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2 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Disappointing version of a classic graphic novel, 4 December 2011

Author: drbreakfastmachine from United States

I love Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli's graphic novel Batman: Year One. It retells the origin of Batman, a story mostly untouched since the character's genesis in the 1930s, as a dark and mature adventure that's just as much about hero cop James Gordon as it is about Bruce Wayne and his dangerous night life. When I heard there was to be an animated version, I was extremely excited. DC has had a great track record the last few years with animated features, with masterpieces like Batman: Under the Red Hood and Justice League: the New Frontier, and lesser but still good works like Superman: Doomsday and Batman: Gotham Knight. Unfortunately, Batman: Year One's film adaptation leaves much to be desired. The story is taken almost verbatim from the novel, which is a two-sided blade for the film. While it's nice to see almost every part of the novel in motion exactly the way it originally appeared, it also felt very redundant and unnecessary to watch the film at all. It's a complaint many had of the movie version of Watchmen, but I think that film balanced creativity with faithfulness well. Year One does not. Another issue is that because it uses the comic's fast pacing, in which the story changes perspective every few pages, the film feels very choppy and hard to follow. It just doesn't have time to develop and soak in for the viewer like the novel does. A more concrete problem is a matter of a bad artistic decision: the film's narration, lifted exactly from the book, is presented as the character's "thoughts," and has an echo effect added to it. This gets incredibly distracting, because the narration seems intended to be as if the character is speaking directly to the audience rather than thinking it to themselves. And finally, the thing that really kills the film for me is the voice acting. Eliza Dushku is good as Catwoman, but every other voice actor drops the ball. Everyone sounds bored, tired, confused, and unaware of the meaning of what they're saying. It sounds like an early rehearsal in which the actors are only reading the script for the second time. Worst of all is Ben McKenzie as Batman, who delivers the most mechanical, lifeless performance the Dark Knight has ever suffered. On the plus side, the animation is beautiful and the soundtrack is good, but I can't really recommend the movie based on that. Nolan's Batman Begins is still the best film version of Batman's origin.

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2 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Mainly focuses on Gordan than Batman, 12 November 2011

Author: Zackery Burgess from United States

Now I'll be honest I didn't read Frank Miller's Batman: Year One. So I really wish I read the comic before I saw the movie, but then again I did it with All-Star Superman and I liked it. Overall this one pretty god. The animation is good, the story is great. Not to sound like a Bat-fanboy( I'm more of a Green Lantern one), but why does this focus more on Lt. Gordan than Batman? Someone tell me, does the comic also focuses on Gordan than Batman? And Catwoman really was just there. I mean she really didn't serve any purpose in the film. Is she also in the Year One comic as well? Overall its not as great Under the Red Hood, but it is a good story and I do admit I did like Gordan, and what he was going through. Overall, if your a die hard Batman fan who really wants to see Batman this really isn't for you.

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2 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
This is my favorite of the DC animated movies., 6 November 2011

Author: michaelmansy from United States

In my opinion, this is better then the book. To explain this, it's necessary to comment on Ben Mckenzie's performance. In the source book, Bruce/Batman always came off as a jerk, and not likable or endearing as a character. With a combination of animation and Mckenzie's unique approach, I really cared and felt fort this batman.

While the animators gave the character a subtle but effective emotional performance, Mckenzie's approach was almost paradoxical in nature. He combined elements of detached inflections, giving a sense of a man whose not quite right in the head, while also lending strong yet subtle sense of gravitas and vulnerability in his performance. Frankly, I haven't seen a batman performance this emotionally fractured since Michael Keaton.

Also, this movie hearkens back in another way to the Burton films, in that Gotham is depicted as rotten to the core through subtly; visuals and nuanced acting, no speechifying and social commentary, that Nolan seems to rely on. All in all, the best animated Batman next to Mask of the Phantasm, but that's just my opinion.

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3 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Excellent movie adaptation of an excellent comic, 13 October 2011
Author: safwan_insane

I am surprised at the user reviews here and they basically compelled me to write my own. Year one is one of the greatest batman story ever and the movie sticks closely to the source material. If you are unfamiliar with the comic, Year one basically details Bruce Wayne's first year after his return to Gotham City, twelve years after his parent's death. Running parallel to this is the story line of James Gordon, a lieutenant transferred from Chicago to Gotham City. The challenges faced by these characters as they embark on their respective paths and how those paths cross is where Year One shines. The animation perfectly brings David Mazzucchelli's muddy comic panels to life. The inclusion and portrayal of Catwoman might some but it is a very brief part of the story. Year One is an excellent movie and I would recommend this to any Batman fan.

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0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
True to the source, and done amazingly well!, 5 December 2012

Author: lukey8922 from england

I was more reserved than most to see this movie. As a huge fan of Frank Millers comic for a long time i was worried how it would be transferred to the screen, but boy was i wrong. I feel embarrassed it has taken me this long to watch this movie, this was Batman at his animated best.

The main reason i thought the film would struggle to do justice to the comic is, as anyone who has read the comics will know, Its a much darker, grittier version of batman and after recently watching under the red hood, which i enjoyed, it doesn't have that dark edge that i see in Batman. However the same cannot be said for this movie. It was like the pages of the comic were been lifted to the screen and coming to life before my eyes! its the closest adaptation of paper to screen you will ever see.

The animation is done to a high standard, smooth and more colour than i had originally expected. The action sequences are particularly impressive without giving the viewer too much to concentrate on. its a well written script by Tab Murphy, although much of that credit has to go to Frank Miller as a lot of the dialogue is VERY similar to the source.

The only let down for me was the voice casting. Bryan Cranston put in a solid effort as Jim Gordon but unfortunately Ben McKenzie did not do such a good job, he just doesn't have that grittiness i feel batman needed in this film more than any other. Such a shame they didn't use Kevin Conroy as i'm sure most fans will tell you, he is the voice of Batman.

Overall, a really really good effort. Worth spending your hard earned money on, but definitely not one too see with the kids!

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0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
An amazing look into the origins of many of the key batman characters., 22 October 2012

Author: MildInconvenienceMan from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

What I really liked about this film is that it focused on not the origins of batman but really the start, because they are quite different, this film was more about the journey than just dwelling on the past through hundreds of flashbacks that can become quite tedious.

The main thing I liked about this film was that it focused around the idea of the beginnings of Commissioner Gordon which is something that I'd never seen before, which is odd considering how many batman films I had seen, it was a welcome break from the usual just strict batman origins type film. What this film therefore did well was to show how batman and Gordon's destinies became intertwined from an early stage in both of their careers.

The animation was excellent and really helped to show the storyline, it was not over done so that the characters were completing impossible feats that were obviously cartoonish, instead it was really realistic, and what was especially interesting about this batman film is that it did not really rely on any of the 'super' villains instead it was all the corruption of the police, which was again nice to see in amongst all of the other forgettable batman films.

I loved the over monologue to this film, especially from Bryan Cranston who I am a huge fan of anyway, he really helped to carry the film through in his hushed tones. My only real negatives about the film were kind of small things such as why was cat woman in the film, she didn't really fit into the story very well, and the final fight scene was annoying in how Barbara just guessed where they were and turned up and how a whole fight was had with a baby in hand - however these were easily overlooked due to the amazing animation and distinctness of the storyline.

This film essentially shoes the origins in a way of many of the characters other than just batman which is something that is a healthy change from the usual batman film, definitely worth a watch form any fan of the batman franchise.

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0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
great, especially if you're a Batman fan, 25 August 2012

Author: nick-asaro

I never read Frank Miller's Year One comic before I saw this movie. nevertheless, I really enjoyed it. I liked how smoothly the narrative progresses. One of its particular strengths is how most of it is told from the perspective of Jim Gordon who has just moved to Gotham and become a cop. another is the detailed scenes of Gotham City and its people and it really emphasizes how much of a corrupt city it is. Batman himself is great. it also introduces Selina Kyle known better as Catwoman. the action is awesome especially in this one scene where the police are pursuing Batman. In my opinion, this is on par with Batman Begins.

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0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Batman: Year One, 24 July 2012

Author: Bouke v Laarhoven from Netherlands

Batman: Year One is an excellent interpretation of the cult graphic novel. It feels the same as the comic and you will be interested again in the first year as Batman of the world's greatest detective. Commissioner James Gordon's issues in his first year on the job in Gotham will really grab you by the throat. Bruce Wayne, returning to Gotham after a long exile, is troubled by feelings of responsibility, guilt and grief before he chooses to become Batman. This transformation takes place very organically and Bruce Wayne's trauma's aren't forced- or cheesy-feeling. The movie will also give you a first glimpse of Selina Kyle's transformation into catwoman. The Raw nature of her passages are done really good and you even get a sense of her origin story. (I recommend the graphic novel Catwoman - Her Sister's keeper to those interested in the complete origin story of Catwoman).

I can recommend the flick to everyone that ever read a Batman book or watched a Batman movie - and even if you haven't, this is the perfect place to start.

7,5/10

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0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
An excellent adaptation and yet..., 12 December 2011

Author: DarthBill from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Ah yes, finally, the long awaited adaptation of fan favorite origin story "Batman: Year One" written by Frank Miller (back when he actually wrote good stories) following his previous work on Batman (The Dark Knight Returns and Dark Knight Strikes) as well as his work on Daredevil (before he started writing Sin City, 300 and then completely degenerated with his sick, sadistic alleged parody 'All-Star Batman & Robin' - the price of a former visionary becoming trapped in one particular voice, in his case the "Look at me I'm a man!" voice). At one point Darren Aronofsky pitched doing this as a live action film to Warner Brothers, with future Harvey Dent/Two-Face actor Aaron Eckhart being his candidate for Jim Gordon, but for whatever reason he lost out to Christopher Nolan's pitch for "Batman Begins" (some bits & pieces of Year One can still be glimpsed in BB).

PLOT: Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham after some years abroad, training and honing himself to become Batman, the Dark Knight who stands against the criminals who ravage his beloved Gotham City. Jim Gordon is the new cop in town trying to hold on to his principles in the midst of a corrupt police force, but even a man as good as Jim Gordon is not without flaws, especially when it comes to fellow detective Sarah Essen. Selina Kyle is the struggling prostitute/thief destined to become Catwoman. And a whole mess of bad guys are lurking in the background...

I have to admit when I heard they were adapting this I wasn't terribly excited, just as I wasn't terribly excited for "Red Hood", another Batman feature, even though it proved to be an excellent feature, just like this one. Batman's been on top for so long that his overexposure in animation and film has taken some of the fun out of reading and/or watching his adventures. Meanwhile, many other DC heroes still have not gotten their due, let alone a fair chance at making it on their own (example: the Flash still hasn't even gotten one solo feature in recent years and continues to be relegated to ensemble pieces, usually as "the funny one").

It's not that this is a bad feature by any means. It's an excellent adaptation of the book, quite probably the most literal translation we'll ever see of any comic book story in any format, even more so than Zack Snyder's ambitious 2009 adaptation of Alan Moore's "Watchmen". The animation captures the look and feel of Miller's original story perfectly and the voice actors are all spot on. Contrary to the what the "Kevin Conroy is the only voice of Batman" supremacists may say, Ben McKenzie gives a strong performance as the younger, less experienced Bruce Wayne finding his way both as Batman and as his public 'disguise' of a free wheeling, loose living billionaire playboy, and he has a great cast backing him, including Bryan Cranston as Jim Gordon, Eliza Dushku as Catwoman (who gets a solo showcase feature on the side), and Katee Sackhoff as Sarah Essen, not to mention regular working class voice actors such as Fred Tatasciore as the corrupt Flass (Fred is better known to fan boys for being Marvel's go to guy for the Hulk from various video games and animated features), Grey DeLisle as Mrs. Gordon, and Steve Blum (better known to anime fans for his work as Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Beebop and Marvel's Wolverine in more recent years).

Still, I'd much rather see more features for Green Lantern and solo features for the Flash and Aquaman than another Batman feature. We've been to Gotham plenty of times, we know the back alleys and denizens very well. There's only so much you can do to put a new spin on the old town. Here's hoping that next time another DC hero will get to shine.

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0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Too faithful., 12 December 2011

Author: SnakesOnAnAfricanPlain from United Kingdom

Many credit writers such as Alan Moore and Frank Miller for making comics geared towards adults in the 80s. While I agree with the credit given to Moore, Miller writes an "adult" story from a child's perspective. He just adds violence, gore, and whores. What we have here is almost a direct adaptation of his Year One story. That means it's pretty great, but being a direct adaptation it's exactly the same, warts and all. So the problems I have with this movie are the same as with the comic. Catwoman is here for no specific reason, and yes she's a prostitute. This still confuses me as to why Miller did this, and I have no idea why they kept it for this film. It's unnecessary. In fact, Batman Begins is pretty much an adaptation of Year One, and a much better one. The best scenes in this movie were done in Begins, such as the SWAT team/horde of bats. All the voice work was competent, but very restrained and monotone. McKenzie does well to capture Wayne's fake obnoxiousness. Other areas could have been developed further, such as Gordon cheating on his wife. Decent, certainly, but should have actually handled the material as a separate entity.

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