The first part to the two-part The Dark Knight Returns was great, so the second part had a lot to live up to. It didn't just live up to it, it was even better, more developed in story and more refined in detail. The animation was great in both movies, but Part 2's style is more fluid and detailed and like the first part never loses it in the atmosphere and the quality of the colours. Speaking of the atmosphere, it was hugely compelling, being often intense in how it was written, how it looked and its brutality. The music further adds to the atmosphere, with rich orchestral writing and haunting composition, it enhances each scene and never detracts from it. It is also composed in a way that doesn't jar with the style of the music for the first part. The Dark Knight Returns: Part 2 is brilliantly written too, it maintains the spirit of the source material and the dialogue show real intensity and conflict. There is a thrilling story too, that leaves off from the first part but is written in such a way that it stands very well as a stand-alone. The storytelling is deeper emotionally and more developed structurally, with a lot of tension and atmosphere, but not to the extent that things get convoluted. The action-sequences are unrelenting and nail-biting, violent and tense in alternative to goofy and cartoonish they all work, with the final battle between Batman and Superman standing out. The characters are well-written and draw you into the story, Joker is genuinely menacing while you identify every step of the way with Bruce Wayne. The appearance of Selina Kyle and how she's animated is a shock though if I were to admit. The voice acting is terrific, Peter Weller is brooding and quite moving in the titular character role and Michael Emerson at first is subtly evil but becomes increasingly maniacal in a characterisation that recalls Jack Nicholson's somewhat. Overall, enthralling conclusion and one of the better animated Batman movies along with Mask of the Phantasm and Under the Red Hood. 9/10 Bethany Cox