Batman: La Malédiction qui s'abattit sur Gotham

Right, well I figured another year another reboot of the "Batman" story. Yet, I opted to sit down and watch this 2023 animated DC movie titled "Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham" without really knowing what I was getting into here, aside from it being a caped crusader animated movie, of course.

And true enough, once again we have to sit through "Batman" reinvented. And this time in the 1920s.

But that is where "Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham" stopped being annoying for me, because writers Jase Ricci, Mike Mignola and Richard Pace definitely put together quite the grand script and storyline here. Sure, I haven't read the comic book upon which this 2023 animated movie is based, so how true it is to the source material, I can only speculate. But without having read that, and only watching this, I have to say that I was entertained and I was impressed.

"Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham" combines the classic "Batman" tale with something I like a lot, and that is the H. P. Lovecraft Mythos. I wasn't prepared for that, so this was quite a pleasant surprise for me to sit through.

Lots of really nice visuals throughout the course of the 86 minutes that "Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham" ran for. And there were a lot of subtle hints and references to Lovecraft's works, so if you are a fan, keep your eyes and ears open.

Visually then "Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham" was good. It is an archetypical "Batman" drawing style, which is actually good. But the added Lovecraft Mythos elements was just the icing on the cake.

With "Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham" being an animated movie, then having a good voice acting cast ensemble is alpha and omega. And I have to say that they definitely had a good ensemble put together for voicing the characters in this animated movie. And having Jeffrey Combs do the voice of Kirk Langstrom was just such a great homage to us fans of the Lovecraft cinema.

I was genuinely entertained by directors Christopher Berkeley and Sam Liu's 2023 animated movie. And if you are a "Batman" fan, then you should check this out. And if you are a Lovecraft fan too, definitely check out "Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham".

My rating of "Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

This movie tries to be to much like Gotham by Gaslight and it just doesn't work. The story is not very interesting and just throws in random things to introduce characters that reference the comics. Also, this doesn't feel like Batman to me. You could replace Batman with almost any other character and besides some plot changes, the movie would feel the same. Some of this may because this isn't really a Batman story. This isn't a noir or a crime-fighting story. It's about ancient legends and things that usually wouldn't apply to Batman. The animation itself was pretty good but it doesn't make up for a bad script.

In Brief: Solid 7/10 - Well rounded experience following the major plot points of the graphic novel with above average VA work and lovely anime-esque animation.

Caught an advance screening of this over a month ago and have been waiting to review it ever since. David Giuntoli lends his voice to Bruce/Batman in this outing and honestly it decent justice to the legacy of batman voice acting, sounding pretty much exactly how you'd expect - closer to the Arkham games than to more recent adaptions. The same can also be said for Harvey and Alfred, who are particular high points, but sadly this doesn't extend to the supporting cast, with the younger voice actors coming across a little rigid at times.

Animation wise, it leans into an anime style for the action oriented series and falls back to traditional western styles for backgrounds and story moments, providing a well rounded experience that looks excellent for the vast majority of the movie.

Why have you given it a 7 instead of X?

Without spoilers, there's some younger characters (Sanjay, Kai) who lose a lot of their agency between the source material and the adaption and are relegated to "let's drive the plot forward" instead of having motivations or proper backstory but y'no, it might just be the best elseworlds adaption to date!

Give it a watch, if you liked Red Son, Gotham by Gaslight and felt utterly betrayed by the Injustice adaption, then this will likely be for you!

When it comes to horror I can be a bit biased due to my love of the genre, but that aside I thought this was really good. While I enjoyed the color grading in Gotham by Gaslight a bit more as it truly invoked that story's era as well as the steampunk vibe it was going for, The Doom That Came to Gotham also looks stellar and the animation as well as the artwork is some of the best

Overall Batman: The Doom that Came to Gotham has a solid premise set to a tight pace that never lets up, with fresh takes on both Batman's allies and adversaries and artwork that makes it stand out from the crowd of animated DC films that exist. It's adult themes (and actual life and death consequences) coupled with smart narrative choices makes this worth seeing and as Batman stories go it deserves to sit up high with some of the best we've got from this medium thus far.

The Doom That Came to Gotham is almost a companion piece to Gotham by Gaslight (2018). Here we have a turn-of-the-century Dark Knight investigating a cult who may be trying to summon up ancient forces of evil (spoiler: they are). Forbidden books, vast tentacled monstrosities and madness abound.

Lots of the usual Bat cast are thrown in - some given horrific make-overs, some don't make it to the final credits - and the voice work and animation are all above average. David Giuntuli is a terrifically fierce but impassioned, human Batman - he might be one of the best of the many voice actors in the role. This is a truly dark night for the Dark Knight, who at one point just stands in the Batcave and announces Gotham is doomed over and over again. To the wall.

As much as the movie uses such classic tropes and conventions from HP Lovecraft's stories, the biggest one - the overwhelming sense of unknowable dread - is something that just can't be conjured in a 90 minute animated action adventure. Slow-building tension and increasing unease are something it just doesn't have time for - also the problem with the first Hellboy movie, which Doom That Came to Gotham is very similar to.

However, as an atmospheric period superhero adventure, tinged with nightmarish horror, this is a winner.