If you were faced with a choice to stand and defend for what you believe in, would you be brave enough to deal with the consequences? In Batman Year One is about two men and their struggle to save society. One man is tasked with working with the law as a cop and the other working above the law as a vigilante. Their lives will collide where they will both work as a team under the shadows to save the people of Gotham City. It is a tough road indeed to take on the task of a hero but some are strong enough to deal with the consequences. This classified partnership will be a blessing to Gotham, as long as they survive.
The voice of Batman is Ben McKenzie which I guess is fine since this is the beginning and in the movie he is 25 years old. That would be the right young voice for the part instead of Kevin Conroy. The other stars of the movie consist of Bryan Cranston as Jim Gordon, Eliza Dushku as Selena Kyle/Catwoman, Jon Polito as Commissioner Loeb, and even Katee Sackhoff does a voice over which is great. The struggle between Jim Gordon dealing with a corrupted City and an even more corrupted Police department makes him the minority fighting a legion of adversaries. The best thing is seeing how Jim Gordon became who he is since we already know about Bruce/Batman’s story; it was a great twist to see both developed characters in action.
The animation style is well done and very gritty which Batman in my opinion should always have that dark feel towards it. The art style was a bit simpler vs. the other Batman animated movies and they didn’t put too much gadgets just as yet.
The icing on the cake for me is the story is written by famed comic book writer Frank Miller. When you hear Frank Miller, you expect nothing to hold back in the comic and make a dark story come to life. I appreciated how they humanized the story and made you connect with the characters in some form.
In the end Batman Year One is a definite BUY! The simple fact that Batman is an awesome character with a great story and has evolved through many different writers, also the Blu-Ray comes with an extra bonus of “Catwoman” short. Batman Year One will be out next week Tuesday for $22.99 Blu-Ray and comes with a Catwoman statue, regular DVD will be $14.99. I hope you enjoyed this review and check back for more in this week for Comic Con, stay frosty!
