Batman: Year One (2011)

A wealthy playboy and a Chicago cop both return to Gotham City where their lives will intersect in unexpected ways.

Directors:

Sam Liu, Lauren Montgomery

Writers:

Bob Kane (creator), Tab Murphy,

Stars:

Bryan Cranston, Ben McKenzie, Eliza Dushku

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bryan Cranston	...	Jim Gordon (voice)
Ben McKenzie	...	Bruce Wayne / Batman (voice)
Eliza Dushku	...	Selina Kyle / Catwoman (voice)
Jon Polito	...	Commissioner Loeb (voice)
Alex Rocco	...	Carmine Falcone (voice)
Katee Sackhoff	...	Detective Sarah Essen (voice)
Sara Ballantine	...	Skeevers' Attorney (voice) (as Saratoga Ballantine)
Jeff Bennett	...	Alfred Pennyworth / Falcone Guest (voice)
Steve Blum	...	Stan / News Anchor (voice)
Roark Critchlow	...	Hare Krishna (voice)
Grey DeLisle	...	Barbara Gordon / Vicki Vale (voice)
Robin Atkin Downes	...	Harvey Dent (voice)
Keith Ferguson	...	Jefferson Skeevers (voice)
Michael Gough	...	Driver (voice)
Danny Jacobs	...	Flass' Attorney (voice)

Storyline

Two men come to Gotham City: Bruce Wayne after years abroad feeding his lifelong obsession for justice and Jim Gordon after being too honest a cop with the wrong people elsewhere. After learning painful lessons about the city's corruption on its streets and police department respectively, this pair learn how to fight back their own way. With that, Gotham's evildoers from top to bottom are terrorized by the mysterious Batman and the equally heroic Gordon is assigned to catch him by comrades who both hate and fear him themselves. In the ensuing manhunt, both find much in common as the seeds of an unexpected friendship are laid with additional friends and rivals helping to start the legend.

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Plot Keywords:

police | fear | obsession | bribery | flawed hero | 

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Taglines:

A merciless crime - turns a man into an outlaw.

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence and some sexual material

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Spanish

Release Date:

18 October 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Batman: Ano Um

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

64 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Batman: Year One was almost adapted as a live-action film to be directed by Darren Aronofsky from a screenplay by Frank Miller. Warner Bros. canned the project in favor of Christopher Nolan.

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Goofs

Propane tanks do not explode instantaneously upon being hit by bullets. In the open air, they do not explode at all unless they first cook for some time in a fire before they rupture. This is called a BLEVE which stands for boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Bruce Wayne: Gotham City. Clean shafts of concrete and snowy rooftops. The work of men who died generations ago. From here, it looks like an achievement. From here, you can't see the enemy.

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Connections

References The Godfather (1972)

User Reviews

I'm still a child

The Batman franchise is currently dominating every single form of media there is. From the incredible Arkham Asylum videogames, the Christopher Nolan revamped films, to the recently developed animated sagas, Batman is performing beyond all other comic-book heroes.

Ironically, he is one of the only graphic novel characters I appreciate more in my maturity, due to the story's vast amount of themes and ideas.

Batman: Under the Red Hood 2010 was perhaps the most enthralling animated film since the famous Batman: The Mask of the Phantasm 1993, so I greatly anticipated Batman Year One.

This film retells the story of one of the most famous fictional crime- fighting partnerships ever created. Batman and police official Lieutenant James 'Jim' Gordon.

When I heard Jim Gordon was going to be one of the protagonists, I had my reservations. I should have known better. This movie did not disappoint. In fact, it was far the opposite.

The plot follows both characters with their respective stories: Bruce Wayne, boy billionaire returns to Gotham City after being absent for many years following his parent's murder. He is lost and seeking a path to cope with vengeance. His transformation into the dark avenging angel Batman is the crux of the plot.

Running parallel, Jim Gordon is a honourable police officer joining a corrupt authority in Gotham City's Police Department. His durability in pursuing his career, regardless of the crooked cops he is surrounded by form his intriguing story.

There were specific points that illustrated the relentless will-power of each character. The first sighting of Batman revealed his character defining raison d'etre – his upkeep of justice as opposed to vengeance, and his preservation of human life over killing: He knocks a man off a balcony, but holds onto his leg. The expression of this point emerged from the beating he receives from two other thugs as he maintains his grip of the criminal who could die if he lets go.

Jim Gordon's most challenging moment was his perseverance in the police force, following a remorseless physical attack from his work colleagues.

The professionalism of the directors and producers was shown through their selection in voice actor Ben McKenzie for Batman. The dialogue, inner monologues and delivery portrayed a young Batman just commencing his crusade on crime and it worked.

The film is definitely worth watching if you are a Batman fan, but I would never recommend this as a general crowd pleaser. Animations are often seen as childish cartoons and understandably, they are shunned by adult audiences. If Batman is perceived as a kid's passion, then consider me a big child, because I cannot ever imagine disliking this character nor ignoring any of the films, be it live action or animation.

Nevertheless, if you do like 'the dark knight', then add this to the hit-list.