All my posts here and in the
Batman TAS thread testify to how much I love what Timm and his teams are doing with Batman and I'm super excited about this new series.
... But I have some doubts about the technical aspect of the show that I need to share.
No problems at all with the designs, but in terms of animation and
polishing, what has been shown, for now, seems a step down from the original series...
I know we won't get traditionnal handmade animation anymore, but there's plenty of production using computers, even puppet rigged animation, while still managing to get an organic feel to the final results. Here, things are feeling quite stiff to me...
Also, it may be a matter of taste, but for a claimed "noir" direction, I'd expect the imagery to be much darker. The work on light and shadow is minimal, both on the characters and the background. It really lacks atmosphere and depth to me. I think a bit of grain would have been welcome, to at least give the whole thing a little relief and some grit
(and to tie these CGI cars and buildings to the rest of the art direction...).
Am I really alone on this?
I already had this feeling with part of the trailer
, but this clip, without being too dramatic, worries me a bit. Sure, that won't stop the series from being thrilling, but in animation, I'd say the visuals represent at least 50% of the project's interest.
Again, I hope I don't sound like a spoiled child, having a new series like this for a
Batman TAS fan like me is a dream. But when the announcement mentioned
"state-of-the-art animation techniques", I was simply expecting something much more sophisticated. I suppose the budget must have been cut when the series was momentarily put on hold, as this seems to me to fall a little below productions like
Justice League: Gods and Monsters or the short film
Strange Days.
Despite this, like I said, I'm still really, really looking forward to watching the series, and my wallet is already worried about possible merchandising...
Oh, and I really like the music in that clip!
