Last night I sat down to watch the oddly titled Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall (seriously?) with my seven-year-old daughter only to realize within minutes that it was a violent, R-rated adaptation of the popular 1993 Bane vs. Batman comic book series. So, later last night after my seven-year-old daughter was asleep I watched the oddly titled Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall (seriously?)–and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The first animated Batman movie I’ve watched since Mask of the Phantasm, which was coincidentally released in 1993, Knightfall depicts the emergence of Bane, the destruction of Arkham Asylum, and Bruce Wayne’s mental and physical exhaustion as he desperately attempts to recapture his escaped foes. Meanwhile, he and Robin have taken the mentally ill assassin Azrael under their wing.
From director Jeff Wamester, Knightfall is indeed violent. In the opening scene, Azrael attacks a group of criminals and proceeds to slice them apart–literally–while occasionally burning the flesh off their faces. It sets the tone that this is a dark tale for the Dark Knight, one that at least temporarily concludes with the “breaking of the Bat.” Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises is in part an adaptation of the same story, but as a fan of the original comic book story (I was 11 at the time and an avid Batman fan) it’s really cool to see it done in a faithful manner.
Knightfall is a gripping story and Wamester does it justice; it’s action packed and relentless. Anson Mount (“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”) does a fine job portraying a strained Bruce Wayne, while Michael Mondo (“Better Call Saul”) makes for a compelling Bane. It was fun to see many comic book villains put to screen as well, including several I had forgotten even existed.
At 78 minutes, the movie is short and to the point. Lean and mean, if you will. While Wamester occasionally takes time to pause and let the story breathe, notably when an exhausted Bruce falls asleep in the arms of his therapist, Knightfall arguably is too faithful of an adaptation (note: I have not read the comics since I was a teenager, many decades ago, so I don’t remember many of the finer details). Given the movie revolves so much around Batman being pushed beyond his limits, Knightfall spends very little time with Bruce before shit goes down; the depiction of his deterioration is lacking. Further, for being such a pivotal character, Jean-Paul Valley (Pablo Schreiber, “Orange is the New Black”) is given as much backstory as two panes in a comic book.
In short, Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall (seriously?) works incredibly well as a transfer of the comic book series to the screen, an exciting, violent rendition of one of Batman’s most famous story arcs. It would have been even better had Wamester spent more time with his key characters, filling in the gaps not shown but implied on the comic pages.
Review by Erik Samdahl. Erik is a marketing and technology executive by day, avid movie lover by night. He is a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society.