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Review - Batman: Year One

BATMAN: YEAR ONE

The latest of the DC Animated features is based upon the classic Frank Miller arc from Batman 404-407. The original tale is held in such reverence that much of the dialogue, storyboarding and story structure have been lifted verbatim. This has both pros and cons.

Pro:
- We get the noir-style inner monologues.
- Gordon remains the focus.
- It remains sutably adult.
- The action is great.

Con:
- many scenes from that comic that take place over a couple of panels seem far too short
- some exchanges work well in print, but are out-of-place in film
- Atmospheric moments seem silly (Batman crashing the dinner party)

Whilst many of the DC features feel too short, this one comes in at the right length, even though it is shorter than most (this comes in at just over an hour, whilst most others are 75min). The action sequences were beefed up just enough that they flowed well without feeling tacked on. Gordon's one-man war on crime seeps deseration, but his affair with Essen is over in a flash. I couldn't help but feel that more of the plot needed developing, especially when one considers the short run-time (it only barely qualifys as a feature). We needed to see more insight into Gordon's relationships with his wife, Essen, Dent and even Flass and Loeb.

The biggest downfall comes from the sound design and voice acting. I wouldn't mind so much if this wasn't a problem with all the DC Animated features. It is more noticable in Batman: Year One however as some of the voice actors actually step up and, well, act. Eliza Dushku's Selina Kyle and Alex Rocco's Carmine Falcone are the stand out performances. The rest of the performances, whilst acceptable, come off as the rest of the sound design - a bit flat. The number of sound effects are kept to a minimum, rather than thinking about how to make the characters seem like they're in a living environment. The first day of the Sound Design module when I did my Film Production degree we learned about atmos tracks. The recording of a location's ambient sounds to lay down as a background track so that all of your scenes have an extra depth. FIRST DAY. Why don't these animated features have atmos tracks? They take three minutes to record and can be looped. It might seem like a minor quibble from someone who knows too much about it, but it's a simple thing that would really help to suck you into the movie.

My rating:

Batman: Year One suffers from the same problems as the rest of the DC Animated Features. So whilst it is entertaining, I'm afraid that I can't give more than 6/10 because it has done nothing to set itself apart from the pack.

Cover for Teen Titans #5

From Brett Booth's blogger we have, the speed force and Bart wearing Tim's old costume!

Justice League: Doom trailer

The next DC Animated feature will be Justice League: Doom based upon the Tower of Babel storyline. In this story Ra's Al Ghul uses Batman's own contingency plans to take down the Justice League.
The original story featured Kyle Rayner as Green lantern and Wally West as The Flash - it looks as though they've been replaced.

More Justice League: Doom Videos

New Star Wars comic looks at the Dawn of the Jedi

Very excited about these! The first one more than the second.

Dawn of the Jedi

image from Tales of the Jedi

At the New York Comic Con Retailer’s Breakfast, courtesy of Diamond Comic Distributors, Dark Horse Comics announced a new Star Wars ongoing series, Dawn Of The Jedi, with issues 0 and 1 launching in February 2012, described as their coolest Star Wars comic ever. Written by John Ostrander, it will start at the beginning of the Star Wars timeline with the very beginning of the Jedi Knights, in a time before light sabres when they only fought with swords.

Source: Bleeding Cool 

Book of the Sith (sequel to The Jedi Path)

BOOK OF SITH: Secrets from the Dark Side is headed for new generations of STAR WARS™ fans in a deluxe special edition produced by becker&mayer! in collaboration with Lucasfilm, New York Times bestselling author Daniel Wallace, and celebrated STAR WARS® illustrators.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…. Fragments of five essential dark side texts were passed among numerous Sith and Jedi—Darth Sidious, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Asajj Ventress, Mace Windu, Quinlan Vos, and others—who added their comments to the pages. Through the years, Darth Sidious pilfered and secreted away these texts, along with various objects created by his most powerful predecessors. Using this collected knowledge, the Emperor wrote his own manifesto, a sixth text, as well as a preface for the compilation. Each original text sheds light on the plots, exploits, and philosophy of the infamous Sith Order.

For years these texts and various accompanying artifacts remained concealed within a mysterious pyramid-like case. But now, with this recovered collection, all students of the Force can unleash the power and the madness of the dark side.

BOOK OF SITH: Secrets from the Dark Side is headed for new generations of STAR WARS™ fans in a deluxe special edition produced by becker&mayer! in collaboration with Lucasfilm, New York Times bestselling author Daniel Wallace, and celebrated STAR WARS® illustrators.

“BOOK OF SITH and THE JEDI PATH, which preceded it, are the first STAR WARS books that were conceived and developed as actual artifacts that originated in the STAR WARS galaxy,” says Carol Roeder, director of publishing for Lucasfilm Ltd. “Now both sides, dark and light, have the chance to learn from the powerful Sith Lords and the Jedi Masters who came before them."

The 160-page book features a faux-leather cover with debossing and heat stamping. Five removable artifacts—including a scrap of a Sith burial shroud, a battle map from the Great Galactic War, a diagram of Palpatine’s master plan, an Empire propaganda poster, and a note from Luke Skywalker—are tucked within the pages of the book. The book’s elegant design showcases original illustrations by acclaimed STAR WARS® artists, including Paul Allan Ballard, Jeff Carlisle, Chris Reiff, Chris Trevas, Russell Walks, Terryl Whitlatch, and the illustrators of Aristia/Hive Studios. The book and two accompanying mementoes—a Sith crystal and a Sith talisman—are enclosed in a mechanized blood-red and black Holocron case, which opens at the touch of a button with flashing lights and sounds.

“When we started this project, we really wanted to delve into the Sith side of the story,” says Jim Becker, president and publisher of becker&mayer! “We tried to imagine what kind of history lay behind their pursuit of absolute power. And how the Sith would hide their secrets over time. The innovative package our team came up with in collaboration with Lucasfilm, including the incredible Holocron case, is inspired.”

As each Sith Lord rose to power and then fell, the knowledge he gained vanished with him. Or so it seemed … Delve into the dark with BOOK OF SITH: Secrets from the Dark Side.

 Source: TheForce.net

Batman Inc art preview

Cameron Stewart has tweeted a slew of preview images from December's Batman Inc: Leviathan Strikes one-shot. They appear to show Stephanie Brown undercover at an English boarding school. That's a sentence I never thought I'd write.

Source: twitter

Hitman: Absolution gameplay footage

Hitman: Absolution trailer

Dustin Nguyen's evolution of Robin

The Avengers trailer

It was obvious that I was going to post this one, right?

Joss Whedon's The Avengers:



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