THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS PT 2:
With having Gotham City under his protection once again, Batman (voiced by Peter Weller) takes the newest Robin (voiced by Ariel Winter) out on patrols to stop the growing crime. After beating The Mutants leader, the gang split into splinter groups with one group now wants to do the work of The Dark Knight as they go out to fight crime with their new name of Sons of Batman. Once again in the media spotlight but this time Batman is being labeled a criminal himself, the nation decides the only way of stopping Batman is by using an old friend, Superman. Dealing with the Man of Steel, the media, and a new police commissioner trying to arrest with lethal force, Batman’s worst enemy the Joker is back to his evil deeds of insanity as he plots the downfall of Batman.

EVEN OLD BATMAN IS TOUGH:
I thought that part 1 of this animation was really good but Batman the Dark Knight Returns Part 2 is just amazingly fun. Where the first one brought Batman back to the crime-fighting scene this movie has the consequences of him being back. There’s a lot going on in this movie, from the President using Superman, the Joker coming back, as well as the police going after Batman that this movie could have easily been destroyed by a number of factors. Though it don’t give the full narration that Frank Miller has in the comic, having it would have bogged down the movie making it nothing but a long talk show instead of a action movie. Being a fan of the comic I know how much that dialog drives the story but for this movie, director Jay Oliva made the right choice by taking out most of the narration.

What’s left is all the action of Batman beating up a whole lot of criminals and characters that are a lot of fun to watch. The two big characters are also the ones that bring the most action to this movie, Superman and Joker. I read the comic; I know what the fight between Batman and Superman looks like, so I had high hopes but low expectations for this fight. When the fight happened, I was shocked at how well it was done, it’s not short, it’s brutal, it’s stays true to Frank Miller’s vision, and it just rocks. Not to be outdone by this fight there’s the face off with the Joker that takes Batman to areas that he has never been and what happens will change his life forever. It’s a very intense moment for the character and the movie that it’s hard not to get drawn into what’s happening and I love it because I was drawn into it. Batman the Dark Knight Part 2 is now the animation that should be used as what to do when making an animation based off a comic.

The characters show who they actually are, Carrie Kelly aka Robin, acts like she should, young and brash, while Bruce Wayne/Batman is old, his age is making him slow, he’s now getting hit and even shot, and though the Joker is still an insane killer we can easily tell that he now has one goal left in life and he finally accomplishes it. Everything about this movie was done right making it the best of DC Comics animations. The plot flows smoothly, the fight scenes are long enough without being over too quickly, the artwork is amazing, and even if you haven’t watched part 1 you will know what’s going on in part 2.

BATTLING BLU RAY BATMAN:
Blu Ray capabilities where meant for animations or at least after watching Batman The Dark Knight Returns Part 2 I now believe that. With the colors going from bright to dark, which has a whole lot of dark since it's Batman after all, but every single color in this movie is vibrant, rich, and sharp. The artwork on this Blu Ray stands out to show how much effort was put into making this movie look good and they did a great job. Watching this Blu Ray on my 720p set looked really good but with the quality of the flat screens out right now this Blu Ray would be a really sharp movie with colors that shine and audio that's clear.