Review: Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham

There is one thing I will always do when I see a new DC animated movie on the horizon. I’m going to hit up the old Google machine, and check out to see if this is going to be an adapted work, or an original movie. In my experience, movies like Justice League: Throne of Atlantis and Teen Titans: The Judas Contract excel in narrative excellence because they drive home and stick close enough to the source material while being able to deliver an original story that’s digestable for a movie. However, there’s always a flipside, and that seems to be the new breed of “Tomorrowverse” movies that DC is marketing that started with Superman: Man of Tomorrow.

The animation and writing as a whole has been in the shitter for a long time, and I’ve been waiting for a respite from it. Legion of Super Heroes was a great movie from start to finish, giving us flashes of what the DCAMU used to be. Does The Doom That Came to Gotham follow the trend?

The Doom That Came to Gotham, for the uninitiated, is a movie that mixes eldritch horror with Batman and most of his rogues gallery The best part is that we got, in my opinion, the greatest villian in Batman’s gallery. That’s the biggest wild card with these Elseworld’s movies. When the characters are off, the movie sucks. But when the characters are on point, we got an absolute banger. That’s where Legion of Super Heroes excelled. The movie is carried by what would be considered by ancillary characters, but they were written so well.

The only issue was David Giuntoli as Batman. He did not fit at all. The writing was so well done, but Giuntoli’s voice did not give a presence fitting of Bruce Wayne and didn’t do the writing justice. The rest of the cast was stellar. Everyone else, including John fucking DiMaggio, nailed the movie. Adapting the Elseworlds series The Doom That Came to Gotham was a deep dive, and initially, I questioned it. After watching this gem, it was worth the watch in every way.

The way that the screenwriters were able to adapt the eldritch horror take on Gotham. Hell, they got to weave an alternate take on the pilgrimage to America, mystic arts, DC’s version of Cthulhu, and almost all of Batman’s rogue’s gallery all into 1920’s wrapping paper. The era style takes on different things, like ship travel vs airplanes and even the Batmobile. Even the take on Batman’s costume looked different. The details that went into it, even the battle damage that stuck around throughout the movie was a slick touch. The level of detail that went into The Doom That Came to Gotham is something that hasn’t been seen in a long time.

The story was so well written. There was a teaser at the onset of the movie, and that’s what causes the psychosis of Bruce to start. As the movie continues, and his interactions with the cult and its mutants accumulates, the psychosis keeps taking hold. It almost sends Bruce unto a catatonic state, until he realizes what he has to do to beat the outer god. All in all, this monster was a different type of monster, and you see Bruce embrace a tactic he almost never does: mysticism. This was so far out of his wheelhouse, it was refreshing.

The Doom That Came to Gotham is a movie that comes out of nowhere. If you aren’t a deep cut fan of DC, you won’t know this comic even exists, let alone know why this movie was made.  However, as the movie continues to move, you realize the miniseries makes a phenomenal feature.