The Batmobile

NOTE: This review is of the full, one-hour version of the film available on the disc for The Dark Knight Rises, not the half-hour version shown on television.

If you've ever wanted to know anything about Batman's Batmobile, then this probably isn't the documentary for you. However, if you've ever wanted to know EVERYTHING about Batman's Batmobile, then this is most certainly the place to go. Despite being billed on the disc menu as a short feature, The Batmobile is a full hour long and goes into great depth on every version of the Batmobile, drawing from the comics, various cartoons, the 1940s film serial, 1960s television series, the four films released from 1989-1997, & of course, the three films in The Dark Knight Trilogy. To this end, all sorts of figures make appearances, including film directors Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher & Christopher Nolan; various actors, including Batmen Adam West & Christian Bale along with former Robin Chris O'Donnel; special effects experts; stunt drivers; & comics creators. The finale involves five physical Batmobile vehicles, all from different Batman reimaginings, side-by-side for the first time in history, & it is surprisingly emotional.

I will say that I was caught off-guard several times by the length of this feature, having clicked it on expecting, well, the short feature advertised, & one drawback of how comprehensive it is, is that there are parts that might be made redundant if you've seen other Batmobile-related features, such as The Batmobile Revealed (from the Batman: The Movie disc), Beyond Batman: Building the Batmobile (from the Batman disc), Beyond Batman: Maximum Overdrive - The Vehicles of Batman & Robin (from the Batman & Robin disc), & Batman: The Tumbler (from the Batman Begins disc). Still, that minor drawback doesn't mean that this film deserves any less praise for being the only totally comprehensive look at the complete history of the Batmobile, & only makes those other featurettes obsolete.

This "documentary" on the history of the Batmobile didn't offer much hope for me since it was screened around the release date for the most recent Batman film; as such I was in very little doubt that it was going to be much more than an extended advert for the franchise and in particular the new film. Of course this is the reason this short film exists, but it is not the only thing to be taken from it because, despite its motivations, it does manage to produce some of interest.

With plenty of pictures and clips the short film looks at the original comic books and serials (where the Batmobile was little more than a car) and then goes through the various comic books, TV shows and of course films to look at the car and also hear from those that designed and physically made them. Of course, running to a hair over 20 minutes, it doesn't take much time to do any of this stuff and it moves at a real pace from start to finish, to the point that if you blink you'll miss an entire period of design for the Batmobile. This is the downside because it is actually quite interesting to see some of the clips from the original serial and also see them give time to the comic books and not just the films, but in terms of time there is simply none. The end of the show had a trailer card for the "full" documentary and perhaps that would be more interesting and longer, but for this special it is very superficial.

I'm a casual fan so this is OK for me, but those that know the character inside out may find almost nothing they have not seen before. The names and faces are mostly associated with the films – which is mostly all well and good but personally I was a bit offended to see that plenty of time was carved out for Joel Schumacher, a man I thought had some sort of restraining order taken out against him to ensure he doesn't come within a decade of being involved in anything to do with Batman again. Otherwise there is plenty of energy in the contributions, just no real time for them to be anything other than soundbites.

This is a promo then, but that is not the whole story. The casual viewer such as myself should get something from seeing all the clips etc but anyone looking for a proper documentary would be best served elsewhere.