As Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City to don his vigilante, crime fighting alter ego, police lieutenant Jim Gordon takes a job on the force and finds graft and corruption at every turn. Soon, both men become outcasts and targets of the police force in their struggle to uphold sanctity and virtue. "Batman: Year One" is the latest entry in the DC Universe Animated Series. While the dark animation services the story nicely, the film is vacuous and off-putting and the voice work leaves a little to be desired. Ben Mackenzie is unmemorable as Batman and is actually a supporting player to Bryan Cranston's Gordon, who is in all out, one-note Walter White mode as the righteous commissioner to be in an uninspired "Serpico" plot. Batman works best with darker treatments, but there is no need or point in it being this bleak. "Batman: Year One" has some merits in its animation but nothing more beyond that.
note: The DVD includes the short "DC Showcase: Catwoman", which is a likewise uninteresting tale of the feisty feline outlaw taking on a diamond smuggler and crossing paths with Wayne.
I thought this could have used a little more fleshing out, but it's pretty close to being a perfect adaptation of the comic book storyline it takes its name from. Definitely agree about the voice actor doing Batman/Bruce Wayne, though. For me, Kevin Conroy IS Batman more than any of the flesh and blood actors who might have tackled the role in live action films, and there really was no reason not to have him on board for this film as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm judging it not being familiar with the comic, which may be unfair.
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