The Joker has escaped from Arkham and Batman must once again bring him in - once and for all. Unfortunately for the bat, there is something even more sinister than the Joker waiting in the alley for the dark knight detective.. Life isn't fair. The Joker escapes from Arkham Asylum. Bruce Wayne puts on his Batman suit, mask, and cape, and goes in pursuit. He's soon found the Joker and begins a fight to subdue the red-eyed, sneering villain. Then, suddenly, things take a surprising turn: the Joker becomes the least of Batman's worries. New enemies appear: it's as if he's found himself in another set of comic books. Can he hold his own? I watched this not expecting much. Not because short films are "poorly done" or "over-the-top" as another reviewer said (actually, many shorts are very well done, some better than most of the big-budget feature pap that Hollywood regurgitates), but because I didn't see how anyone could do justice to the subject matter and characters in a low-budget short. But I was impressed. Very impressed, in fact, with the visuals: all of that money spent is there on the screen. You can quibble about the Batman costume, which seems constructed from odds and ends borrowed from different incarnations and versions of the character, but the effect is more impressive than that stupid rubber thing used in the recent feature film series. The cinematography was inspired, and the touch of "borrowing" the cape effects from The Animated Series was genius. Admittedly, the acting was a bit wooden, but then Batman was played by a stuntman, and he filled out the costume better than Keaton, Kilmer, or Clooney ever could (and he sort of sounded like Kevin Conroy, which is exactly what Batman should sound like!). I too was peeved with the "Batman and Joker created each other" element, which is borrowed from the live action feature series and has no basis in the comics. But those complaining about the alien and the predators simply don't know what they're talking about. The creatures and effects were dead-on; they looked like they'd just stepped out of their own films and into this one. And there is a basis in the comics for such an encounter (check out the graphic novels "Batman/Aliens", "Batman/Aliens Two", "Batman vs. Predator", "Batman vs. Predator II: Blood Match", "Batman vs. Predator III: Blood Ties", and "Aliens vs. Predator", all available at better comics stores or through Amazon.com). "Batman: Dead End" is an exciting promise of a better future for the WB Batman live action franchise. Let's hope Warners gets the message. Much to my surprise, someone managed to get Batman right. This is no leather-clad rubber nippled movie hybrid. Everything about this Batman bleeds comic book. I found the film extremely well thought out with the exception of Batman immediately attacking the Predator. Pure fans will agree that Batman would not make an immediate judgement such as that. For entertainment value though this is flawless. We will probably never see a feature length film with all these pieces in place but just a taste like this sends the imagination to another level. Bravo!!
Niorphila replied
347 weeks ago