Batman: Year One (2011)

Batman: Year One (2011)

7/10

Starring the voices of:
Benjamin McKenzie
Bryan Cranston
Eliza Dushku
Katee Sackhoff


Directed by Sam Liu and Lauren Montgomery

Based on Batman: Year One by Frank Miller, this dark film has all the requirements that will make all Batman fans crave for more and make new ones wonder what they’ve been missing. The Bruce character was well deployed, and such deployment is still yet to be toppled, as the one pulled off by Michael Keaton still remains the best Batman/Bruce Wayne character I have seen in either a movie or cartoon.

This addition to the series of DC animations sees our hero’s first year in the crime-fighting life. We see Bruce emerge from the dark trying to discover himself, to evolve from fighting on the streets to protecting the just, then to hiding under a mask. It also introduces Gordon, as he too moves to Gotham from Chicago with his family.

We hardly see movies that depict heroes as humans. Although the Bat is human under the mask, his enemies didn’t think so. The movie has scenes that include Bat being shot and wounded with blood dripping, and him finding it hard to move about. Such scenes didn’t happen just once.

Hey! Who jumps around in a costume, fighting bad guys with guns and expects not to be stabbed, shot and hit one too many times?

Our Bat was, and we get to see him injured. (Not taking all the bullets on his chest and still finding it hard to deal with a mere human called Lex, just making a point.)

Both Gordon and Bruce run into one another at different times, with Gordon suspecting Bruce Wayne as the new vigilante named Batman. Side stories are also introduced. We see Catwoman’s character being formed, and we also get to see what made Gordon rise in the ranks to become commissioner.

What makes this movie different from the others before it is the side it takes, which is, THE DARK SIDE.

Meant for mature viewing, Year One has it all — from fights, adultery, drinking, corruption, blackmail and all that is required to make a hero stand out in a corrupt society.

One thing I felt did not work is that after a while, I felt the humanizing of Batman kind of marred the spectacle of the character, Batman. Who seems to always be thinking and be one step ahead of everyone, here he seems to bumble around more than I would like, affecting the mystique of what makes him Batman and what makes villains fear him.

The movie is meant to be a prelude to the game Arkham City, which was one of the best games of 2011.

Directed by Animation Director Sam Liu, and the scenes and the animation are a little different from the shading you may be used to. Which for me I did not like, but it did not affect the explosive scenes that have action and fights drawing in from all around.

This is a better movie than Under the Red Hood and as interesting as Public Enemies, but different from both in the all-out action and fight scenes that were introduced.

I recommend it.