1/5 Bruce Wayne looks like a character from Pokeman?!!!!
  by Ken (Bolingbrook, IL)
This review is a warning for all parents. I got this DVD as a free rental at Family Video in the children section. IT IS DEFINITELY NOT A DVD TO BE VIEWED BY CHILDREN. Gunfights where blood is splattering all over the place. One kid's description of a Batman fight where they show Batman cutting off his opponents head! While watching I kept asking myself - "what's the point?"

3/5 Not what it promised.
  by Zachary W. Grau
This movie was way over hyped as a bridge between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. While there are some of the same characters and it helps to establish Batman as Gotham's hero, it really doesn't have much of any direct ties to the movies. As much as I love Kevin Conroy's Batman from the animated series, I also thought he was miscast in this movie. The different art style and universe it's set in just feel like they should've gone with someone else.

3/5 Might want to watch it a second time
  by William R. Kallatsa (Negaunee, MI)
The whole story line of this I thought was good. You might want to watch it a second time though. The animation changes between 6 different artists during the movie. There were times I thought the animation of certain artists seemed very lazy. At certain points I was thinking that doesn't even look like batman it just looks like a fat guy in the suit. Nice thing about this I thought were special features (It had more special features of the 2-disc of Dark Knight). The thing I liked most about the special features is it had a few episodes of the Batman animated series from the 90's. If your around 19-23 it will bring ya back to those moments when you were little and that's always a good feeling. I just give it a 3 stars on the movie since it was short and I didn't like some of the animation (that's just an opinion though). I would rate the special features 5 stars. Definitely thought those special features were a win.

5/5 Batmanime
  by J. Alford (Atlanta, GA. United States)
While Iron Man and Wolverine made some big news this summer with the trailers for their upcoming "anime" projects, the Caped Crusader beat them to the punch by about a year. Granted, anime-styled features like The Animatrix have come out before this, but Batman: Gotham Knight(which was the third DC Universe animated movie)acted like Dark Fury and Clone Wars which bridges the gap between two chapters of a franchise. It's supposed to happen after Batman Begins, and just before The Dark Knight, although it doesn't 100% fit into the given continuity of both films.

This movie is broken up into six segments, each one directed by an actual Japanese anime director. The first one shows some kids each telling their own version of running into Batman. Second has two Gotham City cops running into a gang war. Next is a very bishounen-looking Bruce Wayne donning a costume strait out of Gatchaman to test his own personal forcefield. Following that is a slight 2-parter of sorts where Batman heads into the sewers to take on Scarecrow and their own version of Killer Croc, which later has Bruce Wayne flashing back to when he was travelling the world and training. In the finale, Batman clashes with the sniper-for-hire, Deadshot.

Gotham Knight has some great comics writing from Brian Azzrello, Greg Rucka, and Bruce Timm. Some of the anime studios behind it were Production I.G.(Ghost In The Shell) and Madhouse(Vampire Hunter D). There is some very fine animation in this movie, and mostly worth getting for that alone. It's also bound to satisfy the average Bat-fan. The only real drawbacks to it are like the other DC Universe movies is that it was too short. I felt they could've added some more to each of the chapters, or at least maybe left out some of the chapters while making the others longer. It gives a good insight into the way the citizens of Gotham each view having a masked vigilante in their town, while at the same time showing how it is for Bruce Wayne to be Batman. It isn't necassary to see this in order to enjoy either of the Christopher Nolan movies, but you'd still have a thrillride at Bat-Time!

4/5 I Am...ANIME
  by Brian Lueth (Chicago, IL United States)
Before The Dark Knight hit theaters, the good folks over at DC Comics and Warner Brothers figured they'd cobble together an eclectic assortment of animated, interconnected short films created by renowned Japanese animators and American writers and release it to the public, a Batman Begins 1.5 of sorts. The shorts are quick, brutal and absolutely beautiful with only one glaring flaw in the entire release, even at a running time of 76 minutes the DVD runs way too short!

Folks, this DVD isn't just for Batman fans but for fans of pure, unadulterated animation, adult animation. This isn't the kind of stuff one might find on any old cartoon cable channel, these shorts are cutting edge, inspired and positively breathtaking. The different interpretations of Batman, how he's perceived by the citizens of Gotham and how he interacts with the criminal element are nothing short of brilliant.

Now after watching the entire thing, I can't honestly say there were any instances in which I leapt from my seat in a bloodlust or even let out a snort of approval but the action was solid and the shorts captured just enough of the essence of Batman to satisfy those looking for a Bat-fix.