I was privileged enough to get a chance to see a screening of the new Batman animated film, Batman: Year One, based on the famous Frank Miller graphic novel of the same name. I haven't read the graphic novel myself, but I thought I had a good grasp on what the film would be about. Boy loses his parents, finds the means to fight injustice, and conquers all of his first-time jitters to become the Batman we all know and love. There is no way to sum up this great addition to the Batman lore in such a simplified way. Batman: Year One is a humanizing portrait of a city plagued with crime, and a hero tired of waiting for salvation.

The story mostly follows Jim Gordon as he begins to work for the Gotham city police. He finds himself being the only true good cop in a police force so corrupt they are basically hired guns. Gordon seeks to rid Gotham of it's corrupt police, while trying to keep the peace within the city. He is unknowingly going to have help from Bruce Wayne, who is learning who he needs to become in order to be the protector he wants to be for the city. Eventually, these two noble people come clashing into each others life, as it's Gordon's duty to arrest the Batman, and Bruce's duty to keep himself close to the organized crime lords so that he can prevent innocent citizens from being harmed.

Frank Miller's portrayal of Gotham city's characters could be considered poetic. The inner monologues of these characters give the audience a chance to dive deep into the psyche of what would otherwise be interpretation of characters we have seen before. You understand Gordon's drive to help a city that is pretty much burning in it's own criminal gunk, as well as his determination to give his unborn baby a chance to grow up in a good city. Every aspect, personality, and trait is enhanced by the fact that we can hear his inner thoughts. His confidence is amplified when we know he isn't just displaying it for displaying sake, but when we actually hear his inner intentions for his confidence it paints a character that is much more dynamic and layered than we are use to seeing.

Frank Miller is also able to show a more humanistic side of Batman. Everyone these days seem to be more focused on trying to make Batman real in the sense of someone being able to successfully have all of the tools needed to become a vigilante powerhouse, but Frank Miller manages to show a Batman that is real in the sense of someone putting on a simple costume, and going out into the most dangerous city of the country, trying to do what a horde of police could not achieve. He shows Batman with flaws, and more vulnerable than we are use to seeing. One who is as human as me or you, and still has to take baby steps in order to reach his desired goals.

The inner monologues themselves are often anything but straight forward. Frank Miller's voice overs are the closest thing to a poem you'll ever get in a Batman film. I love the scene where Batman has been shot, and he uses the bell that calls Alfred as a metaphor for whether he should kill himself or not. When a bat bursts into the home, and rests on his father's portrait, he simply replies, “I ring the bell.” and the audience already knows exactly what he means by his intentions. Miller's lyrical writing is the true gem of the film.

In terms of a narrative structure, the poetic voice-over execution is good at setting up the film as a noir story, much in the same way as Miller's writing had made Sin City a noir film. Usually, voice-overs within the narrative can often be repetitive and redundant, with characters pointing out aspects that the audience could have figured out themselves. However, Miller's writing is more focused on the character's state of mind, as well as what's at stake, instead of focusing on revelations. It helps keep the audience engaged without spoiling surprises.

My only nitpick about the narrative is how it can never settle on one character. Despite the title, this film is Jim Gordon's story. He is the one that arcs into trusting Batman and learning why he is necessary for Gotham to have. I'm not sure how much the graphic novel focused on Batman, but for this film Jim Gordon is the main character. With that in mind, it seems like the story will occasionally stop to address where Batman is at in his journey, and while Gordon's storyline is aiming towards a climax, Batman's is one of discovery, and completely different tonally than Gordon's. Gordon gets more screen time as well. I wish that they would have either added more material with Batman so that the two characters had an even amount of time within the film's narrative, a la The Godfather Part 2, or that Batman's presence would have been substantially lessened to make him seem more mysterious, and not bog down Gordon's story with Bruce Wayne's non-related journey. To add insult to injury, Catwoman's presence felt completely tacked on. It went from a nice cameo, to having a side story that didn't really add anything substantial to the narrative. I think the story would have felt more concise if they would have cut her story out, and added more scenes with Batman.

The voice acting felt new, but it didn't take long to get use to the voices. I'm so use to Kevin Conroy as Batman that anyone else is just going to feel awkward, but Ben McKenzie did an admirable job as Bruce Wayne/Batman; able to capture the unsureness of his actions that a young Batman would show, but still have the fearlessness that has become a signature for the character.

Bryan Cranston as Jim Gordon didn't take long to get use to. It felt like he stepped in the role and immediately understood the character completely. He was able to portray the calm, nobleness, and confident demeanor that we have seen in many of Jim Gordon's portrayals, but was able to add a layer of indecisiveness to the character that was a nice change of pace. This was the noir version of Jim Gordon, who isn't afraid to kick a few teeth in when he needs to set the record straight. By the end of the movie, you wish Bryan Cranston would play the character in a live action film.

The curse of watching something great months before it has been launched is that you can't watch it again until it's released. After watching the film I was begging for more. No matter how dark the Batman films get, Frank Miller knows how to make a grimly humanistic and real Batman story, that, as I said many times within the review, feels like Batman poetry.

After the screening there was a Q & A with Bryan Cranston, Ben McKenzie, Katee Sackhoff, executive producer Bruce Timm, directors Lauren Montgomery and Sam Liu, and casting/dialogue director Andrea Romano.

You may have wondered why I kept referencing Frank Miller as the genius behind this piece, instead of the film's producer, Bruce Timm. Timm admitted at the start of the panel that they pretty much used the graphic novel as the basis for the entire film, and made sure to be completely one-hundred percent faithful to the graphic novel. Therefore, Frank Miller was still behind everything that made the film great. The only aspect of the film they changed was enhancing moments for cinematic purposes, such as Gordon's fight scene. In the book, he just punches the corrupt cop, and walks away. In the film, he literally pummels the cop into a coma. It was a wise decision as a simple punch would have been anti-climatic, but it is still Frank Miller's words that make this film great.

The actors kept their comments to a minimum, but did make plenty of jokes. Bryan Cranston needs to return to comedy. He was hilarious, and his chemistry with Katee Sackhoff is good enough to warrant their own sitcom. Outside of the comedic moments, they each did contribute some interesting tidbits. McKenzie noted the parallel of him undertaking his first voice-over work, and Bruce Wayne becoming Batman for the first time. Romano added that this must have helped his performance bring the insecurities of his first voice-over job to Bruce Wayne and his inner struggle with becoming Batman. Cranston admitted he was hesitant at first, but jumped on board after reading the script. Judging from the faithfulness of the film I'm sure the script was pretty much the graphic novel, so it wasn't a surprise Cranston would love Miller's genius work.

The panel ended with the announcement that they plan to work on Justice League: Doom, along with a Superman vs. The Elite film. The biggest surprise came with the revealing that they will be tackling another Frank Miller novel. They are planning to adapt The Dark Knight Returns into a two-part film! The Dark Knight Returns is one of the most revered graphic novels of all time, and if Timm fumbles the adaptation he could easily lose the trust of the Batman fanboy community. However, if Batman:Year One is any indication as to how they plan to handle Frank Miller's best Batman work, then Timm may have another masterpiece in his stable.

8.5/10