience being a rationale for forgoing some semblance of plausibility. All the same her addition makes for a wonderful story arc.All in all, and despite some discernible flaws; Chapter 1 get's this non-canon addition to the saga to a searingly intense start. The vocal talents are of the highest order, and with the formidable artistic deign and the fluidity of the animation; as well as the insinuated return of, The Joker teasing fans to purchase the second chapter, I doubt it would take much persuading.

PetarDuric It starts with very different Bruce as he looks old and not into fighting criminals, but it's easy to feel that there are things that are triggering him to return in fighting criminals. Gordon is also planning on retiring but there are crimes that start escalating more then even and Bruce personality pushed over and he decides to return. He returned more powerful than ever as he just kicked every criminal that was in his way and kept so doing until he ended the fight with Two face. Movie also features some of the exciting scenes from the Arkham. As Batman kicked Mutant leader in front of all his followers they turned to Batman and start worship him. Gordon retires after meeting his successor. 3.5/4

midas-jacobs This is my first review for a animated feature, so sorry if this isn't a good review, and if it is a bit short.In this adaptation of the character 'Batman' we meet him in his retired period. He hasn't been Batman in 10 years, but now there is this group called 'Mutans' terrorizing Gotham, and Burce is forced to pick up the cape again.The Directing of this animated movie is very good. The director of 'The Dark Knight Returns Part 1'is Jay Oliva. It was all handled good. So was the cinematography. This was very pretty. The famous scene of Batman hanging in the sky while there is thunder in the background. That is so pretty. I love that they made Batman in that shot obscured by the shadow. They also do this again near the end of the movie, when Batman confronts the boss of the mutants (forgot his name) but here isn't Batman the one who is obscured by the shadow, but the boss. I like this technique, and Ithink that it brings something special to the movie. There were also some very impressive camera movements, which were animated very good. Now I am going to switch over the the things I liked, apart from the cinematography and directing. The first thing is the drawing and art style, of course in a review for an animated feature this has to be discussed. The art style was very nice to look at. Some drawings were a bit weird for me (the helicopter), but overall this was a special style (the bulky Batman etc.) The animation was good too. It was done really well. It may sound stupid to you, but one thing that really stood out to me about the animated stuff, was the cape. It looked really good. This is most of the time an issue, because of the physics a cape has. A thing that I liked too were the fighting scenes. These were cool to look at, and weren't dull at any given point in time. They look 'realistic' in comic terms. Because it litterly was just a comic, but animated. The pacing was fantastic. The sequence where you can notice the most is in the building scene, right after Bruce decides to pick up the mantel again. This was tense full, and well edited. This was maybe one of my favorite scenes. Now the sounds. This was good, but the sound editing was that great. There were moments the the sound came earlier then the action, or even later. A part that I didn't like, but actually did fit the movie, is that they made Batman a sort of Superman in strength. Not in capability, which we can see in the movie. But Batman punching through a wall was a bit ridiculous to me.This is the part were I don't really have to say anything. The voice acting. It was done well, by every actor. The only 'issue' I have with some of this voice acting is the Batman Voice. It isn't wrong or anything. It just didn't really fit Batman. The Bruce voice, worked well for the character. Now something about his character. I liked that the story takes place when Bruce has retired. He is old and bulky, out of shape. And you can notice this in the movie, which I think, is impressive. I find that his portraying is done very good. But I don't really have to say anything more on this subject of my review, except for the character of the new robin. This time he is a she. She was pretty interesting, but I don't wanne spoil to much, so I am going to shut up.The script is the final thing I am going to discus, and then I will end this review. The script was maybe one of the best parts of the movie. I got sucked into the movie immediately by this. The begin dialogue between Gordon and Bruce is fantastic, but also the dialogue between Batman and the boss of the mutants at the end. The story overall was good. I think that it was a good idea to put the origin story scattered around in the movie. By using dreams, news... Doing this they also made you get sympathy for the character of Bruce, but also Batman. And by following him, and the voices in his head driving him crazy, that he has to become the Batman. Bruce isn't the only interesting character. Like I have said the new Robin is too. But about this one I don't want to spoil a lot. There is also some creative story telling. And here I am going to talk about SPOILERS. When Gordon gets threatened in the store, and the camera goes outside, where after two gunshots can be heard. Then we see a news reporter saying something that Gordon just died, but then adjusting herself by saying that Gordon killed someone. This was a eye rolling scene, when you look back at it, but at the moment you first are in shock that Gordon is dead, but is in fact not.Well that concludes my review for this movie. I hope you enjoyed reading it, and that we share the same opinion. I really loved this movie, and I am going to watch part 2 soon, so maybe I will upload a review for that one too.9.5

adonis98-743-186503 Batman voiced by Peter Weller best voice ever after Kevin Conroy by half i mean we're talking about the man who brought Robocop to life also this is a new gritty take on the Batman which i love so much having an older Bruce Wayne putting on the suit for one last time in order to fight crime is pretty cool also the Joker is about to return in order to fight Bruce Wayne and he is much older also. The beating that The Dark Knight got in this film is pretty crazy it reminds me of TDKR a little bit. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 is definitely a must watch for every Batman fan out there and DC Comics fans in general. I give it a A+ and a 10 out of 10.