So I am aware that posting reviews on these DC Warner Premiere titles is risky or precarious at best. The fans are quite knowledgeable and while some don't want a fluff review others are full of adoration for their favorite characters and want reviews that only say positive things. Having had the privelege to obtain and view the film a week before its planned release I am going to attempt to review the actual overall quality for those who are uncertain about making this purchase. While all opinions are obviously subjective I will try to state facts and point out any statements that are based more on my opinion to allow each individual to decide for themself.Adaptation/Story: Overall this is an excellent adaptation, 10/10. The film follows the exact plot of the original Frank Miller graphic novel, and as has been stated in interviews with Bruce Timm and others, it doesn't leave any scenes out but some are added/very slightly rearranged. The added scenes, in my opinion, don't feel out of place. They are in tone with the original material and are also kept few and far between. Certain monologues/inner dialogues have been slightly changed or shortened but the essence of each is kept true to the source material.The story, needless to say, is fantastic and establishes Batman in a dark gritty world of realism, pure genius on the part of Frank Miller.
Note: Only a rewording of Bruce Wayne's opening monologue felt pointless to me, rather than saying he should've taken the train to be closer to the enemy he says from the plane he can't see the enemy. I feel his desire to be near the enemy was better felt with the original line. Sorry to nitpick.
Animation: Stunning 9/10. It is clean and crisp, which may seem contradictory to my next statement, they perfectly capture Mazzucchelli's gritty and realistic artwork and clearly let it drive the art direction of the film. It is well directed, with nearly every shot and design taken right from the graphic novel and having been brought to life, though Jim Gordon's jawline has been made slightly more defined. There is a wide array of fantastic color selection but still a muted tone that recalls the look of the graphic novel.
That said, my own personal preference for the fluid style of animation I was raised on (BTAS for example) leaves me feeling newer DC features often have a stiff/static feel to their animation no matter how beautiful it is, which is sometimes the case here. I've never been sure if this comes from intention in design, trying to emulate certain anime styles or if it has to do with budgetary constraints. In any case it isn't an issue for most and detracts little to nothing from the beauty and style of the animation. (For an example see the scene where Bruce Wayne kicks over the tree and how it falls over).
Voice Acting: Well done, 8/10 overall.
Eliza Dushku seemed an odd choice to me to play this version of Catwoman as she is caucasian and here Selina Kyle is African American (*several people have told me Selina isn't African American here, I seem to have made the same mistake I made with Luthor in Superman:TAS. I concede I was mistaken, nevertheless I still see her that way when I read the graphic novel or watch this, I always thought it added an interesting new dynamic). Dushku's voice work suits the character and brings real emotion, attitude and strength to Selina. She is able to flesh out the character surprisingly well given a short amount of screen time.
Bryan Cranston plays Jim Gordon. I am bias here as I am a huge fan of Cranston and his recent work on Breaking Bad, but I find him to portray Gordon as a relatable and likable man who is tough yet tired. Any occassional stiffness in his inner dialogues seems to be an intentional direction given by Andrea Romano and is faintly noticed at best.
Ben Mckenzie plays Bruce Wayne/Batman. I admit to being a fan of Mckenzie from my younger years watching The OC, but here I feel his voice seems out of place and somewhat forced, that's where voice acting loses points. It doesn't ruin my enjoyment of the film as a whole, and will likely grow on me over future viewings but his inner dialogues and monologues play very stale, especially the robotic opening dialogue, which had me concerned for the rest of the feature, but thankfully it levelled out as the film progressed and became more tolerable. The stiffness again seems to be partly an intentional choice but I feel a little more emotion could have been injected without risking oversentimentality.
Other voice actors do phenomenal work, Jeff Bennett and Grey Delisle are old pros while Katie Sackhoff and Jon Polito fit well into their characters. The only other misuse of voice besides Mckenzie, in my opinion, was Alex Rocco as Falcone/The Roman. I enjoy Rocco's voiceover on other series but he felt more like the voice of a thug than the boss of a high profile crime family.
Sound: 10/10. The score is used well and sparingly. This world is immersive and the sound effects are all realistic and chosen to enhance that immersive feeling. The final credits are amazing and really left me on a high, I hope all future titles incorporate panels from the source material into their closing credits, simply fantastic. The score over the final credits was also well done, a moody rock ballad, it felt like a Batman theme but was also reminiscent of the late 80's style, the era the story was first published and seems to be set in.
So overall I don't want to make this any longer than it has to be. It is a faithful adaptation, probably for my money the most faithfaul adaptation DC/Warner Premiere have done so far. I am bias as a huge Bat-fan but I place this and Batman: Under the Red Hood [Blu-ray] as the two best films so far, with Justice League: The New Frontier Special Edition [Blu-ray] coming in third. I would actually place this one above Red Hood only because I admire Frank Miller's story so much and find the world created to be so much more distinct and layered. With only 64 minutes of runtime this is a short film but an immersive one that merits repeat viewings, for me anyways.
I'll leave each reader up to their own decision based on this information but I say this is worth the money for fans of Batman or for fans of Frank Miller. Even better if you are a fan of both. I'm glad this time I wasn't disappointed. I also know that some question why so many of these releases have to feature Batman, why not some other DC heroes, but after seeing Year One pulled off this well I am personally hoping they attempt Batman: The Long Halloween in the near future.
Amazon's rating system is flawed, based on their five star system I love this film and give it 5 stars, if this was a rating out of 10 I would give an overall 9/10.
**For those, like myself, who once thought titles like The Long Halloween were an impossibility without butchering them for length there seems to be new hope. The upcoming adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns will be a two part production. If they do well we may yet see proper adaptations of Long Halloween and Dark Victory that are actually at the quality they deserve.
As I've already said, this is a VERY faithful adaptation of the classic comic book story. It is different from other recent adaptations such as Marvel's Planet Hulk or even DC's Justice League: The New Frontier, which changed some aspects of the original storylines and added a lot of dialogue. In Batman: Year One much of the dialogue from the comic book was imported more or less wholesale into the animated film.
The story may come as a bit of a surprise to those who are not familiar with it. Many have said that it should really be called Commissioner Gordon: Year One because the story focuses so heavily on the commissioner and how he reacted to the sudden appearance of the Dark Knight. It is therefore quite different from the more Bruce Wayne centered perspective taken in the movies and elsewhere. The approach to Batman taken in this film is among the more realistic. He has a few gadgets but nothing like the high-tech stuff that he totes around in most recent comic books and films. He gets bruised in his battles with everyday hoodlums and can't take out twenty guys at once the way he can in other storylines. The Dark Knight also makes mistakes both in his judgments and his relationships. He doesn't seem to know everything and be able to track every situation as he does in many Justice League stories. It is in short a more human and less super heroic Batman than the one we see in other places.
I was impressed by how Warner Brothers managed to translate the gritty realism of the Batman: Year One comic book into the film. They didn't spare any of the sordid details of Gotham life. The prostitution, the violence, and the corruption of the police are all depicted in the film. This is very much as it should be. Gotham City just wouldn't be Gotham City without them.
The production values for this brief (slightly over an hour) film were also excellent. The animation is beautifully done and captures some of David Mazzuchelli's artistic style from the comic books. All of the voice actors (Ben McKenzie as Batman, Bryan Cranston as Commissioner Gordon and Eliza Dushku as Catwoman) turn in solid performances although I don't know if I like McKenzie as Batman quite as much as I like Kevin Conroy's rendition in the video game. Nevertheless, the animation and voice performances make this a pleasure to watch.
Why only four and a half stars? Sometimes faithful adaptations can be TOO faithful. The animated version of Batman: Year One falls into this trap. I loved the comic book version and enjoyed the film. But perhaps because I had read the comic book already, I found the animated film to be missing an element of surprise and suspense. The film adaptation of Watchmen (which I also generally enjoyed) had a similar problem in my view. Despite this criticism, if you liked the comic or just want to see a good Batman story I would recommend watching Batman: Year One.
Buy Batman Year One (Special Edition with Collectible Catwoman Figure) (2011) (2011) Now
I thought the movie was well done and did a great job of following the comic. I'm not not going to over analyze the details of the movie or complain about the voicing, if you want to find a problem with something you will. I thought Batman Year One the movie did a great job of following the comic and I loved the movie.Batman Year One is the story of how Batman transitions from a vengeance seeking victim into the Gotham City crime fighter we know today. With far fewer gadgets, far more mistakes and no allies, BYO focuses on Batman as a newbie crime fighter something that hasn't been done before in movies or animation. While many of us are sick of Hollywood prequel fever (i.e. Spiderman 4), BYO actually got it right by keeping it short and simple. No real cliffhangers, no super-complex plot, no huge leaps of faith (although I do question the last fight scene of the movie man of foot chasing motorcycle and car...really???), and most importantly no major deviations from the original story line. Throughout the movie there was great attention to detail, I really felt like I was transported into the past to discover a side of Batman I never knew. BYO also has two parallel story lines (Lt. Gordan's 'on the job training' and an intro to Catwoman) that fit in nicely. Personally, I would have like to have seen a 2 or 3 minute flashback on Catwoman's background, but that's just me.I gave BYO 5 stars and highly recommend it to DC and Marvel fans alike.
Congrats to producer Bruce Timm and team on another fantastic DCU animated movie.
Want Batman Year One (Special Edition with Collectible Catwoman Figure) (2011) (2011) Discount?
Very close to the original comic! Frank Miller's work brought to life with great animation and voice acting, I'm watching a second time to compare with the book, and it is worth it!
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