Animated version of the classic Frank Miller/David Mazzucchelli comic book story about the beginning of Batman's career as a crimefighter and Jim Gordon's career with the Gotham Police Department. It's a pretty faithful adaptation with minimal changes. For the most part I liked it but I did have some problems. For starters, the animation is unremarkable. I applaud them for using comic stories as source material because there's a lot of gold to mine there and Hollywood has shown that, when screenwriters are left to their own devices, they come up with some pretty shitty stuff for these characters. That being said, adapting a comic book into a cartoon brings with it the natural comparison of the art styles. Mazzucchelli's artwork is just amazing so you would think/hope that they would try to add the same level of creativity to the animation. But, no, it's just your basic DCAU cookie cutter 'house style.' It's disappointing if you admired the art in the comics. Also, the voicework is full of face actors not great voice actors. Kevin Conroy and Bob Hastings are missed. Ben McKenzie, who does the voice of Bruce Wayne here (unimpressively), goes on to play Jim Gordon in the similar "Gotham" TV series. Finally, the story seems a bit rushed. The comic story took place over four issues but adapting that into a film you have to take into account the different pacing of the two mediums. The buildup here is kind of limp for such an iconic story. Still, the source material is so good that they could only mess it up so much. It's an enjoyable animated movie. Not as great as it should have been but very watchable.
Review of Batman: Year One
