GeekFreak: Batman - Year One

So, in response to Poe’s tradition of Hell-O-Ween being started, I figured I’d start my own themed reviews. Now I will admit I’m not one for horror movies; not savvy enough for them to appreciate their unique form of art and atmosphere. The best critique I can give a horror movie is how long I was able to keep my eyes on the screen and not covering them. Seriously, I can barely get past watching a let’s play of PT, let alone sit through so much as a trailer of Ouija. So instead, I’m going to review a few movies that retain the spirit of Halloween somewhat.

I'm going to review the Leprechaun movies!

Kidding. That’s next March. Nah, I’m going to review animated Batman movies.

Let’s face it, DC is all about Batman these days and who can blame em. Granted that’s no excuse for what they've done to the Joker in the New 52, but that’s a different reviewer over the fourth wall over yonder.  

While DC is crapping the bed right now in their cinematic universe, they've DOMINATED the animated series sector since the 90s with Batman: The Animated Series. And for this month, I’ll be reviewing some of the Batman movies. Now the only rule I have is that I’ll be doing them in a somewhat chronological order of Bat’s own timeline. So our first film today:

Batman: Year One

I’m going to shake things up a bit here; going to try doing what Poe does and go through the whole film plot as he does. What better way to keep you people from peering away from my page?

Year One is based on, what else, the comic of the same name. Published in 1987 and written by Frank Miller (OOOHHHH boy we’ll get to him another day), the story depicts a young Bruce Wayne returning to Gotham and beginning his crusade against crime and corruption alongside James Gordon, who is also just starting at the Gotham City Police Department.

Now I won’t be drawing in compare or contrasts between the comic versus the movie; that I’m saving for if they ever make an animated Killing Joke movie (Oh please Warner Bros, pull through for me). I’m doing both because I haven’t read it and that it’s not my specialty. I know movies and only the bad stuff about comics (a-la New 52). So enough about the comic, time to dive into the film.

As said before, the film pretty much has the exact same story as the comic: Bruce Wayne (voiced by Benjamin McKenzie) returns to Gotham after years of absence to begin planning his crusade against evil. At the same time, a young Lieutenant James Gordon (voiced by mother-mething Bryan Cranston) arrives in Gotham with his pregnant wife Barbara (Grey DeLisle) to battle the GCPD’s corruption in a city without hope. Gordon is met by Detective Flass (voiced by Fred Tatasciore), a corrupt bully of a cop along with the current Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb (Jon Polito) and his trigger happy SWAT man, Lt. Brendan (Stephen Root).  All corrupt as hell and assisting Carmine “The Roman” Falcone (Alex Rocco) and his businesses.

The first 1/5 of the movie is spent introducing Wayne and Gordon to the corruption in the city, Flass beating up a random teen for the seemingly for the hell of it. After a few weeks, Wayne dons a disguise and heads into the shadiest part of Gotham to test his skills and see where he’s at, getting into a brawl with the locals and a then dominatrix Selina Kyle (Eliza Deshku). When cops show up and shoot him (on the base that he was “going to move”), he hijacks the car from the back seat and escapes; retreating home. Barely alive, Bruce asks a bust of his father for guidance in his crusade. A bat smashes through a nearby window, landing on the bust and in doing so, inspiring Bruce for what he needed to finally take on the world of crime.  

Meanwhile, Gordon has been making progress in taking down the corruption in Gotham. In response, Commissioner Loeb sends Flass and others to beat the crap out of Gordon, even threatening his pregnant wife should he continue fighting against them. Gordon responds in kind by tracking down Flass one night, beating the hell out of him in a FAR worse matter, stripping him naked and leaving him in the snow. Gordon did so because Flass has way too much pride to admit he was beaten so badly by a single guy; making up a story about 10 attackers instead.

Through the months, Gordon becomes famous for several heroic acts (among them: saving children from an escaped Arkham Asylum patient with a gun), and Wayne finally starting out in his new identity: Batman. Batman slowly makes his way up the crime chain, taking down “dealer, to pusher, to supplier”. He even goes as far as interrupting one of Carmine Falcone’s dinner parties, threatening everyone there (corrupt politicians, Loeb included) that he’s out to get them. Loeb orders for Batman’s arrest by any means necessary. To assist, a new detective, Sarah Essen (Katee Sackoff) is brought in.

One evening after a failed staged robbery to drawn Batman out, Essen suggests in a car ride that Bruce Wayne is Batman because of his wealth and just how Batman gets his equipment. When Gordon and Batman stop a sleeping driver from hitting an old woman, Bats is forced into an abandoned building with a bullet wound in his leg from nearby officers. Loeb orders in the big guns: bombs dropped on the building, sending Lt. Brendan’s SWAT team to blow the place to hell, helicopter and sniper to top it off. After the SWAT team’s reckless shooting almost hurt folks watching from behind police borders, Bats goes all out and breaks every single one of them to bets, escaping with a sonic signal that attracts a GIGANTIC swarm of bats to cover him. However, he didn't escape without a full more bullet wounds.

Selina, having witnessed Batman in action, becomes inspired to give up being a prostitute and buys her own animal motif costume to steal from others to make her living now. And so Catwoman is born (Frank Miller critics' inside joke in this paragraph).

Gordon succumbs to some temptation and has a brief affair with Essen. Luckily he comes to his senses and ends it, Essen requesting a transfer. All the while, Batman beats the hell out of a drug dealer, who then decides to testify in court against Flass' illegal dealings. Loeb threatens to reveal Gordon’s affair to his wife, should he try anything else to assist the dealer. After an attempt at interrogating Bruce Wayne (foiled by Bruce’s acting and spending 5 grand on a woman to sit there and look pretty),

Gordon actually confesses his affair to Barbara.

When Batman tries eavesdropping in a conversation between Falcone and his nephew Johnny Vitti (also Fred Tatasciore) for their plans against Gordon, interrupted by Catwoman attacking his home to make a name for herself. Everyone is knocked out, and Batman is delayed till morning to realize Falcone’s plan: kidnapping.

As Wayne figured, Barbara and the newborn are kidnapped, Gordon arriving in time to save her, but the baby is still taken away. Taking a motorcycle, Gordon gives chase as Wayne makes his way via foot and parkour after them. In the struggle, Gordon, Johnny, and the baby are thrown over a bridge, Wayne diving in and saving the baby. Losing his glasses in the struggle, Gordon thanks the unmasked Batman, noting that he’s “practically blind without (his) glasses”.

The film comes to an ending inner monologue on a rooftop by Gordon as he reveals that he and Barbara are taking couple’s therapy, and that someone calling himself the Joker had threatened to poison the Gotham Reservoir. Luckily, he has a friend who will be there soon to help…

Now, the biggest thing I have to say about the movie is the inner monologues Bruce and Gordon spout here and there throughout the film. I’m not bothered by it, but it’s just a tad annoying seeing one of Frank Miller’s worst trademarks on film. Long story short: dude’s never been able to stop writing comics like its Sin City. Granted Year One came out BEFORE Sin City, but I don’t hate the monologues. Only real gripe I have on them is that unless they’re plot relevant, it doesn’t transition well onto screen.

Example: there’s a scene early one when Bruce is visiting his parents’ graves. He monologues about how long it’s been since they’re deaths, then talks about how he’s gonna do something about it. If he never said a word and the animation was focused on his face, we could have gotten the message all the same. But hey, I guess it’s just staying loyal to the comic.

About the acting: Benjamin McKenzie’s delivery in the monologues is so…bland. He rarely brakes volume or really puts emotion into what he’s saying. It’s like listening to William Hurt on an Audible version of the comic. His performance isn’t bad, just almost uncaring. Luckily he makes up for it when he has to talk out loud. His Batman voice is especially good. Now for the monologue, I guess I shouldn’t expect everyone in the world to talk in different volumes in their own heads. I’m not a psychologist or a mind reader, so it’s just a small complaint. Overall however, Benjamin McKenzie was a good casting choice. Fittingly enough, he’s now playing James Gordon on the new Gotham TV series depicting an almost similar story. Funny how things work out, eh?

Bryan Cranston is AMAZING as Gordon. While I haven’t seen Breaking Bad, I have seen enough Bryan Cranston to know he is an amazing actor. Even when he gives the monologues, quiet as they are, he’s still got a lot of effort in each line. Emotions just permeate from this guy and it’s a really great performance.

Everyone else is pretty solid overall. It’s a small cast, but a good one at that. I know I haven’t really said much about those outside of Bats and Gordon, but that’s mainly due to the fact that is more THEIR story while everyone else is there for plot or drama. Actually to be more accurate, it’s pretty much Gordon’s story throughout the movie, focusing a lot on his problems and inner thoughts. Not a bad thing, really. If anything we need more stories on James Gordon. Though when you realize that his newborn son is going become a homicidal maniac, there's just something to think about. 

I would say the pacing’s a bit off, but it’s kind of fitting. The movie moves scene to scene with a small annotation in the corner saying what the date is, taking place at various points in a calendar year. Jumping date to date isn’t TOO bad, but it could’ve been handled just a TAD better. Although it is keeping true to the comic, so I can’t hate on it too horribly.

The actions is nice and paced well, but I will admit I would have like may be a few more fight scenes of Batman starting out and not quite matching his enemies blow for blow. We do a scene, but it’s just that: ONE scene of him starting out and making amateur mistakes. Perhaps a montage; I mean the comic WAS published n the 1980s so it seems appropriate.

Not much else to say about the film. First animated Batman review on this site and still experimenting with a few details on these reviews. So, bottom-line: was the movie good?

 Answer: Yes.

I really did like this movie, it felt more “movie-like” than any other of the animated DC movies and does well getting through the story with some well paced development. The characters are the highlight of the movie, seeing them at their very start and seeing how they are slowly molded into the people we see today. The animation is solid, the acting impressive, and just overall a great Batman movie. I would recommend it to any Batman fan, or even just comic book fans in general; seeing the most famous of heroes in his origin.

Well, that’s the first movie of this month. I’ll be doing about 3-4 more, depending on how things go. Just sit back, and enjoy these along with Poe’s own Hell-O-Ween.

"From this moment on, none of you are safe."