Fans who have been keeping track know that the animation department for Warner Bros. and DC Comics has, for the most part, been doing a fantastic job with their animated features for over a decade. They have tackled new material, continuations of past iterations and, like this film, adaptations of beloved arcs from the comics. As with most DC releases they tend to go for the characters that are easiest to appeal to wide audiences, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and a smattering of other Justice League members.
The latest effort is an adaptation of the late 90s story arc “Batman: The Long Halloween” by industry legends Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. Set in the early years of Batman’s career, “The Long Halloween” covers a lot of ground and ideas while at the center is a serial killer story line. Its ultimate goal was to show the transitional period where Batman really goes from taking down mob bosses to having to deal with his Rogues Gallery that fans are aware and so fond of. All at once “The Long Halloween” is a dark and broody detective noir, and a classic Batman tale, with hints of horror all rolled into one page-turner of a thriller. Highly regarded as one of the best Batman stories of all time, it would make sense that DC and WB would want to adapt it elsewhere in some capacity. Movie-goers have seen elements of it before, most notably in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.
The original series ran for 13 issues over 13 months with each issue showcasing the next holiday murder and subsequently building up Batman’s super villains, and establishing his role as Gotham’s protector and the world’s greatest detective. Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One covers roughly the first half of the comic book run and fans should not be worried. Warner Bros. Animation has really stepped up to give this one their all. With a story this big and truly great there was no way that a single 80 minute film could give viewers the experience they deserves so splitting it into two films is definitely the way to go, as we saw with their adaptation of “The Dark Knight Returns.”
This format allows for all of the elements of the mystery to breathe, grow, and really sit with the weight of it all. It is a deeper story than what we normally get in animation so letting us really look into the lives of Bruce Wayne/Batman, Jim Gordon, Harvey Dent, and even some of the villains like the Falcones. It allows us to get to know these characters all over again like it’s our first time meeting. And with these characters we get a fairly star-studded and varied voice cast. Jensen Ackles stars as Batman and is a surprisingly great choice for the lead role. His gruff demeanor and ability to move between Bruce and Batman is really well done. He does something that is all his own while never straying too far from what other actors have done in the past. He slips into Dean Winchester once or twice, but overall he IS Batman. He has the depth of the character, but enough youth and angst in his voice to really get at this point in Bruce’s life. He’s only been Batman for a little while and has a long way to go. He makes mistakes and simply doesn’t have the experience yet that we associate with the character. Aging heartthrob Josh Duhamel takes on the role of Harvey Dent, the district attorney doomed to eventually become the tragic villain Two-Face. Duhamel is fully in character, even without having to don the dual nature of Dent (yet), he is not just recording as himself. He is voicing another person altogether. He brings to the table exactly what is needed for Dent: true heroism, a slight darkness, and determination. He is a good man, trying to do good, in the nastiest city on earth.
Another newcomer to Gotham is Naya Rivera as Selina Kyle/Catwoman. Selina is a character who has a thread through this story, but isn’t the main focus, and we are many years away from any sense of real romance between her and Bruce. Rivera brings a slinky, sexiness to Catwoman, but unfortunately doesn’t have much to do here. Hopefully Part Two gives her more meat to chew on. It’s a good performance for someone with little voice acting credits to her name. This is her final role as Rivera tragically died nearly a year ago. Returning actors to this world are Troy Baker as The Joker, Alistair Duncan as Alfred, and David Dastmalchian as Julian Day aka Calendar Man. Baker’s performance as the Joker is clearly modeled after Mark Hamill’s iconic version in Batman: The Animated Series and is nearly identical at times aside from the laugh. It’s a classic, unhinged Joker performance with just a tinge more darkness for this film. Dastmalchian’s turn as Calendar Man is brief, but fascinating. He takes the vocal cues into a nearly androgynous range, keeping the character just out of grasp as the voice doesn’t really match the physical appearance, but it blends beautifully. It’s a key scene in which Batman and Harvey Dent interview him in his cell at Arkham. As a whole the voice cast really stepped up to create something special or at the very least, textbook “Batman.” Billy Burke as Jim Gordon, Julie Nathanson as Gilda Dent, and Jack Quaid as Alberto Falcone all take turns in the spotlight and breathe real life into this cast.
Continued belowThe animation style of the film is a mixture of things fans have seen before. Character design is mostly reminiscent of the other animated features from the last few years. Slick and clean with a more adult nature to them, pairing well with the more mature subject matter. The look of Gotham City pulls from various inspirations, it’s a little bit of the comics, a little bit of Batman: TAS, and so on. It’s stuck in time roughly somewhere between 1930 and 2021. It’s gloomy, grimy, and forever night; everything Gotham should be. Fans of Tim Sale’s work will both understand and be disappointed that his style is not on display here. While an animated film using his design would be nothing short of incredible, it’s clearly easier to create something that fits in with the rest of the animated films. However, we do get to see some of his panels in the gorgeous and brilliantly done opening credits sequence which really added something to the entire film. The acknowledgement of his work was a great thing to see. Other than that the only kinship is in the shading and the heavy lines used on the characters. Very different, but the inspiration is there. It’s all quite beautiful in its own way, but still gave me the urge to get up and pull the Absolute Edition off the shelf and stare at Sale’s stunning work.
The direction and writing delivers an exceptional take on the book. Like any good adaptation it sticks to what makes the story work in the first place while making changes here and there to make for a somewhat new experience. It expands certain moments to build importance, adds some action for a more dynamic viewing experience, and trims down other moments to keep things moving without ever giving up what makes this story so special. Finding the right pace and figure out at which scene to cut away making us wait for Part Two had to be at least somewhat difficult, but they nail it on all accounts.
Michael Gatt’s score is true blue Batman, but isn’t anything we haven’t experienced in one way or another. The standouts are the quieter moments, the murder scenes, and brooding conversations. When things turn to action it’s all very familiar.
This is the type of Batman film that fans at any level can get into and enjoy, and with the promise of a sequel coming out so soon after, they won’t have to wait long to see how it all turns out. It isn’t perfect, but it’s an easy recommendation from me for fans of the original comic, or newcomers looking to experience this story for the first time on screen.
