Batman: Year One Review

Year One, as its title suggests, chronicles Bruce Wayne’s (Ben McKenzie) first calendar year as the Caped Crusader. Having just returned from his exodus, wherein he trained for years to come back to Gotham City to rid the city of crime, he finds himself at a crossroads. He wants to wage his war, but feels it is not yet time after a reconnaissance mission goes awry and he is nearly killed. It is on the verge of giving up that he creates his alter ego, Batman.

Lieutenant James Gordon (Bryan Cranston) is sort of exiled to Gotham City, after he apparently turned in a fellow policeman in his former city of work, making himself an outcast to the remaining officer’s of the department. With a pregnant wife at home, he stresses with the preparation of a baby on the way, and struggling to fit in as an officer in this new city. In this way, it is much more of a duality story, equally featuring both characters, Jim and Bruce. Gordon, the officer of the law, operates within the bounds of the law, though he quickly comes to find out that he is just about the only one, his department being full of just as many criminals as the mafia. 

Anyone who has seen Christopher Nolan’s first Batman film "...Begins," will quickly see similarities between part 1 of the trilogy and Year One. There are a handful, including the scene where Batman calls in the bats–yes, it’s here–which was my favorite scene from Begins, all the way to how both movies end, though that is not to give away the ending, just to say they are similar. If nothing else, it becomes an interesting history as to how Nolan incorporated some of the most iconic moments in the Dark Knight’s long run of comics into his Dark Knight Trilogy.

A prelude to the freak show that Gotham City became, there are no super villains, rather just crimes and crime lords in general. However, Harvey Dent (Robin Atkin Downes) and Selina Kyle (Eliza Dushku) make appearances, the latter of which we actually get to see as an early incarnation of Catwoman, the former in his original role of district attorney, before half his face is scarred. The two main “bad guys” for the tale are the much more normal and ever popular mobster Carmine Falcone (Alex Rocco) and Commissioner Loeb (Jon Polito), a criminal on the right side of the law. 

In terms of voice work, everyone in the cast does their job well, except for Ben McKenzie as Bruce Wayne/Batman, though as Batman the voice fits a little better, I think. As Bruce, however, the odd direction taken here would have been better fitted to a robot. I think everyone who knows the character understands that after the death of his parents he became a darker character, but that does not mean he became inhuman. He sounds lifeless, and it just fits horribly–or does not fit.

Only 64 minutes, I felt like it could have been longer. I have not read the actual comic in years, so I cannot quite remember if anything was taken away, though I have heard DC’s animation department largely stuck to  Frank Miller’s source material. It feels like a complete story, yet a very tight shoot, so some scenes could have been further elaborated on. A film that leaves one wishing it was longer is usually a good sign, though.

Batman: Year One has been out a while, but I enjoyed it a lot, so I thought I would write a review of it. If interested, it may be dificult to find on store shelves, but it should be on Netflix, and Amazon also sells the DVD and Blu-ray for cheap.