Batman: Year One

DC/Warner Premier's latest animated movie Batman: Year One was not half bad. My only nit-picky complaint was that I wished they kept the animation flat like the original David Mazzucchelli artwork instead of trying to flesh it out with shadows.

Otherwise it wasn't a bad adaptation of probably one of the best Batman stories to come out of the past 25 to 30 years. Maybe even better than some of the Batman films that have come out in that time too.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the story. It was written by Frank Miller in Batman issues #404 to #407 in 1987 and it recounted the beginning of both Bruce Wayne as the Batman and Jim Gordon first arriving in Gotham City.

Even though Batman is first learning the ropes, this ISN'T the "I'm doing this untilt he world doesn't need me" angst ridden, emotional and looking for closure Batman from the Christian Bale films.

Bruce Waybe makes it quite clear in this tale that he is not looking for closure. He wants to be Batman. You get a sense he's not looking to avenge his parents death. He becomes Batman because he wants to protect the streets so no one has to go through what he went through and give them the protector he never had as a kid.

He doesn't become Batman out of guilt. He wants to be Batman.

Another thing is they don't overdo the Batman voice for starters. A touch growly but nothing like the over-the-top incoherent guttural snarling Christan Bale attempts.

When he's talking to Alfred he isn't doing the voice. He's talking in his normal voice.

With that said, the cast in this one does a decent job. The bright spot in the cast is Bryan Cranston of both Breaking Bad and Malcolm in the Middle fame as the voice Lt. James Gordon. He sounds like a Jim Gordon who could probably kick your ass without breaking a sweat.

Batman: Year One is well worth checking out. I liked it better than both Under the Red Hood and Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. I was actually disappointed by Public Enemies while I thought Red Hood wasn't bad. But this one blows both out of the water.

Not a perfect adaptation of the comic, but then again I don't think there ever will be a perfect adaptation. Still, I enjoyed it.