As an advocate of fan dominated fodder like fan fiction and fan films, I'm always giddy when I'm able to see a true fan's idea of the world set before them. Fan films allow directors to stage their own unique visions of established mythos like Batman and Superman, and director Aaron Schoenke does yet another bang up job making the most of his small resources to bring his own take of Batman to the screen in a thirty minute short that channels the Christopher Nolan angle of the dark knight along with his own fine tweeks and original quirks that have made his shorts so beloved over the years. With a double digit budget in the millions and much more resources Aaron Schoenke could storm the gates of Hollywood and he shows it in "City of Scars" where the Joker has once again violently broken free from Arkham and is on the run planning a major event for Bats for the 4th of July. Now Batman has to delve in to the underground and find out what the Joker is intending. With incredible photography and establishing scenes that invoke a god-like supernatural presence to Batman we've only seen in Nolan's film series, Schoenke is in rare form providing Batman with a podium that is based around the love of a fan skilled with the camera.

With his gritty performance and outstanding tackling of both characters, it's tough to imagine anyone else but him taking on the costume. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the likes of Paul Molnar and Madelynn Rae who are just horrifying as Joker and Harley, two shades of sheer lunacy that keep this film on the edge constantly. With a beautiful score by Sean Schoenke and some masterful writing, director Aaron Schoenke channels Nolan's own morality tale in "The Dark Knight" and expands upon it exploring Batman's personal journey to chase down the Joker and stop him before he corrupts another youth who has just witnessed his parents' death before his eyes at the hands of another madman. By the time the film closes, we're left wondering: has the Joker finally been stopped, or has a bigger more lethal menace been created in the hail of gunfire, bloodshed, and resentment? With the Joker it's never just about murder. "City of Scars" is another work of love from the Schoenke family who continue to contribute much too little appreciated gems to the Batman lore.

The Bat in the Sun team have done it again with a top notch fan film that marks their own standing in the Batman universe providing a thought provoking peek behind Batman's own struggles to fight crime, while also pondering on the notion that his entire life's work is literally for nothing when evil presents itself at every turn. It's another excellent short from the Schoenke team.