Part 2 was just released and looking back, I don’t think I talked about the first one!
Put simply, TDKR is one of the cornerstones of Batman lore. Written by Mark Miller and released in 1985 , Returns takes place 10 years after Bruce Wayne has hung up the cowl. Gotham is over run by gangs, the worst of humanity is eating the city from the inside. A weathered Bruce Wayne decides he can’t sit by any longer. Old foes re-emerge along with The Bat and the authorities are none to happy about any of it.
Returns has everything that makes Batman a fan favorite. Intensity, brains, brawn and honor. Even long past his physical prime, Bruce Wayne is a force of nature than no one can match. Having just watched Part 2, it’s the freshest in my mind. It is the strongest of the two with the stakes at the highest. Joker comes out of retirement and the carnage is legendary. The fight he and Batman have is the stuff of legend, and the dialog! Just dripping with brilliance (fantastic voice acting from everyone). The set up and follow through for every piece of this tale are just some of the best story telling around. The battle with Superman? Get outta here! Just tantalizing and euphoric action. Batman is the definition of bad ass.
Warner Brothers takes a lot of pride in their properties and they let this production team go to make the best Batman they could. The animation is fantastic (I can think of only one quick action that was really awful) and the soundtrack is simply epic in scope and scale.
The Chris Nolan pulled a lot of things from this source (and Year One for Batman Begins) and while there is a lot of questionable decisions in those movies for fans, Returns can be called the uncut Batman. The power and awe of one of America’s favorite heroes. Let me be clear; this is a story that is for adults. There’s a lot of grown up stuff in here in theme and violence. I’ve glossed over a lot of the details, if you’ve never read the book it’ll be a whole new world and fans can be assured that it does the source material justice.
Arguably perfect.