Batman "City of Scars" fan film

Over the weekend, Ransom sent along a link to a Batman fan film. Unlike most fan films, this particular item isn't some pudgy guy in an off-the-shelf Batman costume yelling loud enough so that the mics will pick him up over the sound of the wind and his mom telling him to quit embarassing himself.

Created by Bat in the Sun Productions, the movie's production quality is surprisingly high. The folks behind this movie put a lot of love, thought and, frankly, money into making this one. The actor hired to play Batman/ Bruce Wayne is built (unlike Michael Keaton) like someone who could, likely, take your head off with a good spin kick. The actor selected for The Joker, and the makeup, all professional grade.

The story feels a bit like a two or three issue fill-in story that occasionally crops up in one of the main Batman titles. The events of the story include a grisly crime, and the nature of the crime (and the acts of the criminal) provide Batman with fodder for reflecting upon an aspect of his "mission", which, in the comics, we'd normally track with narration boxes, but in this case, we're given a voice over. Comic fans will be pleased to see how the filmmakers deal with Batman's costume, his vehicles and technology, as well as seeing characters who appear to be Montoya and Allen, two homicide detectives from the mid-90's through the mid-00's in Batman titles. Plus, we get a peek at live action interpretations of some of Batman's B-ist rogues gallery.

I don't want to dwell on how the script could have been tightened up, or how the film could have had a more deft directorial touch. There's no question that as a comics fan film, this is the best work to date.

However, this is a long movie for an internet clip, running over half an hour. So, you know, get comfortable.