Have Cheetah,Will View #173 – “Batman: Gotham By Gaslight” (2018)

It’s 4:01 pm

The cheetah and I were chilling on Saturday,I ran a couple of errands while he enjoyed his open windowsill. I am looking outside at all the yard work that I am going to be doing this weekend,next week our yard trimmings will be picked up after our long summer.
As I was scoping what needed to be cut and trimmed,I got a call from my pal Romey,he wanted to meet up for lunch because he had some goodies he wanted to pass along to the cheetah and myself.
We met up at a new brunch place about a mile from my house and he then proceeded to give me three new movies,”The Darkest Hour”,”The Shape of Water” and the movie the cheetah and I were eager to check out,”Batman: Gotham By Gaslight”. And that is the film we ended up watching…

As with most films like this,”Gaslight” is considered a “Otherworld” story in the DC Comic Universe. This story isn’t a true Batman story as we know but it doesn’t lessen its impact as its one hell of a story.
It’s a rather fun concept to take a well beloved character like Batman and place him throughout history. Stories like these are done quite with other characters or in some cases,real people…for example H.G. Wells in “Time After Time”. The one character that seems to have enjoyed being moved around through the time he was created and up to the modern age is Sherlock Holmes.

Philip Jose Farmer created the Wold Newton universe where famous characters like Tarzan would meet The Green Hornet or The Shadow and share an adventure together.
These type of crossovers are huge favorites among both the causal fan and the die-hard sci-fi/fantasy fan. When the story is done correctly,the pages simply fly and it feels like you’re watching an old fashioned black and white serial which ended on a cliffhanger after every chapter.

So when I heard about Batman clashing with Jack the Ripper in this new DC animated movie,I thought it would be a epic clash of titans and once again,DC did not disappoint as “Gaslight” is one of the best Warner Brother Animation efforts yet.
The story is such a interesting one with so many different and unexpected twists and turns that once again,I’m afraid talking about will reveal too much so we’re going to comment on other aspects of the movie.
What surprised me is while “Gaslight” is rated “R”,it really shouldn’t have been. There was only one curse word used and the violence while a bit intense,isn’t any harsher then a typical DCAU release. Sometimes trying make a movie an “event” can backfire and this is one of those times. Keep the film at its proper “PG-13” would have ensured a bigger buying audience and this film deserves to be seen.

The artwork is stellar…sharp colors in some places and slightly aged looking in others,it gives the film a proper turn of the century look,the sudden pops of color for advanced machines like a blimp or a motorcycle really stand outs and shows how the period was slowly changing.
Now that Andrea Romano has retired as Voice Director for these films,it’s very interesting to hear who is now voicing many of the characters. Most fans are used to to hearing Kevin Conroy or Jason O’Mara as Batman but the casting by Wes Gleason is rather inspired and very much in keeping with Romano’s tradition of casting A-list talent.

Bruce Greenwood is the voice of Batman in “Gaslight” and he does a crackling good job,his Batman is assured,quiet and thoughtful. One gets the feeling his Batman is just starting his career as Gotham’s guardian as “Gaslight” opens,he has no friends on the police force even though Commissioner James Gordon is sympathetic to his cause and clashes with his police chief,”Bulldog”Bullock on how to deal with this masked vigilante.

Jennifer Carpenter voices Selina Kyle who has her own ideas and methods on how to deal with Jack the Ripper. While extremely smart,she is a bit impulsive as well and it almost leads to complete disaster. Carpenter makes a fine Selina and I really love how she is presented in Victorian Gotham City.
The rest of the voice cast is the usual talent that we are used to hearing,all are very good and very steady. You’ll see a lot of old faces in the new roles so expect the unexpected.
“Gaslight” has a running time of 78 minutes,DCAU films seem to be getting longer which is fine by me as along as they stay as excellent as this movie is.
I got the DVD of this film so the special features are a bit light,3 small features,including a look at the brand new DCAU film “Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay”.

You can buy “Batman: Gotham By Gaslight” by going the website of Warner Brothers

The cheetah and I gave “Gaslight” a big thumb/paw straight up.

Do you have a favorite crossover pairing or adventure? If you,drop us a line and share it with us.