I heard recently that there's a two-movie animated version of
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns , the big (and VERY dark) 1986 four-book graphic novel by Frank Miller in which an elderly Bruce Wayne finally returns to crime-fighting after a decade, and finds that time has not been kind to him. It was a big inspiration for
The Dark Knight Rises, but the plot includes Superman and Green Arrow as well as several iconic villains.
The animation is quite expensive, currently about £21 for the two parts in the UK, but I was able to borrow them from a friend.
I really don't want to post spoilers or describe the plot beyond what I've said above - see the Wikipedia article I've linked to above if you want to know more - what I should say is that it's by far the darkest and most brutal portrayal of Batman, with a very high body count and some very unpleasant deaths. Superman is presented as a virtually unstoppable force of nature, and as a tool of American vested interests, the President and the Pentagon. It's not a flattering portrait.
The animated version is basically a scene by scene recreation of the original, with all animation derived from the original illustrations. The first two books are the first part, the remainder the second part.
You don't get some of the "voices" of the characters, especially Batman, whose thoughts were often a running commentary in the comic, but it works pretty well without them.
Overall, I think I can recommend this if you liked the original comics, but don't go into it blind, these films won't be to everyone's taste.
