reviews and somesuch
Okay, so let's see how it all turned out, shall we? I ended up watching Batman: Gotham Knight first, even though the poll results at the time were 3-2 in favor of Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs. I don't feel bad about that because as I write this it's an unhelpful 3-3, and because I never said I would abide by the results anyway. But, down to brass tacks.
Batman: Gotham Knight was definitely very good. They did a good job of linking the six chapters together, despite the lack of an overarching theme and plot (technically yes, there is an overall plot, but it's ancillary; I suspect its presence might serve as background for events in The Dark Knight). Said lack was what prevented this animated movie from feeling as epic as it could have, but I think the two live action movies are and will be epic enough on their own. Gotham Knight was ... character development, and in this respect it succeeds wonderfully. There is real insight here into the new Batman that DC is developing. If you're a Batman fan, this is definitely worth seeing.
Now, The Beast With A Billion Backs. As a dedicated Futurama fan, this is hard to say: I was disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it. But I enjoyed Bender's Big Score a whole lot more, and I was expecting more of the sheer irreverence present in that movie. This one had some of that, but they took it in a different direction, especially towards the end. I think some of the parts intended as jokes came off as whiny. Worth seeing? Absolutely. Better than Bender's Big Score? Decidedly not. Fortunately the preview of the next one looks promising.
Batman: Gotham Knight was definitely very good. They did a good job of linking the six chapters together, despite the lack of an overarching theme and plot (technically yes, there is an overall plot, but it's ancillary; I suspect its presence might serve as background for events in The Dark Knight). Said lack was what prevented this animated movie from feeling as epic as it could have, but I think the two live action movies are and will be epic enough on their own. Gotham Knight was ... character development, and in this respect it succeeds wonderfully. There is real insight here into the new Batman that DC is developing. If you're a Batman fan, this is definitely worth seeing.
Now, The Beast With A Billion Backs. As a dedicated Futurama fan, this is hard to say: I was disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it. But I enjoyed Bender's Big Score a whole lot more, and I was expecting more of the sheer irreverence present in that movie. This one had some of that, but they took it in a different direction, especially towards the end. I think some of the parts intended as jokes came off as whiny. Worth seeing? Absolutely. Better than Bender's Big Score? Decidedly not. Fortunately the preview of the next one looks promising.