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Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham 4K UHD Review

“Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham” doesn’t live up to the comics.

Have you ever wanted to see Batman in the world of H.P. Lovecraft? “Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham” has you covered. This Elseworlds DC animated film is based on the 3 issue comic book mini-series of the same name by Mike Mignola, Richard Pace and artist Troy Nixey.

The story begins in the 1920’s with Bruce Wayne, Sanjay Tawde, Dick Grayson and Kai Li Cain on an Arctic expedition to look for the missing Professor Oswald Cobblepot. Bruce finds something much more terrifying- a frozen beast, Oswald’s rotting, eyeless colleague (Grendon) and a virus. Shortly thereafter, Bruce and company return to Gotham City after being 20 years away where things are about to get very chaotic as Bruce confronts his past and destiny and encounters Etrigan, Talia al Guhl trying to resurrect her father, reptiles, and one big impending madness inducing monster.

DC animated films have had a history of fumbling beloved story adaptations ala “Batman: The Killing Joke,” and unfortunately, “Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham” is another blunder. For starters, the story is stretched out needlessly to what would have amounted to 1 whole comic issue. This results in clunky new scenes that feel slapped on screen (often for the sake of action), poor scene transitions, an overabundance of characters that are underdeveloped, and too many ideas that don’t mix together on screen. Directors Sam Liu and Christopher Berkeley and writer Jase Ricci attempt to stick to the source material, but they just can’t seem to mimic Mike Mignola and Richard Pace’s writing and vision or translate the wild horror story to screen. The comic series was an enthralling homage to both H.P. Lovecraft (especially “At The Mountains Of Madness”) and the Batman universe (love the Man-Bat angle especially). The animated film feels like a murky take on it all that is missing succinct story details. 

On the brighter side, this is some of the best animation we’ve seen from DC animation lately. The 1920’s period piece details, the Lovecraftian touches, and even some tributes to Mike Mignola’s art were especially rewarding.

Voice cast wise, David Giuntoli of “Grimm” fame takes on Batman and Bruce Wayne and he admittedly doesn’t make much of an impression. The best piece of casting here is Jeffrey Combs as Kirk Langstrom which is a nice touch and a sly homage to “Re-Animator” (another Lovecraft film).

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 1.78:1 2160p. How does it look? The animation shines in 4K.

Audio Track: 5.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? Again, lack of a higher quality track for the 4K is a bummer but this track does the job.

Extras:
* Blu-ray copy
* Digital copy
* 2 episodes from “Batman: The Animated Series” titled “The Demon’s Quest” Parts 1 and 2.
* Trailers for “Superman: Red Son” and “Batman: Gotham By Gaslight.”
* Commentary by director Sam Liu, writer Jase Ricci, producer Jim Krieg and DC creative director Mike Carlin.
* “Batman: Shadows Of Gotham”- A movie featurette on the Lovecraft elements and the characters.

March 27, 2023 - Posted by nicklyons1 | 4K UHD Review | Batman, Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham 4K UHD Review, David Giuntoli, DC Animated Film, Elseworlds, H.P. Lovecraft