Studio: Production IG
Director: Futoshi Higashide
Writer: Greg Rucka
Wha’ happen’?
We’re introduced to two cops from Gotham’s Major Crimes Unit (MCU), Crispus Allen and Anna Ramirez who’re tasked by Lieutenant Gordon to escort Jacob Feely (the jetpack man from the first short) back to Arkham Asylum.
Since the events of Batman Begins the Narrows have basically been cordoned off from the rest of the city and turned into a big open prison/lunatic asylum Arkham City style. On the journey over Allen and Ramirez argue over whether Batman is a good thing for the city. Crispus, who’s new to Gotham, argues that the police shouldn’t be collaborating with a vigilante but Ramirez, who’s lived in the city her whole life, says that Batman has saved Gotham and made it a safe place for honest cops.
They leave Feely back in Arkham without incident and Allen says that he’s leaving the MCU as he’s heard it’s going to peak after Phase 3, I mean, he doesn’t agree with the unit being Batman’s errand boy. Ramirez pulls over to give him a lecture and accidentally ends up in the crossfire…
…between Sal Maroni and another gangster called The Russian. Batman arrives and saves them and Allen learns a valuable lesson about questioning the wisdom of unaccountable vigilantes.
How was it?
Much better. Not great but better.
Firstly, the positives. This short absolutely oozes atmosphere and the music and visuals work well to create a real sense of menace as the cops get closer to Arkham. The script also comes from comics veteran Greg Rucka and feels more authentically Batman than the previous short. Lastly, this:
YES. THAT is how I want animé Batman to look.
As for the flaws, well…the animation is a little ropey at times (I swear one side of Ramirez’s face is larger that the other) and it’s a little insubstantial. I’d have liked Allen’s concerns to have been given a bit more weight and respect. I mean, obviously time is sparse but I’d still have liked to see at least a nod in that direction.
It’s cool that we get these little connective moments between the shorts, but Feely is a completely different character that he was in Have I Got A Story For You?
I suppose my biggest gripe is that, if the purpose of this anthology is to lay the groundwork for Dark Knight, I’d honestly be more confused than anything. I’m not sure if The Russian is supposed to be the same character as The Chechen from DK and I may not not much but I know this:
That don’t look like no Eric Roberts I ever saw. Ah well, maybe he dan’t been cast yet.
Anyway, definite step up.
unshavedmouse 
I wonder why they didn’t just use Montoya instead of Ramirez. I mean, why can’t there be more than one Latina officer in the GCPD? It’d get confusing? Comic fans will get it and the general audiences won’t even remember Ramirez’s name. And Rucka loves Montoya more than he loves his life.
It was Montoya in the novelization. Maybe because they knew she was going to be the traitor?
That would have been an annoying bit of character assassination. We get that the GCPD is toxic even by the standards of American policing, but the more sympathetic members of the team deserve to be treated with humanity and respect, and I feel like traitor twists inherently eliminate this, because they rely on us being infuriated with these characters…
In recent years, the comics have upgraded Montoya into the Commissioner of the GCPD. This is a decent idea actually (She is a pretty close reflection of the new wave of tough, diverse police commissioners in early middle age taking over police departments today) but the more antagonistic portrayal of her has annoyed many fans – it feels like she has become yet another disapproving police chief…
Update: When I made my Montoya comment, I thought you were referring to the Dark Knight, not the novelization of the Gotham Knight film (It’s pretty surprising that this small-scale adaptation got the novelization treatment) but if I recall correctly, the creative team for The Dark Knight wanted Montoya in the Ramirez role, but replaced Montoya with Ramirez when they realized that the story needed some GCPD moles to ruin everything for our leads…
“That don’t look like no Eric Roberts I ever saw. Ah well, maybe he dan’t been cast yet.”
Eric Roberts played Sal Maroni, The Chechen was played by Ritchie Coster.
Anyway, Greg Rucka is very talented comic book writer and it’s funny that this short plays with the idea that GCPD should just go along with Batman’s work considering he’d write Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia which utterly 𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨 Batman and his usual crimefighting methods. You want to see a comic where Batman flat out surrenders? That’s where you’ll find it.
That IS Maroni
Eric Roberts played an incarnation of The Master, so maybe that guy got shot and regenerated into Eric Roberts.
Yeah yeah, I know, the Roberts Master was just some guy who was possessed by The Master. But the important thing is that I found an excuse to cross over Batman and Doctor Who, two of the most awesome things in existence.
My delight on learning that Montoya is now COMMISSIONER Montoya is only slightly attenuated by learning that HARVEY BULLOCK (Of all people!) got in there before her.