As many of you may have noticed in my review of Justice League: Doom, that I found many characters to be drawn together in an odd unified sense. Making smaller characters average, and large characters average. Even some of the players in the story were swapped out. So coming into the latest DC animated movie would be an adaption of The Dark Knight Returns, I was skeptical that the adaption would sacrifice too much in much the same sense as what happened in Justice League: Doom.
So this is where I get to say that for Part 1 at least, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is as stunning of an adaption as one could ask for. Every character is drawn as you'd imagine, and the story stays faithful to the source material in a very articulate and handcrafted way. The animators for this film must've grown up reading the book, because this looks like it was a joy to animate and put together.
One concern everyone must have is that Kevin Conroy isn't voicing Bruce Wayne/Batman. Now, at 56, I could see Conroy voicing Bruce Wayne with no one feeling like he's not suited for the role. Still, Robocop and Dexter's Peter Weller does a fantastic job. He's never really cheesy in his delivery, but he still articulates Batman's mannerisms and thoughts really well. Sometimes he's a little too slow on line delivery, but it's not a major problem; I'd just wish he were more energetic then what he's like in the film.
Voicework for everyone else is, well, ranging from decent to horrible. There were a couple characters like the Mayor who I thought were too forced in their line delivery. The mayor is supposed to be a bureaucrat, I get that, but every time he speaks you don't have to ham it up. Same with Dent and his psychologist. Alfred is good, as is Gordon. I also didn't have many issues with the Mutant Leader or Robin; but a lot of ancillary characters just don't compliment the material that well.
No other animated feature has managed to capture the essence of the comic so well. The atmosphere and themes of the classic comic come to life in a way that you'd imagine reading the books. Audio is good, even if Batman and his immediate cast is great; a lot of other players suffer. Still, this is a truly remarkable feat, and you can count me as excited for the second part to arrive in Spring.