Batman: Knightfall – Part 1 Review: Bane Breaks the Bat, and This Animated Adaptation Doesn’t Flinch

DC’s animated track record is superb, so it’s slightly odd why the output of animated movies has decreased in recent years. Even so, Dark Knight fans must have put on their own capes and cowls and done a little Batdance when news dropped of Batman: Knightfall being adapted and released as a trilogy. Why is it being released in three parts, you may ask? Well, anybody who has read the original “Knightfall” arc from the ’90s knows that this story is massive and sprawling, and one film simply can’t do it all justice.

Directed by Jeff Wamester and written by Jeremy Adams, Batman: Knightfall – Part 1 sets the stage, showcasing how Batman (voiced by Anson Mount) attempts to help Jean-Paul Valley, aka Azrael (Pablo Schreiber), whose violent intentions slowly take over him. This Dark Knight is suffering from exhaustion, though, and this is something that plays out further with him being unable to ask for help or admit when he’s overwhelmed. The bad news is it’s about to become worse. A new threat arrives in Gotham City in the form of Bane (Michael Mando), and he makes quite the first impression by releasing the inmates of Arkham Asylum and giving Batman even more headaches (and backaches) than he ever imagined.

Much like other films, Batman: Knightfall – Part 1 isn’t a beat-for-beat adaptation of the source material. Instead, it condenses and enhances other parts of the story. In this instance, a significant portion of the film is dedicated to Bane’s brutal backstory. What’s surprising is how Wamester approaches this, refusing to apply restraint and, frankly, shocking the viewer in sections. From the torturous mental and physical abuse that Bane is put through to how he treats a prisoner who tries to lay his hands on him as a child, this isn’t the sunshine and rainbows of James Gunn’s Superman, that’s for sure. This feels more like Zack Snyder’s corner of the DC Extended Universe, actually.

It isn’t only Bane’s character who goes through the emotional meatgrinder, as even Batman remains teetering on the edge of sanity until the proverbial breaking point. As all hell breaks loose in Gotham, the Caped Crusader can’t sleep – and it’s clouding his judgment and how he treats others around him, such as his latest Robin, Tim Drake (Jack Griffo). If anything, Batman: Knightfall – Part 1 is an absolute masterclass in establishing Bane as the most cerebral of Batman’s foes and revealing that there are cracks in the Dark Knight’s armor. Bane doesn’t just break the Bat’s body; he destroys his mind and confidence too.

Azrael receives some screentime too, but it’s mostly to assert that this dude is unhinged and about to become every Gotham villain’s worst nightmare. It’s clear that his big arc is coming in the forthcoming movies when he becomes Azbat, so there isn’t as much time spent with Jean-Paul Valley as there is with other characters.

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From an animation perspective, it’s good to see the Kelley Jones influence in the design of the characters. Batman has those extra-long ears, and Bane looks larger than life, while Gotham appears like you could lick the grime off the walls. For those who grew up with the original comic, it’s these types of little touches that transport you back to the moment when you couldn’t believe a villain actually bested the Bat and had everybody wondering if the Dark Knight would ever be the same.

It’s also important that we discuss the voice acting for a second. First off, Anson Mount as Batman is an inspired choice. The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds actor captures the gruffness and curt nature of a character who’s at his breaking point. There’s anger and frustration to this Batman, and Mount nails the accuracy of this emotion in his portrayal.

While Mount is wonderfully complemented by an all-star cast that features Pablo Schreiber as Azrael, David Dastmalchian as the Riddler, Jack Griffo as Tim Drake, and Jason Flemyng as Mad Hatter – to name but a few – the absolute showstopper of Batman: Knightfall – Part 1 is Michael Mando as Bane. He doesn’t try to use a funny voice like Tom Hardy did for the character in The Dark Knight Rises, or overdo the theatrics of the monologues; it’s in his even-keeled delivery of the clearly psychotic Bane that chills the spine and soils the underpants. If and when this villain returns to the live-action world, Mando is the only person who should be in contention to play Bane. Period.

As an adaptation, Batman: Knightfall – Part 1 makes all the right moves to pay tribute to the source material but also to stand out in the best way possible. There’s no watering down here of one of DC’s darkest stories, so it’s welcome to see the filmmakers and everybody involved embrace the violent and mature leanings. And once again, this movie makes everybody wonder why the people making the DC animated films aren’t involved in the live-action realm too, since the quality is almost always top tier here. The same can’t be said otherwise.

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Batman: Knightfall – Part 1: Knightfall is available now to purchase digitally on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Google TV, with 4K UHD and Blu-ray versions arriving September 8, 2026.