The Dark Knight Returns film fucking rocks.
A lot of people forget that animated film is a fundamentally
different medium than comic books. Comic books are a highly visual medium, but
they still rely on words to convey ideas and feelings more than films do. By
contrast, films have sound, light, motion – multiple ways of showing what they
want to show. Conveyance is the keyword here; conveyance of ideas and feelings
through careful use of all these elements.
Misunderstanding of conveyance is why The Killing Joke’s
animated adaptation fell flat on its ass. The Killing Joke is painfully
faithful at times, but is hamstrung by poor production values and a
misunderstanding of the themes that made the original comic one of the
definitive Batman stories. And even the stuff that got carried over was
conveyed poorly, with some exceptions – the ending, for instance, is
wonderfully done.
The Dark Knight Returns, on the other hand, understands exactly what made The Dark Knight
Returns (and Frank Miller’s work, by extension) good, arguably better than what
even Miller himself has displayed given the
Dame to Kill For film. Because this movie is pure, raw, unfettered emotion,
delivered by Peter Weller (RoboCop) with so much power and precision that you’d
be forgiven for mistaking him for Batman himself.
Remember the scene where Batman interrogates the mutant on
the rooftop? Here’s the relevant scene’s equivalent in the comic book.
Just as chilling on the page, but a direct adaptation would
be long and dragging. The film understands this and adjusts accordingly. There’s
no need for a monologue, just masterful usage of shots, angles and
chillingly minimalistic voice acting to convey height, confusion and fear.
Hell, this is what made the original Legends of the Dark
Knight short so good too. Look at the Mutant Leader fight scene:
It wouldn’t be as effective if we saw Batman breaking the
Mutant Leader’s leg. There’s just a flash of lightning accentuated by the
mutants’ (and Robin’s) shocked faces, followed by the rain washing the mud off
Batman’s hunched, shadowed face.
That is what all
adaptations should do. Don’t give me the comic book, except with moving
pictures. If I wanted the comic book, I’d buy the comic book. Use the
differences in the medium you’re adapting it in to convey the same themes and invoke
the same emotions as the source material.