Return of the dark knight miller. Frank Miller: Batman

That Warner Bros. is working on this cartoon, I found out about a year ago. I was really looking forward to when the DVD would come out, because from the very first screenshots that appeared on the Web, the cartoon seemed to me something really worthwhile. Now, after watching, I can say that my best expectations were justified and, moreover, the authors even surpassed them. But first things first.

I'll start with a little excursion into history. In 1987, the graphic novel " Batman: The Dark Knight Returns", the author of which was the unforgettable Frank Miller. The image of a dancing Batman was still in the minds of comic book lovers, and this story offered them a completely different perspective on this hero. Now many are inclined to believe that it was The Return of the Dark Knight that became the turning point, after which the current image of Batman began to take shape.

The story was about what happened 10 years later, after Bruce Wayne hung Batman's cape on a hanger and decided he was too old for this shit. He was depressed by the death of Jason Todd, for which he considered himself guilty. As a result, he began to drown his conscience in cheap wine ... Well, not cheap. He is still a millionaire and he will have money for good booze anyway. Gotham, meanwhile, is once again mired in corruption and crime. A huge gang was formed, the members of which called themselves Mutants. They did what they wanted. The police were powerless and even Jim Gordon, who had a month left before retirement, decided that he alone was not a warrior in the field. Residents have lost hope and are ready to even make deals with scum. Looking around the picture in general, Bruce decides that it's time to put the flask aside, puts on a dusty suit and begins to methodically take out the trash from Gotham. The leader of the Mutants becomes his main enemy. Further more. Resident in Arkham Joker was also inspired by the return Batman and decided that it was time to take a walk, meet an old friend and chalk up a few hundred more frags. The authorities of Gotham in the light of all these events are in disarray. Completely ignoring the fact that Batman is the only one who has any order, they decide that he is drawing too much attention to himself. The government of the country decides to remove him, putting his friend Superman against him. Now Bruce will have a very difficult life. One clings to the other, and the further, the worse things get.

The novella has become a golden classic of DC and has gone through more than one re-release. It was very interesting, but for the Russian-speaking reader it had one huge minus - a clear and fierce text overload. Sometimes the pages actually had more writing than drawing. As a result, many people never read the novel. But in vain. It was worth it.

One way or another, now those who have not read Frank Miller's book, and those who have not mastered it to the end, have the opportunity to make up for the missing, because this film adaptation exactly repeats its plot!

In fact, it was precisely the fact that multi-delays would spoil the plot that was my very first and biggest fear. This did not happen, for which they have the first great respect. Of course, there are some different details, but they are all absolutely minor.

My second concern was the comic book atmosphere. And everything is simple here highest level. The cartoon turned out to be truly Batman and Miller's. Dark, dark, noir. The atmosphere of the city crushed by crime is here in every frame. By the way, I even noticed one moment, reminiscent of the cover of a comic book. Class!

In addition, I was very surprised that there is a lot of violence and murder in the cartoon. This is especially true for the second part, when the Joker breaks free and begins to frolic in an amusement park. The corpses here are like in an average action movie. This immediately translates the cartoon into the category "Definitely not for children" and very well emphasizes the gloomy atmosphere, really similar to the original comic. Well, the defeated Joker ... No words. I did not expect that the artists would decorate it so deliciously ...

For those who are interested in whether the Joker came out on a level, I can say that he is simply superb. Not like Heath Ledger, but super in his own way. To build a harmless fool out of himself, and in a couple of minutes to kill everyone right and left is his element. The portrayal of the character is simply superb.

The musical accompaniment is just great. The influence on the film composer Nolan is felt, and the cartoon only benefits from this. Symphony, tense musical themes during fights... Everything is as it should be and does not let you tear yourself away from the screen.

At the beginning, I wrote that I got much more from the cartoon than I expected. And this "more" is that there is very smooth animation, a lot of action and well-chosen fight scenes. There is not much to say about the first. It's just nice to see heroes moving smoothly, and not like they're constantly getting electrocuted. The high-quality action in this cartoon was a revelation for me. When you read the book itself, due to the large amount of text, it seems that events are developing damn slowly and the dynamics of what is happening is simply imperceptible. In the film adaptation, this is not, and in combination with excellent staging of fights, everything looks just fine. Watching Batman kick the asses of the bad guys is a treat. The spectacle is even mesmerizing.

There are a couple of things that I didn't really like. The first is the costumes of Batman, Superman and Robin. It was nice to see the classic Bats symbolism, but it seems to me that since the film is designed for modern audiences, the costume should have been modernized at least a little. Black shorts for Batman, red shorts for Superman, and a clown suit for Robin. Of course, you quickly get used to it, but at the first appearance of any of these characters, an involuntary smile appears on your face.

The second is the appearance of some characters. Robin herself (here she is a girl and her name is Kerry Kelly) in addition to a stupid costume is equipped with stupid glasses that she wears with ordinary clothes. Jim Gordon. I may still be under the impression of this character played by Gary Oldman, but here he looks more like some kind of Texan. All the rest have no complaints.

The review is long. It's time to turn around. So... It's just a wonderful cartoon. He is the way something with Batman on the cover should be. It's dark, action-packed, well filmed, and follows the plot of the original graphic novel. The atmosphere is supported by great music. Five out of five and nothing else.

I want to say special thanks to the Pythagoras studio, which did the official dubbing. He's just gorgeous. The DVD with this animated film (actually a film, I don't even want to call it a cartoon anymore) has taken a worthy place in my collection.

Exhausting, maddening heat that heated the concrete and glass of Gotham streets. People and images from the past that cannot be hidden behind a layer of dust in a long abandoned cave, where the costume of a deceased friend is still kept. And endless news and talk shows bursting into personal space without permission, like voices tormenting the mind of a madman. In this chaotic stream, several main themes can be distinguished: the retirement of Police Commissioner Gordon, the atrocities on the streets of Gotham of a new gang calling themselves "mutants", and the release of Harvey Dent, whose psychiatrists declare a full recovery of their ward. 56-year-old Bruce Wayne still does not know anything about "mutants", but he sees a great danger in them, and he does not really trust the success of psychiatry (having various mental disorders great experience), so one day the aging billionaire takes major decision“Batman, whom the townspeople have not seen for ten years, must return. And bring order to the streets of Gotham. Yes, he can no longer so famously jump from roof to roof, climb a rope, and sometimes, during hand-to-hand fights with a strong opponent, he begins to tingle in the left half of his body. He feels how a hot wave of pain rapidly diverges from his chest to his arm - but the desire to win, punish and show in whose hands the power is much stronger. But is the city waiting for its hero?

The very first exploits of the returned Batman cause a powerful public outcry, the candidate for the vacant position of the Commissioner is already ready to issue a warrant for the arrest of the Dark Knight and declare a hunt for him, dozens of "experts" flash on TV screens, expressing their versions of what is going on in the head of the night avenger. All because the law of the individual cannot prevail over the law of society. But Bruce Wayne ignores all the negativity that has fallen on him, continuing to administer his court (sometimes with very harsh methods, clearly reacting to the current criminal situation), and, it seems, completely forgets about the time and in what conditions he has to act. One has only to slip again like a night shadow through the dirty back streets, to punish petty criminals, to feel the adrenaline rushing into the blood again - and everything, as if these ten years had not happened, and Jason Todd did not die at the hands of a sworn enemy and still glides by his side, always ready to turn his shoulder. Or is that really how it is? Thirteen-year-old girl Carrie Kelly, clearly from a dysfunctional family, read a lot of stories about the affairs of those past days when she was still in her cradle, found Batman, put on a Robin costume and became a loyal assistant in the fight against crime - or an accomplice of a man who also draws minors into his illegal affairs?

In principle, since the release of this comic by Frank Miller, so many enthusiastic words have been said about him that I don’t even know if it’s worth adding something else: much more talented and famous people everyone has already said before me (you can read the quotes on the cover, I also highly recommend the foreword by Alan Moore). But luxurious Russian edition of this graphic novel and the upcoming plunder of moviegoers' piggy banks by the blockbuster Zack Snyder, among whose sources of inspiration "The Dark Knight Returns" is listed first, encourage us to make our laudatory mite. We can safely say that the reason for the success of this story lies in the fact that Miller composed, first of all, adult history about an adult character. Batman from the comics of the previous era is a detective in a mask with ears, famously defeating various freaks, and constantly surrounded by a crowd of Boy Scouts (in even more ridiculous costumes). This sometimes even frankly satirical hero great for toddlers and toddlers school age. It is categorically impossible to recommend “Return” to their peers - this comic will seem too boring and abstruse to them. But Miller, himself raised on similar stories(and carefully preserved their graphic style), boldly focuses on more the older generation readers, speaking to them in their language, without childish lisping and teenage heroism, dividing the characters only into “good” and “evil”. Frank, as time has shown, took the right steps - inspired by success, the giants of the comics industry began to customize their heroes to the set standards, attracting an "adult" (and, what is there, more solvent) audience. You can see the consequences of this on the shelves of bookstores and on movie posters, which are stormed by characters in tights and with superpowers, descended from the pages of comics, which fifteen or twenty years ago (and in our country to this day) were considered child's play. The seriousness of The Return is manifested not only in the fact that now Batman is confronted not by some grotesque freaks, but by complete psychopaths and bandits, who are more likely to be seen behind their backs in a dark alleyway than on the pages of books.

Miller doesn't just analyze, he dissects. public opinion, ways to manipulate this important political and social factor, which is slightly more developed than the primitive " herd mentality"(we can observe it just in mutants who decisively changed their point of view on criminal activity after the victory of Batman, but do not think about changing the ways of achieving a new, as it seems to them, noble goal), but it exerts a truly totalitarian pressure on the way of thinking a single individual. Worth posting the news right angle and provide it with a convincing commentary - and the layman is ready to accept this point of view as the only true one. It is worth turning it against someone - and new enemy society is ready. Let it be Batman - he has been gone for ten years and he clearly does not notice those global change touching the world around him. Because Miller's novel - that's another important difference - is closely related to the time when it was created. No one in these pages gets more than Ronald Reagan, then President of the United States. Here he is, a silly old man with a smile slightly less insane than the Joker's (with the only difference that the psycho clown has it drawn, and Reagan has his own), able to pray and untie nuclear war, confident that he could easily pat the incarnated deity on the shoulder and ask him to "solve one problem." The deity is Superman, and it is his visit to Gotham that will be the beginning of the confrontation with the Dark Knight, whose growing madness and anger will give strength to fight the Superman. For the time of the Supermen is over - but the time of ordinary citizens who are able to take the fight for order into their own hands is also irretrievably gone, which Bruce Wayne stubbornly refuses to accept. Where it leads? Find out for yourself, I can only say that in one tragic detail, Miller turned out to be a visionary when he described an incident that was incredible for those times - a plane crashing into a skyscraper ...

The comic is drawn in the traditional Millerian style, and it all depends on whether you like it or not. It seemed to me that sometimes the drawing looks chaotic, and behind the flashing of bodies and objects it is impossible to immediately understand what is happening at one time or another. Also, quite like Miller, there is a lot of author's text here, and the main emphasis is not on the words of the characters (they are often meaningfully silent here), but on their thoughts, which can tell a lot about the motives and feelings of those who are sometimes drawn in an unnecessarily pale , static and not rich in detail manner. What else can be added? Only the fact that the Russian "absolute edition" turned out to be on top, to match the cult status of this comic. Black leatherette cover with silver embossing, oversized format, dust jacket (with another promotional cover encouraging readers to go to the movies), several prefaces, scripts, sketches, commentaries and more additional materials. Everything has been done to ensure that The Return of the Dark Knight becomes the "pearl" of your bookshelf. A must-read comic not only for fans of Bats and comics in general, but also for connoisseurs of serious literature that has made a significant contribution to the cultural heritage of the twentieth century.

The Dark Knight returns in a dazzling halo of rage, he confronts a completely new generation of criminals and is not inferior to them in cruelty. Soon he is joined by a new generation Robin - a girl named Carrie Kelly, who proves that ...

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This masterpiece of a modern graphic novel, on the pages of which the world of darkness and a person come to life, in whose soul darkness reigns even more dense. Writer/artist Frank Miller, with inker Klaus Jansen and colorist Lynn Varley, re-creates the legend of Batman from scratch in his saga of the city of Gotham, which in the near future, ten years after Batman retired, has come to full decline.
Crime has flourished on the streets, and the one who was Batman is still tormented by memories of the death of his parents. Civil society collapses before our eyes, and then Bruce Wayne, who for so long suppressed the impulse to come to the defense civilians finally throws off the fetters in which he has chained himself.
The Dark Knight returns with a blinding halo of rage as he takes on a whole new generation of criminals and is as brutal as they are. Soon he is joined by a new generation Robin - a girl named Carrie Kelly, who proves that she is indispensable in the same way as her predecessors.
However, will Batman and Robin be able to overcome the dangers that their deadliest enemies have prepared for them after several years of isolation from society, which turned them into uniform psychopaths? And most importantly, will anyone be left alive after the undeclared war that is about to break out between the superpowers - as well as after the skirmish between those who once were the greatest heroes in the world?
Fifteen years have passed since the first publication of the Batman: The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel, but it remains an undeniable classic and enters the canon of the comic book world.

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An elderly Bruce Wayne hasn't worn a Batman suit in ten years. He was tired of fighting, lost physical form and sank into depression. Gotham also almost forgot the hero in a suit bat. But one day, rampant crime forces Batman to return to the city. Only this time, the enemies of the Dark Knight will not be the villains gone crazy, but the American society, which doubted whether it needed the help of an aged superhero with his views on law and justice.

The Dark Knight Returns
Genre: superheroes
Screenwriter: Frank Miller
Painters: Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, Lynn Varley
Original Output: 1986
Publisher:"ABC-Atticus", 2016

The Dark Knight Returns comic is rewarded with many enthusiastic epithets. Iconic. Iconic. Important. Breaking. All of them are appropriate and fair in their own way. In 1986, writer and artist Frank Miller, along with screenwriter Alan Moore and his Watchmen, revolutionized superheroes by breaking the canons that existed at that time. Both authors confronted their heroes with mature American society, focusing on internal struggle superhero with the fact of his existence. And if Watchmen is about Moore's own characters, The Dark Knight Returns delves into the minds of one of America's biggest darlings, Batman.

The Dark Knight Returns takes place in the near future, where Bruce Wayne is depressed, Commissioner James Gordon is retiring, and Gotham is left without its main defenders. In the new realities, the fight against crime requires fresh solutions, and a political and social crisis begins in the city. It is on him that Frank Miller draws attention, building a multifaceted and deep story from many unrelated events, television reports and interviews with local residents. The Dark Knight Returns is a mature and intelligent epic that opens new chapter in the life of Gotham where there is no place for Batman. This is the whole tragedy of history - we are witnessing the decline of an entire era, the decline of the famous superhero.

However, it is worth recognizing: if the "Watchmen" due to the ingenuity of Moore have not lost their relevance to this day, then the "Return of the Dark Knight" looks somewhat outdated and naive. This also applies to the author's graphics by Miller, which today will seem primitive, and genre clichés like evil communists and punks. And in the episodes when a schoolgirl appears in a Robin costume, and Superman begins pathos monologues, the comic generally begins to resemble the Batman comedy series with Adam West, and not like a serious adult thriller.

The Dark Knight Returns is a very difficult work to localize. The reason for this is the extraordinary structure of the comic, which is a dynamic cut of unrelated episodes. The storyboard is often non-standard, the characters are constantly replacing each other, and the speeches of the central characters are highlighted in a unique color. All in all, a huge amount of work. Unfortunately, in the Russian edition, not all of it is done flawlessly: there are enough annoying mistakes related to layout, editing and translation. Although these flaws do not spoil the reading experience, they somewhat devalue the status of a deluxe edition.

Outcome: one of the main Batman comics is finally out in Russian. For thirty years, he managed to become a little outdated, but this did not lose his cult status and is obliged to take a place on the shelf of every fan of the Dark Knight.