Batman: Arkham Origins 2 - 10 Big Things It Can Fix From Knight
8. Those Awful Lines
Music numbers and certain cutscenes aside, Arkham Knight suffered massively from clichéd dialogue and poor line delivery. This had already become apparent in the numerous trailers and screenshots unveiled prior to Knight's big release in June, but the sheer scale of some of these flat notes really didn't display itself fully until players had booted up the game's story. There's one character in particular who bears the brunt of much of these jumbled sentences, and it's especially unfortunate that it was Jonathan Banks' tenure as Jim Gordon - a performance that could've been made so much better had the writing improved. At times Gordon feels as though he'd be more at home in some 80s cop drama trying to inspire John McClane as he climbs Nakatomi Tower, proclaiming with biblical admiration as he reiterates just how useless the GCPD is and how we have God to thank for Batman's presence on the streets. It's just tacky, especially for what's meant to be Rocksteady's swan song to all things Batman. Here's hoping Origins' sequel will lead to more heart in mouth moments like when Bane attacks the Bat Cave close to its closing act.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
