• Movies

by Arcee on 10.23.11

I can’t believe my father actually sat through the whole film. Really, this is something special because lately my dad has been kind of dismissive of animated movies. So for him to have sat down and enjoyed watching all of Batman: Year One, that says something about it. Inspired by Frank Miller’s classic 1987 four-issue story arc, Batman: Year One is the tale of Bruce Wayne’s return to Gotham City after being away for more than a decade and the arrival of one police Lt. James Gordon to the Gotham City police Department. Bruce Wayne is just about to begin his life as Batman in a graveside promise to his parents to protect the innocents of Gotham City while Gordon is looking to start anew after an event in Chicago has forced him to seek employment elsewhere. Little do both men realize just how much they will depend and trust each other in the future.

Batman: Year One is perhaps one of the greatest Batman stories ever told, so to go further into how good the story is would be repetitive and extremely unnecessary. If you know anything about Batman, you know how his life started in Gotham after his return. What I do want to talk about here are a couple of points in the movie that I have to address. First, the artwork. I like that the creators of the Year One animated movie decided to closely follow the style of artist David Mazzucchelli. His art on the story arc was amazing and it translates well to the animated format. There is a certain sense of grittiness and clarity to his work and the team at Warner Bros replicated that wonderfully. 

However, as good as the story is, I do have a couple of complaints regarding the movie. The first one is the voice acting by Benjamin McKenzie as Bruce Wayne/Batman. When the movie first starts, it really sounds as if McKenzie were reading his lines directly off of the script. He sounds very monotonous and disinterested in the role and it is hard to get by for the first couple of scenes he is in. By the films end, he sounds a lot more comfortable in the role, but I am certainly left wondering why he sounded as he did in the beginning. This is especially disturbing given the amazing performance by Bryan Cranston as Lt. Gordon. Cranston took to his role as if though he had been waiting to play the role of Gordon his entire life. So it surprises me to have learned that Cranston originally turned down the role because of his unfamiliarity with storytelling and animation. 

That one complaint aside, Batman: Year One is another amazing animated film from the people at DC and Warner Bros. Why that doesn’t translate well to their other big budget films besides the Batman franchise is beyond me, but I certainly hope that they continue the good work they are doing on the animated front. Year One takes the level of storytelling to a new level as they are progressively getting more and more oriented towards adults who love the film. Don’t believe me - check out the Catwoman short contained within the film. Personally, I feel that Batman: Year One is perhaps the best animated film to come out of DC since Batman: Under the Red Hood. Hm, do I sense a pattern here as well?