Batman: Year One

A few things off the bat... I'm a fan of DC comics Animation since TAS and Mask of The Phantasm. For the most part they have done a great job delivering exciting stories. Also, I have NOT read the Frank Miller 'Batman: Year One' 4 issue comic from which this was adapted from.

So here's my 2 cents... Animation: Sharp. Minimal use of soft focus than in previous features which is an improvement. Very little 'shakey cam' shots as used in previous films to create the illusion of action. Action and scenes are set up as you would expect in a well done live action film.

Voice Work: Kudos to the casting team. All voices sound top notch without sounding as if they're actors reading off a script in a sound booth. They genuinely sound invested in the scene and it shows. Minor complaints on Bruce's voice but you get used to it.

Music/Sound: Fantastic. Dark and atmospheric. Slowly plays tension through out the film. Until now, I had yet to hear a composition on one of these films that matches the talent of Shirley Walker who composed for Batman TAS in the 90's. The surround sound in this feature is put to full use more so than other animated DC films. Again, your getting feature film effort/quality here.

Story: Here's where I've read many complaints. This was definitely dark and different. Bear in mind I have never read the comic but from what I hear this is a faithful adaptation of those 4 issues. The story chronicles both Batman and Gordon's first year fighting in Gotham. How their relationship evolves and the decadence of Gotham is explored in detail. Don't expect a rosy colored Batman cartoon. This is a mature and dark story that happens to be told in animation.

Conclusion: Those of us that grew up as children watching Batman: TAS who are now adults. Many of us have admired how lately Batman's character has been presented in such mature forms as in Nolan's Dark Knight or Rock Steady's Arkham Asylum/City. This is why 'Batman: Year One' stands out above the rest in terms of animated films. In part, due to the excellent source material but equally in it's presentation in this particular medium. Batman: Year One is the wonderful product of more than 20 years of animated excellence. Definitely, a must have.

This is a dark, realistic and fantastic installment from DC. I was really immersed into the whole visual and direction of this movie. Sure, the plot maybe a bit slow but the story is really good. The movie focuses in on two primary characters, which is Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon. Although the movie seems to focus more on Jim Gordon and his subconscious more than Bruce Wayne. It doesn't take away anything from this movie. Because I thought it was cool to delve more into the persona of Jim Gordon and where he comes from. Some people maybe against him being portrayed as this masculine though guy. But I thought it was refreshing to see him as this badass lieutenant. The animation for the most part is fluid and I just really liked the more dark and gritty atmosphere in this, which has more of an adult theme going for it. Although the action sequences are well done, that isn't the driving force of this movie. What drives this movie is the intricate and the direction of the two main characters and how it develops. Even the music score fit right into the environment and it actually does stand out.

8.2/10

Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham after 12 years abroad. Lieutenant James Gordon transfers to Gotham where he finds corruption in the police department. Both decide to clean up the problems in their own way.

It's a fine adult animation of Batman. Gordon has the more interesting story. It's good animation. If anything, it needs to be longer than one hour. There are scenes that needs more fleshing out. Catwoman is fun. With more time, some of this could be even better. Overall, there is nothing big to complain about.

After a string of bad to mediocre Batman animations I went into this with very low expectations. Due to it's origin plot and short runtime perhaps no expectations at all.

Batman: Year One looks at how Batman, Catwoman & Commissioner Gordon came about and does it in a sombre drama style rather than traditional action packed superhero action.

With the voice talents of Bryan Cranston, Eliza Dushku and the late great Jon Polito everyone does a decent job and that includes the writers.

With plenty of DC alumni appearing during the films single hour duration this is certainly one of the best Batman animated outings.

Perhaps it should have been longer, perhaps Catwoman should have by all rights got more screentime and perhaps they could have done without the ridiculous bats scene!

Regardless this was a damn fine effort and I'd have liked to see more like this.

The Good:

Well written

Decent voice talents

A great toned down approach

The Bad:

Couple of dumb scenes

Cheating protagonist, again!

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

If I had Bruce Waynes money I'd likely be what he pretended to be to Gordon, but the hookers would have less fake tan

This movie is great, brilliant, realistic, dark, gritty and very-very emotional Batman adaptation. Forget Mask of the Phantasm, Return of the Joker or Under the Red Hood. They are great of course but Year one is in a completely different league than those. This is not something what you can see on Cartoon Network. It is clearly not for kids, not at all. It is a serious story with real people with real and logical choices (Finally Batman is realistic as a person and as a hero, he is not over the top, he uses his batarang the way he should. He is not god like...this was a big problem many times in the comics and also in the animated features too at many areas. He can be shot, beaten and also he can't beat the crap out from 3-4 people easily just because he is Batman. He is a believable person here who can really exist out there in the real world.). If you know the original comics than you won't be disappointed with this. This is how Batman should be. Also Year one is more of Jim Gordon's story and it also works great. Brilliant, just brilliant.

10/10