By: Peter J Mellini

Batman: Year One takes a dark and edger feel then we’ve ever seen in an animated feature.

Like the graphic novel by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli that the movie is based on, Batman Year One is Jim Gordon’s story. Bryan Cranston provides the voice of an early in his career James Gordon, an honest cop who helped internal affairs to take down a corrupted officer in Chicago and was transferred to Gotham. Gordon quickly learns that the police force in Gotham acts like a group of hired killers and thugs all under the command of Mob connected Commissioner Loeb (voiced by Jon Polito).

As Gordon settles in to his new city, Bruce Wayne (voiced by Ben McKenzie) returns to Gotham after several years training abroad. Wayne is impatient to go forward with his plan to use his training to fight crime and avenge his parents, but he is still unsure how to make the criminals fear him. On his first undercover excursion, Bruce tries to save a girl who he believes is being abused but is attacked by prostitute Selina Kyle (voiced by Eliza Dushku), a fight that catches the attention of police who open fire and shot Bruce Wayne.

Bruce escapes police custody and gets himself back to the mansion. Once home, Bruce sits in a chair, bleeding and contemplating giving up this fight before it’s even begun. Just then, a stray bat smashes through the window, giving Bruce the symbol he was asking for.

The Batman takes on burglars and thugs, working his way up to the mob boss Carmine Falcone (voiced by Alex Rocco). Gordon, still trying to remain an honest cop despite random attacks and threats to his family from his fellow officers, is tasked with capture the Batman. Not an easy task when Gordon has to deal with psycho swat leader Brendon (voiced by Stephen Root) and his extreme methods.

Practically a page for page adaptation it’s safe to say the animated film kept true to the source material. Even the artwork in the animation mirrors graphic novel artist David Mazzucchelli style. This is something that is clearly seen in the design and look of Batman and Bruce Wayne.

The casting in this film was spot on, especially Bryan Cranston as Jim Gordon who stole the film. Although there are hardcore fanboy purist that believe no one but Kevin Conroy should voice Batman in any animated production, Ben McKenzie really pulled off the portray of a young rookie Batman.

The two disc dvd set comes with a DC Showcase short featuring Catwoman. Written by fan favorite Paul Dini and directed by Lauren Montgomery and features Eliza Dushku as the title character.  The short features Selina in a more contemporary costume as she fights diamond smuggler named Rough Cut (voiced by John DiMaggio).

Both the film and animated short took full advantage of a PG-13 rating. From Batman dropping an F-bomb, to Catwoman performing a provocative strip tease, this is not a cartoon for kids.