I had a chance to watch the first three episodes of
Gotham, the Batman universe origins TV series, and I must say it is better than I was anticipating it to be.
Visually it is a nice mix of all of the modern Batman movies with styling cues mostly from the Christian Bale era with a few nods towards the Keaton/Kilmer/Clooney movies. There is nothing over-the-top silly like the styling of
Batman & Robin (anybody else remember the dayglo paint in the gang den?
) but a few glimpses, for lack of a better way of putting it, make you think of those earlier movies. For example, the Penquin is far from the character Danny Devito played but there is a scene where Gotham's Penquin shoves food in his mouth from being so hungry after a near death experience which is reminiscent of a scene with Devito's Penquin. Another glimpse from those earlier movies is the girl who play a young Selena "Cat Woman" Kyle looks like a cross between a young Michelle Pfeiffer from Batman Returns and Cat Woman portrayed the last few years in the various animated series and comics. Along with a good amount of neon signs the special effects team is doing a great job of presenting a "Gotham City" that looks realistic while at the same time making you think of the world of Batman.
One of the few problems I would have to point out is that Gotham, like the rest of the DC movies & TV series, is being treated as a stand-alone work with characters & timelines that simply don't align with the much bigger DC Universe as a whole. Continuity is something Marvel has been doing an incredible job of maintaining with their recent movies and is what is helping to make them so successful. DC by contrast seems to dive head first into projects with wanton abandon with no regards to other DC related projects or past history.
Gotham takes place immediately in the days after the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents, an event which is covered in the first episode, so don't expect to "Batman" any time soon. Watch it instead for what is shaping up to be a pretty decent drama series that takes place in one of the many DC alternate worlds.