Review of Batman: Year One (2011) by Garrett R — 16 Mar 2012

BATMAN YEAR ONE is a finely helmed DC/Warner Bros Animation animated film, based on Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's acclaimed Batman origin graphic novel of the same name. A strong, distinctly stylized animation style is on display here, which hits the right tone of grit and realism that Frank Miller's graphic novel did.

This tone is carried over into the voice acting, led by Bryan Cranston as Jim Gordon, Ben MacKenzie as Bruce Wayne/Batman, and the brief snippets of Eliza Dushku's Selina Kyle/Catwoman. The lead trio stand apart from the rest of the cast (including Comissioner Loeb, Brennan and Detective Flask's voice actors) as their efforts are more defined than the corrupt characters who basically function as story devices. Than again, Batman's origin story (and Frank Millers' tale) knew that to introduce these characters, you have to give the primary characters the spotlight for their stories to illuminate their back stories and motivations.

The action in BATMAN: YEAR ONE is well-choreographed and exciting, most of the sequences are taken directly from the graphic novel. Two of the sequences deviate slightly by a few moments from the graphic novel to expand the scope of the action from its late 80s roots to our time. Still, the well-rounded story that Frank Miller tells is kept very intact by screenwriter Tab Murphy. From the serious adult themes of upcoming marriage and parenting to dealing with political and police corruption in a worn-down dangerous city and the morality in non-lethal vigilantism, BATMAN YEAR ONE covers a lot of thematic material in just over an hour of running time (64 min).

Director Sam Liu and Lauren Montgomery team up to direct YEAR ONE. Their framing of Tab Murphy's screenplay, along with the stellar animation team, have done a fine job of adapting Frank Miller's Batman origin tale (mostly lifting the graphic novel's frames from the book and giving it a striking animated sheen) to deliver the tale to those who read the graphic novel back in 1987 (and since then) as well as newcomers being introduced to the tale through this DC animated feature will find much to appreciate here in terms of well-staged action, realistic voice acting and a faithful rendering of Frank Miller's acclaimed 1987 graphic novel.

Despite the minuscule running time of the film (64 min), director Sam Liu (JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS) and Lauren Montgomery (JUSTICE LEAGUE: DOOM) make sure that DC Universe/Warner Bros. Animation made a gritty, realistic and faithful adaptation of Batman's definitive tale and the character's beginning (stretching his wings, if you will) in BATMAN: YEAR ONE.