Batman: Gotham by Gaslight

Bat 6

As a stand alone movie, this is a fun ride. It is beautiful, chock full of Easter Eggs, actual historical references, and has a good pace. Unfortunately, they chose to make some rather bizarre changes to the original story that I just can't quite stomach. If they hadn't messed with such pertinent aspects of the story, this would have gotten close to a ten. It is metal, truly R and that makes it very awesome. But, if you are a fan of the original source materials, be prepared to walk away a bit disappointed.

I love this movie it mixwd up 3 great stories like Batman, sherlock holmes and Jack the ripper And the killing scenes done so nicely even batman beaten up so badly 3 times in the movie that made me realize that batman really is normal human witout any super powers. Selina was such a great felme character in this movie I like her a lot xD

Batman Gotham by gaslight I believe is based off a comic. I can't remember much of the interview so do bare with me. I am sorry but I am just not impressed with the movie at all. The whole story was predictable over who was behind the murders of those women that got killed by Jack the Ripper. I will give it some credit since the animation is good quality and the voice cast was really good. Especially since it was nice hearing Bruce Greenwood voice Batman again and I am looking forward to hearing him again in season 3 of Young Justice. Well at least we never had weird shippings like Batman and Batgirl/Nightwing and Harley Quinn seriously? God knows what was Timm thinking when he was making those movie. Now this? Even though Justice League Gods and monsters chronicles was messed up and nearly killed the DC Universe at least the movie made up for it (see my reviews). This on the other hand is just student work i mean seriously: Jim Gordon is the ripper?, Tim, Dick and Jason are orphans running the on the streets and are raised by some mugger to steel?, Barbra Gordon is a psychopath?, I could go on and on but I am going to end my review here.

Had this been an entirely new and original story, I might have given it one more star. However, this movie lacks in several areas. Being (for better or worse) the Batman nerd I am, I always feel let down when movie writers can't either take a story and be faithful to it (See Batman: Year one, THAT was a good adaptation) or be completely original and creative on their own. Batman:GBG is adapted from an "Elseworlds" comic. These work in a very straightforward manner: you take a DC character and change the context surrounding him. Some of the people he knows will still be there and they will be easily recognizable and yet slightly different. GBG put Bruce Wayne in the Victorian Era of Gotham and make the world's greatest detective face the worlds most famous serial killer, Jack the Ripper himself. You need few cast members but a good sense of narration to pull that one and the comic did. However, the movie forced into the story several irrelevant characters and used the oldest trick in slasher movies as its main plot twist: make one arguably soon-to-be-bad character the obvious culprit and then pull the carpet under the audience's feet by revealing a generally well-loved character as the actual evil bastard. Also, Jack's victims, in the comic as well as in our reality, were all random prostitutes. In the comic he killed them because they reminded him of a certain someone, in our reality, probably either the same or he just wanted to take out his frustrations on easy targets he couldn't be connected to. In this movie however, one of the most powerful enemies of the Bat, one who wasn't even supposed to be in the story, gets the helpless first victim's part, which is terribly out of character. Nobody in an Elseworlds is ever really out of character and this proves that Mr Liu doesn't know his source material or doesn't give a damn about it. Watch this to burn away a boring evening and if you're not that much into Batman. If you actually read comics and/or are fond of the Batverse, stick to the original. It's shorter, doesn't throw at you a truckload of characters plus the kitchen sink but it *works*. This movie doesn't.

A nice adaptation of the comic and surprisingly R rated yet no too adults only either. A simple Victorian-era serial killer mystery featuring Jack the Ripper referencing Sherlock Holmes and Houdini. The problem for me with these films is that the immense possibilities that are not exploited. There can be simple editing techniques that can be easily used in here which would have been made this way better.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight: It is Victorian times and Gotham is looking a little Londonish. There is a killer afoot named Jack the Ripper stalking the streets. Also stalking the night is a masked vigilante known only as The Bat. Can Commissioner Gordon solve the cases with the help of his prosecutor Harvey Dent and Dent's millionaire childhood chum Bruce Wayne? The Good: The greatest thing about Gotham by Gaslight is what it doesn't do. There are no Tesla or Lovecraft cameos. Nobody invents an airplane powered by a diamond. It is a realistic (relatively) style environment with people that act like people actually did back then (Guy in Bat costume excepted). Gotham by Gaslight also finds proper roles for Batman's Rogue gallery and his allies. Commissioner Gordon, Alfred the Butler, and Harvey Dent keep their old roles. While other's get to put on a new hat. Hugo Strange is a progressive doctor running a psychiatric hospital and Poison Ivy is a vaudeville *. The movie has Batman in the role of Sherlock Holmes with focus on detective work rather than Bat punching. Selina Kyle (Catwoman) takes the role similar to Sherlock's love interest Irene Adler and three Robins (Dick, Jason, and Tim) take a role similar to the Baker Street Irregulars. It is a lot of fun seeing well-known characters in their new roles. The movie handles this quite well. The Bad: Why is this an "R" rated film? There are some adult themes but neither Poison Ivy nor Selina Kyle shows any nudity despite some obvious story beats where it would have been expected. The violence is muted and the camera turns away from anything possible offensive. I have to think this us more of a marketing ploy (An Adult Batman Cartoon) rather than a reflection of the material. If you are going for an "R" rating and your story is about a serial killer that murders prostitutes it is not as if there is no material to work with. In Conclusion: A Sherlock Holmes mystery with a Batman dressing. It is a good mystery that will keep one guessing. Characters are well written and voiced with Selina Kyle and Harvey Dent being standouts. Overplayed Victorian elements (see above) and overplayed Batman elements (Joker) are nowhere to be found. A good family film despite the "R" rating and an excellent treat for fans of the bat.

Thoroughly enjoyed this 'Elseworlds' tale. Bruce Greenwood is a great Batman and I loved Anthony Head as Alfred - hope he gets to do more. Fight choreography in DC's animated Batman movies has improved hugely in recent years and Batman's battles with the Ripper here are as exciting as anything seen in his live-action - in some cases more so. Several nods to established Batman mythology/continuity for fans, plus a nice callback to Tim Burton's Batman '89 movie in the first few minutes. Quite a few Sherlock Holmes references too (might need to be a real Holmes buff to catch some). Definitely one for rewatches. 8/10

I'd heard good things about Gotham by Gaslight, but I was concerned. You see I really don't like all these alternate universes and timelines, I'm old school and like consistency. This is set in a Victorian Gotham (Which immediatly is baffling) where Batman roams the streets defending the city he loves. Trouble is a killer is stalking the dark alleys killing prostitutes and his name is Jack the Ripper. This is dark and gritty, the way it really had to be. It also has elements of a "whodoneit" as you try to figure out who Jacks true identity is. Along the way we see plenty of familiar faces such as Poison Ivy, Cat Woman, Harvey Dent, Bullock and Commisioner Gordon. They truly rewrite the script, re-inventing everyone from the ground up and for me that simply doesn't sit right. The big reveal at the end was very satisfying and well done but I just couldn't get over my issues with these alternate universe things. For those who can, you might find this to be a very interesting little movie. The Good: Looks great Solid voice talent Well written The Bad: Victorian Age Gotham makes absolutely no sense Don't like this "Alternate universe" stuff Story could have done with being longer Things I Learnt From This Movie: Firing at an air ship above a city is a logical choice by the police

I loved Batman: Gotham by Gaslight. I found the concept of Batman in the 18th Century to be intriguing and the story line was excellent. The characters are all names that a Batman fan would be familiar with, but it is the way the characters are worked into the story that makes this a great animated film. The settings felt a bit like London in the 18th Century, and it could have well been London, I noticed that they seemed to be a reference to the Charles Dickens character Bill Sykes, along with a bit of mixture of Sherlock Holmes as well. All in all, a great movie and worth purchasing if you are a animated Batman fan like me.