STAY SCARED

Probably conceived as a shelf warmer for The Dark Knight Rises, this animated adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns has slipped to late September. Maybe the storyline similarities between the two pieces were thought to be a bit too glaring in such close proximity? Regardless, this looks like an agreeably poppy take on Frank Miller's dark age opus. If we're getting nitpicky, I'd prefer it if the character drafts were a touch schlubbier than these lightly rounded breeze blocks. I want lines and folds, more of Miller's obsessive composition clutter to break up these figures. The colour palette could be murkier too. Lynn Varley's contribution was all gloomy, bleeding inks. This just looks a little further down the mandatory pastel colour bar of modern computer assisted animation. Still, wow panels are held to linger (something Miller didn't even do himself in Sin City), and Batman and Robin both look to have distinct, appropriate, movement patterns. Carrie zigs and zags, whilst Bruce looms and crunches.