Batman: Year One

Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham after years away and does not yet know what to do about crime. On the same plane is Lieutenant James Gordon, transferred from Chicago, who finds a police force that is corrupt from top to bottom. The film tells the first year of both men in parallel: one making mistake after mistake until he finds the costume, the other trying to survive his own colleagues. It adapts the 1987 comic series by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli. Lauren Montgomery and Sam Liu directed. Bryan Cranston voices Gordon, Ben McKenzie voices Bruce Wayne and Eliza Dushku voices Selina Kyle, with Jon Polito as Commissioner Loeb, Alex Rocco as Carmine Falcone and Katee Sackhoff as Detective Sarah Essen. Cranston turned the part down at first, saying he was not aware of this level of storytelling in animation. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 88 percent, with reviews praising the animation and the fidelity to the source. On a 3.5 million dollar budget it took 6.1 million domestically. The home release adds a Catwoman short and a preview of Justice League: Doom. Who it is for: readers of the comic and anyone curious about Batman before the costume. Who it is not for: viewers wanting action. Much of it is Gordon's police story, and Batman stays in the background for long stretches.