- There is probably no single person more responsible for Batman's resurgence in popularity over the past few decades than Frank Miller. Without him, Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan never would have made their versions of the Dark Knight so very dark. Without him, Batman's various animated incarnations likely would have featured less Kevin Conroy and more Adam West. That's why it's so difficult for me to admit that I really hate what I've seen of Miller's work. As good as parts of it looked in both graphic novel and movie form, I view Sin City primarily as an illustration of how much better noir is when some things are left unshown. I've always thought of The Dark Knight Returns as little more than a bad extrapolation of a great character, far inferior even to Batman Beyond.
- With these criticisms in mind, I was wary of Batman: Year One. The DC Animated features of late have been a bit lackluster anyway, and I figured that Miller's influence wouldn't make this one any better. Boy, was I right. Basically, Miller took a set of iconic characters and made them so flawed that they only seem like heroes in contrast to their utterly squalid surroundings. To wit, Lieutenant (and soon-to-be Commissioner) Gordon (Bryan Cranston) cheats on his wife and beats up a crooked cop (Fred Tatasciore). The existing Commissioner (Jon Polito) is a puppet of the crime syndicate, represented by Carmine Falcone (Alex Rocco). Selina Kyle (Eliza Dushku), in keeping with Miller's nuanced approach to women, is a prostitute who decides to become a jewel thief. It's a sad state of affairs when Bruce Wayne (Ben McKenzie) seems like the most normal and well-adjusted of the bunch.
- You might think that this "gritty" approach to characterization and storytelling would necessarily be more realistic than traditional comic books. To that, I have two responses. One is that this is a story about a man who dresses up like a bat to fight crime. Realism is not required. The second response is that, much to my surprise, these stories aren't any more realistic than Batman's usual adventures. At one point in the film, Bruce Wayne actually leaps off a bridge to save Gordon's baby, who had been taken hostage. Don't tell me that's more plausible than a clown who kills people with laughing gas. At any rate, the film's most colossal error may be to take two musical cues from Michael Mann's Heat and one visual cue from Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks." As a rule, you shouldn't quote art much, much better than your own.
- Katee Sackhoff and Stephen Root also did some voice work.
- The DVD also contained a "Catwoman" short that had way more pole dancing than you would expect. Also, it sucked.
