Batman: Year One review

It's refreshing to see one of Batman's origin stories told not entirely from the perspective of the eponymous hero.

Batman: Year One was released in 2011and follows a storyline that has been around in DC comics for a long time - the first year the Dark Knight donned the mantle and started fighting crime.

Those familiar with Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins will see more than a few similarities between the two films, albeit Year One has a dramatically reduced runtime.



Bruce Wayne, 25-year-old heir to the Wayne Industries mega corporation, has returned to Gotham City after having been missing for more than a decade. Lieutenant James Gordon has just moved to Gotham City from Chicago with his pregnant wife.

Year One details the pair's first year in establishing themselves as major players in the city. It was only after watching the film, I discovered the story is almost shot-for-shot adapted from the original 1987 comic run, a la Zack Snyder's take on Alan Moore's Watchmen.

As I mentioned before, it is refreshing to see a Batman film that doesn't just focus on Batman or Batman's rogues gallery - in fact, the story is quite restrained and most of the action and character development focuses on Gordon.

Look at those giant, black eyebrows in that sea of ginger hair...no, wait, don't look. 

It's clear where the inspiration for Batman Begins comes from - most of the antagonists of the piece are corrupt police officers and gangsters. There's even a brief look-in at a fledgling Catwoman, which sets up the antagonistic relationship between the two anti-heroes.

The animation is outstanding, with the characters all having a very angular cast to them. At times it looks closer to some higher-end anime than to other western works - think Animatrix more than Batman The Animated Series. The fight scenes stand out, with movement flowing naturally and the injuries making me wince in sympathy.

Batman: Year One's character design isn't perfect - with the majority of men looking like they spend every available moment they're not on screen working out at the gym. Some of the CGI/cel-rendered sequences used to animate vehicles can be a little jarring too.

Feel Batman's scowl of disapproval at your jarring CGI

It was strange to hear another actor voicing Bruce Wayne/Batman (SPOILER, BRUCE WAYNE IS BATMAN) other than Kevin Conroy, but Ben McKenzie does an admirable job and he grew on me after the first couple of minutes.

It's a quick watch and a very pretty one at that so Batman: Year One gets the nod of approval.

Four stars.

One, two, three, four...FOUR STARS