Q: What is it?
A: Its the two part Warner Brothers' Animated movie(s) based upon the acclaimed Frank Miller graphic novel. Said Graphic novel pretty much has the definitive, albeit older, versions of Batman & Joker. Without TDKR, there probably wouldn't have been any Burton or Nolan Batman flicks. I guess the 2nd part of the animated adaptation is due out 1/29, but it's already up online.
Q: Is it any good?
A: Yes, but not as good as the source material. The animation is top notch, the voice acting is good (although the "traditional" voice actors that usually do Warner Brothers' Batman/Joker/Superman have been replaced by "celebrities" (Liddy from Dexter is Batman, Ben Linus from Lost is the Joker, & "cameos" by Conan O'Brien/Andy Ricter as David Endocrine & sidekick).
My two big gripes: 1) No Batman internal monologue (Not that I think it was "cut" nefariously, it was cut because a film is supposed to convey thoughts via images. Sucks that one of my favorite lines was removed though, " There are 6 working defenses from this position. 5 of them disarm with minimal injury. The 6th one...hurts.") 2) The Joker's scene at the end of the Carnival should have been creepier. If you've read the comic, you know what I mean.
Other than that, it was a very good adaptation of the source material. Expanding the Superman/Batman fight wasn't a bad idea & they pretty much aced the media/political stuff in the 2nd part, as I worried after watching the first that they might replace Reagan with a generic stand-in. They didn't & the voice actor was spot on.
Coincidentally, I watched Batman/Superman Apocalypse via Netflix & it was also pretty good. Traditional voice actors, Jim Lee inspired animation. Should have been called "Supergirl", but whatever.
Edited, Jan 16th 2013 6:51am by Omegavegeta