Review of Batman: Year One (2011) by Chris C — 30 Mar 2012

A faithful, nearly shot-for-shot adaption of the Frank Miller classic, this film is the twelfth effort from Bruce Timmâ(TM)s DC Universe Animated branch. Gritty and low down, the film captures the mood and aesthetics of the original graphic novel, with gorgeous, crisp animation, dynamic character designs, and a sparing use of color. As always with the DCU films, it eschews backstory in favor of faithfulness, and the result is another hour long animated film that packs into itself more action, and more heart than any of the big budget live action affairs. The story is simple enough, but effective. Getting deep into the parallel stories and psychological workings of Bruce Wayne and Lieutenant Gordan, it unfolds the tale of the effects of one man becoming taking the law into his own hands in a lawless world, setting the sparks that will bring hope, at any cost, to destroy a corrupt system.

However, there is one noticeable flaw that makes this work subpar as compared to some of the other DCU efforts, and that is the voice acting, oh-so important in the animated medium. While Bryan Cranston brings the haggard Gordan to life as our everyman protagonist (for Year One was always more Gordanâ(TM)s story than that Batâ(TM)s) and there are some good side performances from Eliza Dushku (a severely underused Selina Kyle) and Jon Polito (a scary Commissioner Loeb), the film is still a Batman film, and Iâ(TM)m sorry to say that Benjamin McKenzieâ(TM)s vocal performance has all of the fervor of a cactus. Granted, the Miller dialogue, which is entirely intact here, is difficult to deliver in any way but a noir monotone, but it comes across more robotic than monologue here, and the film severely suffers for having a Batman who is already (intentionally) peripheral, but now also completely uninteresting. Still, itâ(TM)s one worth catching for any Batman fan or Miller purist, and while less accessible than some of the DCU adaptions, it does work admirably as a standalone for those unfamiliar with the comic as it is not only beautifully animated but thematically relevant, a sure reason the adaption was greenlit in the first place. This Miller Batman world is serious and bleak to a point, yet unabashedly hopeful, the way superheroes should be and the way only superheroes can be.