Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (2012-13)

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (2012-13)

Dir. Jay Oliva (both parts)

A two-part animation adapted from the 1986 book of the same name by Frank Miller. 

I enjoyed much of Miller's comic work in my younger years, but his dialogue is very much of that particular medium and as such isn't really suitable for film. That meant I wasn't overly concerned that Batman's inner-monologue was removed in the movie version. I thought it would be compensated for through more visual means, but it wasn't.

01. Regarding Part One, what remained was the slow pacing and the deconstruction of the typical superhero genre through various TV broadcasts, offering up conflicting views of the action and the possible motivations of the very different kinds of sociopaths.

Batman: Year One (2011)

Batman: Year One (2011)

Dirs. Sam Liu + Lauren Montgomery

Year One is Batman's origin story retold yet again, this time based on Frank Miller's 1987 story arc of the same name (in Batman #404–407).

Visually, it closely resembles David Mazzucchelli's character designs, which I was very pleased about.

It's a surprisingly faithful adaptation, with instances of dialogue and scene setting lifted directly (and at times almost verbatim) from the source text. The perspective is split primarily between Batman/Bruce Wayne and Lieutenant James Gordon, with occasional input from Selina Kyle. Both men provide a rather dry but useful v/o, offering insight into their private thoughts.

Ben McKenzie is okay as Batman, but Bryan Cranston steals the show as a Jim Gordon who has to work hard to win his battles and fix his mistakes. Eliza Dushku is pretty weak as Selina, but the character is very underdeveloped, so she didn't have much to work with, to be fair.