By Mike Huntley
If you were to ask anyone who the two most iconic heroes in comics
were, most likely Superman and Batman would be the top of the list.
While one hero was born on another planet and was sent to Earth where
he was raised by a farmer to become the world's greatest savior and a
bumbling reporter for The Daily Planet, the other was a psychologically
traumatized billionaire who witnessed his beloved parents get shot and
murdered right in front of him as a child causing him to thirst for
stopping crime any way he could by intimidating criminals with his
frightening alter ego under the cover of darkness. Batman is a
character who has endured it all. He has been a dark vigilante. He's
been a funny guy running around with a wise cracking kid sidekick who
just could not get rid of a bomb. He's been a member of the Justice
League. He's fought alongside Superman. He's been old and retired only
to become Batman again or mentor a teenage Batman. There's so much that
can and has been done with The Dark Knight of Gotham City. Besides 1939
through the 1940s, Batman didn't really begin to gain back an even
darker and grittier style and tone until the 1970s and '80s. In the mid
'80s, comic book writer Frank Miller switched over to DC Comics after
previously writing Daredevil comics for Marvel. Miller really brought
together quite the number of different eras of Bruce Wayne's life. Of
Miller's work on Batman, there are two graphic novels that are most
popular among Batman fans. They are The Dark Knight Returns, which
features a 55 year old Bruce Wayne who has been long retired from being
Batman until Gotham is terrorized by a gang called The Mutants. And then
Miller also brought us the tale that explored The Caped Crusader's
first year in action with a definitive origin story for both Bruce
Wayne/Batman and Jim Gordon titled Batman: Year One.
When
Gotham City is in desperate need of heroes, two men take action but on
different sides of the law. Lt. Jim Gordon just transferred to Gotham
City with his pregnant wife from Chicago. Upon arriving at the Gotham
City Police Department, Gordon notices corruption everywhere. Shady cops
from his sleazy partner, Detective Flass, all the way up to his boss
Commissioner Loeb. All of which associate and protect Gotham's biggest
crime lord Carmine Falcone and his men. Meanwhile, billionaire Bruce
Wayne arrives back in Gotham after being away several years traveling
around the world. One night, Bruce decides to disguise himself as a bum
and observe Gotham's underworld. He gets into a fight with a Pimp,
which causes a brawl attracting the attention of a local prostitute
named Selina Kyle. After fighting Selina, the cops show up to stop the
commotion and one of them shoots Bruce for no reason. Bruce escapes the
Police car and drives home with a bad bullet wound. While sitting in the
dark corridor of Wayne Manor thinking of what he should do to make the
criminals afraid of him, a bat crashes through his window and lands on a
sculpted head of his father. Soon, Gotham's criminals are attacked by a
mysterious figure dressed as a bat with the local papers calling him
The Batman. Batman's first mission is to take down Carmine Falcone's mob
family and just any sleazebag who happens to catch his bat-a-rang.
While the mob and the Police both try to catch and kill Batman, Selina
Kyle decides to quit her prostitution job and steal from the wealthy and
powerful while dressed in a cat costume.
Batman: Year One has got to be the most adult animated Batman feature
so far. I'll just go ahead and say it, if you've read the graphic novel
then you've basically seen this movie. But, even though it is basically
a shot by shot adaptation of the Frank Miller Batman origin story, I
still recommend checking this out. Why? Because it is fun to see this
classic story come to life with a wonderful voice cast and great
visuals. I know that people have complained that this movie was a frame
by frame replica of the comic book for the most part, but you know
what? They would really be bitching if the story had been changed
drastically. This ain't like remaking a movie frame by frame. With that,
yeah, it is a waste. But this is different. You are talking about
classic Batman stories here. Now, I wouldn't adapt this story frame by
frame into a live action movie because it would be way too short, but as
an animated feature, it works fine as a 60 minute movie. Animated films
are generally a quick watch anyway just like usually comic books are a
quick read and Batman Year One wasn't a really long story to begin with.
You could basically finish reading the complete story in about an hour
tops.
One constant complaint I hear is that
Batman: Year One is more of a Jim Gordon story than a Batman story. Yes,
Gordon is more the main character and we are seeing everything from his
point of view with some scenes being told from Bruce's side of the
story. Yes, this movie is more of a crime drama than an actual superhero
flick. Don't get me wrong, I love the more fantastical/comic booky
Batman, but I also love the more grim and semi-realistic take on the
characters as well. After all, Batman is a Human character, which is one
of many reasons why we love him and look up to him so much. He isn't
Superman with superhuman abilities. The man has a high tech costume and
high tech gadgets and high tech vehicles at his disposal. He's in the
same boat as James Bond or Ethan Hunt except he wears a frightening
costume and operates out of a cave underneath his mansion.
As for the movie, I loved it. Gotham is a really fucked up city in
this story and film. We have corrupt cops at every angle. We have the
mob who basically owns the town. We have titty bars at every block. We
have prostitutes from as young as 12 years old. We have Pimps that need
to get their asses kicked. Gotham is one city you don't want to live in
except for possibly the titty bars part. I could live with that one. I
loved how the display of Gotham City was a resemblance to the Gotham
City we saw in Tim Burton's Batman from 1989. Burton was probably
influenced by the graphic novel since it came out before they made the
movie.
For a short running time of an hour, we get to see Gordon and Bruce
Wayne's stories unfold at a decent pace. They are definitely the most
developed characters of the bunch. Due to Gordon and Wayne being the
main focus in such a short story, the other characters kinda get the
shaft. But, at the same time, this is a frame by frame replica of the
graphic novel, which is a classic story. You find out just enough about
who everyone is. Falcone is the mob leader. Loeb and Flass are shady
cops who are selling drugs for Falcone on the side. Gordon doesn't want
to get with the program. The Department wants to black mail or try to
kill Gordon. Bruce is trying to stop crime any way possible as Batman.
The cops and the mob are hunting him down. You get what's going on. It's
not hard to follow the story or get an idea of who everybody is.
Jim Gordon is a character who I always felt was underappreciated
by general audiences. I mean look at the Burton/Schumacher Batman movies
when all Gordon did was turn on the Batsignal and congratuate Batman
for saving the day! Thank God that Nolan did the character justice in
Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises. He was also
given a lot to do in the wonderful animated series. But here, Gordon is
the star with Bruce Wayne. We are watching Gotham and Batman mostly
through Gordon's eyes. Frank Miller said that he liked to call Gordon
Captain in his stories because he felt that Gordon was working his ass
off to fight corruption just as much as Batman was. The characterization
of Jim Gordon is great here. In particular, the scene when he is
sitting at the edge of his bed next to his pregnant wife, Barbara, and
is rubbing her stomach while thinking to himself...
"What was I thinking? To bring an innocent child to life in a city without hope."
And
then in the window far out on the rooftops, we see Batman jump down,
which is the first time in this story that we see Bruce as Batman. Great
and powerful moment there. Oh yeah, there's also a hot female cop
named Sarah Essen who comes to Gotham to help Gordon track down Batman.
During a coffee break, they get "close" which puts a strain on his
marriage. Again, Gordon is a much greater character than some people
give him credit for. All they want to see is a cool villain and Batman
using his toys to take em' down. Sure, I love that stuff too but I also
love great stories and well developed main and supporting characters in
my Batman universe than you.
The characterization
of Bruce Wayne/Batman is pretty similar to how he was portrayed in
Batman Begins minus the raspy Batman voice. We see three sides to the
character. The real Bruce Wayne who he acts like when alone or with
Alfred. The spoiled and womanizing playboy that the public sees. And
then of course him fighting crime as Batman. My favorite Bruce/Batman
scenes are early on when he gets into a brawl dressed like a bum and the
one when he first decides to become a bat. We also see a flashback of
his parents getting shot and his mom's pearls breaking apart. I also
really dug the scene when he crashes Falcone's dinner party. Reminded me
of the opening to Punisher: War Zone a little bit but minus all the
blood and gore.
I find it funny how some
people even claimed that this movie was a ripoff of Batman Begins when
Begins was actually inspired by this very story. There are similiarites
between Year One and Begins. The most obvious ones are that Carmine
Falcone was the mob boss in both movies, Batman uses a super sonic
device to attract loads of bats so he can get away from the cops chasing
him, and the ending is similar with Gordon waiting on the rooftop and a
mention of The Joker.
Selina Kyle's story
while very short was still my favorite origin story of her besides the
one used in Batman Returns. Here's a tough as nails woman who will kick
your ass without even breaking a sweat. She starts as a prostitute and
protects both herself and young Holly Robinson who is a 12 or 13 year
old hooker. Yes, a child ho! What the fuck Gotham?! Selina basically
plays the older sister role. I really dug how Selina evolves from
prostitution to being a cat burlar to get money for herself and Holly.
All of the supporting characters play their roles well even if
some are more developed than others in such a short period of time.
Alfred is in this briefly. I love the scene where Bruce pays a woman
$500 to act like one of Wayne's party girls so that Gordon won't suspect
him of being Batman. Bruce is sitting there looking like Hugh Hefner
with his robe and a girl on his arm while drinking an alcoholic
beverage. Great comical moment. The script by Tab Murphy was Frank
Miller's writing, but altered a bit here or there. There's even inner
dialogue with Gordon and Bruce where we get to hear what they are
thinking, which happens a lot in comic books. Just read a Spider-Man
comic and you'll see what I mean. I know that sorta thing could turn
some folks off with a movie though, but it is the comic come to life so
it worked for me. I did take some issues with the film though. The
biggest one was a scene where Bruce actually round house kicks a tree in
half. How the hell is that even possible? I know extreme martial
artists can do some crazy stuff by breaking bricks or blocks of wood by
karate chopping it in half with their hand, but a fucking tree with your
foot? I know this is based on a comic book, but if you're going to have
a more grim and more realistic tone, make what Bruce does as believable
as possible. I could see Superman pulling that off, but not Batman.
There's also a scene where Bruce is chasing a car out of costume and
jumps off the roof of a building to land on the truck perfectly. I could
see him doing this wearing the Batsuit because the cape would glide him
down but he pulls an Ethan Hunt stunt here. The biggest one is when
Gordon falls off a bridge to catch his infant son and Bruce jumps in
front of him to grab the child. From that distance, it would have either
killed them all or put them in the hospital with a lot of broken bones.
It just really bugged me. Would have worked better if Bruce was
dressed like Batman because Gordon would have caught the baby and Batman
would have caught Gordon and lifted them up with his grapple gun to
safety. Also, Holly kinda annoyed me a little bit with constantly saying
"Selina!" in almost every sentence.
"Selina! Things are blowing up!"
"Selina! It's Batman!"
"Selina! You punched Stan!"
The direction by Sam Liu and Lauren Montgomery was pretty well done
for the most part. I loved how they included the month and date
throughout the film. They really kept it in the same spirit as the
graphic novel and I enjoyed that. The look of the characters and Gotham
was great too.
One of the biggest highlights is the
voice cast who brought these characters to life. Ben McKenzie from The
OC gives a great performance as Bruce Wayne/Batman. I know McKenzie got a
lot of flack from fanboys who wanted Kevin Conroy to yet again for the
thousandth time reprise the role he made iconic back in 1992. Guys,
while Conroy is a great Batman, I wouldn't want him to play the
character all the damn time. We need more variety, which makes things
interesting. Sure, some actors may play the role much better than
others, but it is fun hearing different actors take on Batman both in
live action and animation. I also think Conroy would be wrong in playing
a Bruce Wayne who is in his late 20s. A Batman who's been around a good
number of years? Definitely! But, we needed someone much younger and
McKenzie did a great job. He pulled off Bruce Wayne, playboy Bruce, and
Batman well. He's no Kevin Conroy or Michael Keaton, but he did his
thing with the character. My favorite line is when he grabs a drug
dealer and says...
"You can't hurt me! Nothing harms me! I know pain! I know pain! Sometimes I like to share it with someone like you!"
Or when he crashes Falcone's dinner party and says from the darkness...
"Ladies.
Gentlemen. You've eaten well. You've eaten Gotham's wealth. It's
spirit, but your feast is nearly over. From this moment on, none of you
are safe."
Bryan Cranston from television's
Breaking Bad was marvelous as Gordon. Just when I thought that Bob
Hastings (Batman: The Animated Series) and Gary Oldman (Batman Begins,
The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises) were the only guys I could
see playing Jim Gordon, Bryan Cranston knocks it out of the park. This
guy should play Gordon in the next set of live action Batman movies. Not
only does he have the perfect voice, but he also can pull off the look.
Outstanding performance!
Whoever suggested Eliza Dushku to play Selina Kyle/Catwoman deserves a
raise. Like, seriously! I can recall years ago saying that I would love
to see her play this character either in animation or live action and
my wish came true. Eliza Dushku, who many remember as rogue vampire
slayer Faith on the hit television series Buffy The Vampire Slayer and
briefly in its spinoff Angel, was fan-fucking-tastic as Catwoman! She's
got the chops to really play the bad girl that Catwoman really is. She's
sexy. She's fiesty! She's purrfect! While I liked Anne Hathaway
as Catwoman in Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, I would love
to see Miss Dushku play the role on the big or small screen. She's up
there with Michelle Pfeiffer and Adrienne Barbeau as far as I'm
concerned!
Everybody else was pretty good
too. Katee Sackhoff, from Halloween Resurrection fame, was good as
Detective Sarah Essen, the woman Gordon has a kissing affair with. Jon
Polito was good as Commissioner Loeb. Alex Rocco was great as Carmine
Falcone. I like how the character looked like Marlon Brando in The
Godfather. Jeff Bennett has a small role as Bruce Wayne's trusty butler
Alfred and does it well. No Michael Caine, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., or
Michael Gough but not bad at all. Robin Atkin Downes has a small role as
pre District Attorney and Two-Face Harvey Dent. Fred Tatasciore played
the douchebag corrupt cop and former football player role well as Flass.
I can see why they turned Flass into a disgusting fat slob in Batman
Begins because he was on the inside. Lilianna Mumy was okay as Holly
Robinson even though she kinda got a little annoying in a younger
sibling kinda way. Grey DeLisle was alright as both Gordon's wife
Barbara and Vicki Vale. All in all, great cast.
Overall,
Batman: Year One is a good adult oriented animated Batman movie
following The Dark Knight's first year in crime fighting and the
beginning of his alliance with Jim Gordon. I definitely say check it
out, especially if you love the graphic novel.
GRADE
B+
Ever since I saw Batman Returns at the age of four years old back
in 1992, I and many other Batman fans have had a craving for Catwoman,
one of Batman's most iconic villains besides The Joker of course, to get
her own movie. Back in the early '90s, it looked like quite the
possibility with Michelle Pfeiffer reprising the role she made so iconic
and Tim Burton was in talks to direct. Sadly, things didn't go as
planned for Warner Bros. wanted to go in a more family friendly
direction due to the all mighty parents of the world complaining that
Batman Returns was too dark, violent, and adult as it was merchandising
Happy Meal toys at McDonald's. I actually still own some of mine just so
you know. Anyway, this put a huge damper on a Catwoman movie happening.
We did eventually get a Catwoman movie in 2004 starring Halle Berry who
wasn't even Selina Kyle and the setting wasn't in Gotham City. It was
just one big joke on us Batman fans. We probably still won't get a solo
Catwoman film starring Selina Kyle going off on her own crime spreed
adventure in the streets of Gotham. But, we did see the femme fatale
back in Gotham City with The Dark Knight Rises. We also got treated last
year to not only Buffy The Vampire Slayer star Eliza Dushku playing the
iconic cat burglar in the animated Batman: Year One movie adapted
straight from the classic Frank Miller graphic novel, but we also got an
awesome extra feature on the two disc DVD and the Bluray where the next
DC Showcase short animated film was a solo Catwoman story! Yay!!!!
One night while on the prowl around Gotham City, Catwoman discovers a
stray cat who is running from a bunch of thugs who are trying to kill
it. Catwoman hides the cat and retreives a necklace around the cat's
neck with rubies embedded in it. The jewels belong to crime kingpin
Rough Cut. Catwoman unleashes her fury on Rough Cut and his boys at a
local strip joint where there's a shoot out and she chases them down
without the help of The Batman.
Like Batman:
Year One, Catwoman is a very mature animated film. At 13 minutes, it is a
pretty fun, sexy, and action packed animated short. The script was done
by Batman: The Animated Series scribe Paul Dini who is known as the guy
who created the popular character Harley Quinn and has written a lot of
great Joker stories both in The Animated Series and with the Arkham
Asylum video game. I dug the whole strip club scene where we see a hot
blonde take off her bra and dance around that pole with her cartoon
boobs flapping although I can only imagine they are flapping since we
can't see them due to the PG-13 rating but we know they are flapping
around like a bunch of racoons in a gooney sack trying to get out. We
also get a very nice pole dance by the very vicious yet sexy as hell
Selina Kyle before she wraps her trusty whip around Rough Cut's throat
wanting to know why he wanted the necklace.
The direction by Lauren Montgomery is pretty good too. I do wish that
we actually got a feature animated Catwoman film that was 70-75 minutes
instead of a 13 minute short, but it works for what it is. All the sex
appeal, shoot outs, car chasing. Selina stealing some poor dude's
motorcycle. Catwoman causing a truck to flip similar to The Dark Knight
where Batman flipped the Joker's vehicle of choice. And we also get a
small cameo of little Holly Robinson at the end. All in all good stuff.
Eliza Dushku returns as Catwoman and does it purrfectly. Lilianna Mumy
returns as Holly Robinson. John DiMaggio was good as Rough Cut. Kevin
Michael Richardson was good as Moe. And Tara Strong who is best known as
Batgirl in The New Batman Adventures era of The Animated Series as well
as playing Tommy's little brother Dil on Rugrats was good as stripper
Buttermilk Skye. All in all good cast.
Overall, Catwoman
is definitely one for the guys and the women who love the Catwoman
character. Plenty of exotic and action fun to be had here!
GRADE
A+
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