Batman: Gotham by Gaslight

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.

How much you like this film will definitely depend on how much you are into the Victorian/Steampunk aesthetic, as well as the murder mystery genre in general. There is definitely nothing bad to report about this movie, it is a decent little crime noir set in the early 1900s.

If there is a problem it is that it has no connection to the greater Batman/DC animated universe and could easily not be a Batman film at all, since outside of the character names themselves there is little to link the two. Batman only vaguely 'Batmans' outside of some grappling-hook action and minor detecting. It is certainly not one for those who like outlandish superhero action.

Overall if you see this as a short murder mystery there is little to be disappointed by here, and if you crave a more down-to-earth Batman then this will be great for you. In my opinion you might as well just watch something like Zorro or Lone Ranger, or any other masked vigilante that Batman was based on as for me its 'back to basics' tone is just a little too basic, but it is certainly a matter of personal opinion in this regard.

Considering it's set in an Elseworlds universe, the dark and thematically noir influenced complex atmosphere fits in perfectly with the Batman mythos. The film paces with some increasingly mysterious events that eventually leads Batman to a very baffling revelation. The character portrayals were brilliant from an 18th century point of view, not to mention Batman performing his mixed martial art skills when pitted against Jack the Ripper was a solid stunner. I run out of reasons why most of the DCAU films go underrated, but in my opinion this film deserves better. There are a few negligible shortcomings in the film like Batman being at his usual best without the aid of any electronic gadget(say Batcomputer) but then again those are overshadowed by the plotline. It's definitely a must watch for Batman lovers.

Great serious story, wow they didn't make animation this hardcore in the 90's It gets gory and eerie at times which is really what a Batman movie should be.

It has a fantastic classic Batman story.

Great els-world favourite characters.

Batman's fighting choreography is fantastic and this is a cartoon lol!

Animation looks dull in places that don't matter and thats fine and is made up by focusing on the main features, and that looks great, well executed action.

Classic Gotham feel that is right at home! (got to have a blimp!)

Lots of nods and easter eggs to previous Batman animations, comics. (Mask of the Phantasm, Robins, Two Face, Sherlock Holmes's Dancing Men story (which I really appreciated, I f-ing love Jeremy Brett and Sherlock stories), Death in the family, the weird Scott Snyder comic about James Gordan's messed up son, Dark Knight Bat pod, Black Mask...these were the ones I noticed.

Overall really good ELS-WORLD Batman story!

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