| Batman: Year One | |
| Director: | |
| Music: | Christopher Drake |
| Editing: | Margaret Hou |
| Distributor: | Warner Home Video |
| Runtime: | 64 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $3.5 million[1] |
| Gross: | $6.1 million |
Batman: Year One is a 2011 American animated superhero film based on the four-issue story arc of the same name printed in 1987. It was directed by Lauren Montgomery and Sam Liu. The film premiered at Comic-Con on July 22 and was officially released on October 18, 2011.[2] [3]
It is the 12th film released under the DC Universe Animated Original Movies banner and was released on DVD, Blu-ray and digital copy.[4] The film received positive reviews upon release for its animation and faithfulness to the source material. It was also a commercial success, bringing in $6.1 million on a budget of $3.5 million.
Billionaire Bruce Wayne returns home to Gotham City after twelve years abroad, training for his eventual one-man war against crime. James "Jim" Gordon moves to Gotham with his wife, Barbara, after a transfer from Chicago. Both are swiftly acquainted with the corrupt and violent atmosphere of the city. Gordon tries to focus on purging corruption from the Gotham City Police Department after witnessing his partner, Detective Arnold Flass, abuse his power as a cop. Unfortunately, several officers led by Flass beat him on orders from his superior, Commissioner Gillian Loeb. In revenge, Gordon tracks Flass down, beats him, and leaves him naked and handcuffed in the snow.
Bruce believes he is still unprepared to fight against crime despite having the skills he learned abroad. He goes in disguise on a surveillance mission in Gotham's red-light district, but is reluctantly drawn into a brawl with several prostitutes, Holly Robinson and Selina Kyle. Two police officers shoot Bruce on sight and take him away in their patrol car. Bruce breaks free, flees from the scene, and returns to Wayne Manor barely alive. He sits before his father's bust, requesting guidance in his war against crime. A bat suddenly crashes through a window and settles on the bust, inspiring him to save Gotham as Batman.
With Bruce strikes as Batman for weeks, crimes significantly decline. He even goes after Flass, who is in the middle of accepting a bribe from Jefferson Skeevers, a drug dealer of Carmine Falcone. Loeb experiences Batman's threats the night when he's attending a dinner party held at the mansion of Gotham's mayor, he orders Gordon and GCPD Detective Sarah Essen to arrest the vigilante. The two cops and Batman eventually cross path as they save an old lady from a runaway truck that nearly hits her. Batman then flees into an abandoned building which Loeb orders a bomb dropped on. He also sends in a SWAT team led by a trigger-happy commander, Branden, to kill any survivors left in the building. The intensity of the hunt increased, alerting dozens of neighbours nearby witnessing the situation. Batman uses a signal device to attract a swarm of bats from the Batcave as his only route to escape. After witnessing Batman in action, Selina is inspired to don a costume of her own and begin a life of crime.
Gordon and Essen have a brief affair and spend two months dating. Essen, however, chooses to leave Gotham upon learning he is going to be the father of Barbara's child. Gordon is left alone to investigate Bruce's connection to Batman. He travels to Wayne Manor with Barbara to interrogate Bruce, who uses his playboy charms to divert suspicion. While leaving the manor, Gordon confesses his affair with Essen to Barbara. Skeevers gets bailed with the help of a hired lawyer but is attacked by Batman shortly after, who convinces him to testify against Flass. Skeevers is drugged with rat poison as an attempt of assassination so that he remains silent about the ties between Loeb and the mafia, although Skeevers ultimately survives.
Bruce sneaks into Falcone's manor as Batman and overhears the private conversation between Falcone and his nephew, Johnny Viti. He surmises their intent to target Gordon's family, so he disguises himself as a motorcyclist to help Gordon. Gordon leaves home on Loeb's orders but becomes suspicious and turns back, only to discover Viti and his men already holding his family hostage. Viti flees the scene with Gordon's infant son. Gordon chases after him on Bruce's motorcycle. The two men end up fighting on a bridge until the baby falls. Bruce catches up in time and leaps over the bridge's railing to save the baby. Gordon thanks Bruce for saving his infant son's life and lets him go. Flass supplies Assistant District Attorney Harvey Dent with the evidence and testimony needed to implicate Loeb, who resigns in disgrace. Gordon is promoted to captain and prepares to meet with Batman to investigate a potential plot orchestrated by a criminal calling himself the Joker.
Producer Bruce Timm noted that the adaptation of the film was relatively straightforward due to the cinematic nature of the original story arc. Bryan Cranston originally turned down the role as James Gordon because he was unfamiliar with both animation and classic comics. Cranston said: "I wasn't aware of this level of storytelling in animation."[5]
Batman: Year One received positive reviews upon its release. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of based on reviews from critics, with an average rating of .[6]
An IGN review of the film, after its Comic-Con screening, praised the voice actors and concluded with, "This is real, serious adult entertainment that should satisfy longtime fans and newcomers as well." Another review from IGN panned the film, describing it as "dead on arrival – a lifeless bore with stale voice work and a disjointed, sporadic narrative that was best kept on the pages of Frank Miller's stellar graphic novel."[7]
Tommy Cook of Collider called the film a "faithful adaptation".[8] The A.V. Club gave the film an A−, saying, "Batman: Year One is a stellar adaptation, copying Miller's words and Mazzucchelli's images almost verbatim at times." Concluding that, "It all recalls what it felt like to read Batman: Year One for the first time, and sense that this was a story that had always existed."[9]
Cinemacrazed criticized the short run time of the film as its main downfall.[10] James O'Ehley of SciFiMoviePage notes that the faithfulness to the source material works for and against the film, with voiceover and dialogue slowing down the action, and he goes on to say how the animation could be bolder, the voices gruffer and the sound more stirring but that overall the film is better than other DC animated films.[11]
In an article for The Missing Slate, discussing the influence of the comic version of Batman: Year One on film depictions of Batman, Michael Dodd praised the casting of Bryan Cranston as James "Jim" Gordon. Referencing Cranston's famous role as Walter White on Breaking Bad, he argued that the choice of casting "truly encompassed the character's determination and downright badass attitude in the comic Year One".[12]
The film earned $6.1 million from domestic home media sales.[13]
The DVD and Blu-ray release includes a short animated film titled Catwoman. In the film, Catwoman deals with the crime boss Rough Cut (voiced by John DiMaggio) while trying to stop a cargo shipment.[14] There is also a sneak peek for the 2012 film , two featurettes, a commentary, a digital comic book, two episodes ("Catwalk" and "Cult of the Cat"), a standard edition of the film, and a high definition edition of the film.
On August 11, 2015, Warner Home Video re-released the film on a combo pack, which includes the graphic novel it was based on and a copy of DVD and Blu-ray.
In 2019, it was released as part of the Batman 80th Anniversary DVD Collection, which came with 18 animated Batman movies. It released alongside , , Batman vs. Robin, , Son of Batman, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Parts 1 and 2, , Batman: The Killing Joke, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, Batman Ninja, , , , , and .
On November 9, 2021, the film got a 4K UHD Blu-ray release as part of its 10th, titled "Commemorative Edition."