Written by Jeremy Adams
Directed by Jeff Wamester
Bane (to Batman): "You are always hiding from the people closest to you but you can't hide from destiny."
I gotta be honest, I'm actually surprised it took DC this long to have done an animated version of the classic Knightfall storyline. However, I'm not shocked that they've made this into a three part saga. It's wise of them to do such a thing.
Anyways, we open with a gang trafficking vulnerable people only for Jean Paul Valley/Azrael (Pablo Schrieber) to pop up and kill the majority of them while fighting Batman (Anson Mount). Then we had Jean Paul break down, being horrified by his powers and Batman taking him in to harness his powers for good.
Then there's our villain of the piece - Bane (Michael Mando). A good portion of the movie was dedicated to his origin story. We had the death of his mother (Adriana Isabel) and the sadistic prison warden (Bayardo de Murgula). The latter wouldn't live to regret his monstrous creation and his death was very much deserved.
Bane's a character that has had mixed results in both live action and animation. I can say that this might be one of the more successful takes on the character. You can sympathise with him as a child for the harsh treatment he was subjected to. You can also understand the envy he had towards the Wayne family and Gotham City and you can definitely be horrified by his actions upon arriving in Gotham.
Bane being both a towering force and an excellent strategic mind was where this first part was an undeniable. Freeing various baddies from Gotham to overwhelm both the GCPD and Batman was a success. Bane almost came close to killing the Tim Drake (Jack Griffo) version of Robin twice in this film. Even Alfred Pennyworth (Simon Temple man) wasn't safe from Bane.
The actual confrontation between Batman and Bane was absolutely brilliant. The way Bane deconstructed Batman's character and the sheer brutality of that back snap and public humiliation at the very end. This absolutely raised the bar for this animated adaptation. I really hope they can maintain this quality for the next two films.
- Villains we saw in this film were Scarecrow, Firefly, Mr Freeze (no voice actors), Riddler (David Dastamalchian), Ventriloquist/Scarface (Jeff Bennett), Mad Hatter (Jason Flemyng), Victor Zsasz (Andrew Morgado) and Catman (Luis Bermudez).
- Allies in this movie included Dr. Shonda Kinsolving (Toks Olagundoye), Commissioner Gordon (Bruce Boxleitner), Harvey Bullock (Mick Wingert) and Renee Montoya (Jessica Camacho). Dick Grayson (no voice actor) and Jason Todd (Max Mittelman) in flashbacks.
- Some of Jean Paul's backstory was referenced but not fully fleshed out. I really liked his scenes with Tim.
- Chronology: Unspecified timeline but we did see a lot of Bane's life in Santa Prisca before he appeared in Gotham.
The first part of this Knightfall saga might be one of the best adaptations of a DC animated movie. Easily one of the best uses of Bane as a character, an exhausted Batman, an inspired Robin/Azrael team up and a brilliant cliffhanger ending.
Rating: 8 out of 10