Batman: Year One

Okay I admit that I am not just a Movie Geek but a Comic Book Geek as well…Okay I am also a Die Hard Gamer as well… okay I am an all-around geek, but I don’t consider that to be a problem because as they say on G4 “It’s a Nerd’s World”.

It is also no secret that I am a huge Batman geek. I admit that I am the man that spent all of my time a couple of weeks ago playing Arkham City which is awesome by the way.

Well one DVD/Blu-Ray that recently came out is Batman: Year One.

I know what you are thinking. Isn’t that Batman Begins? Well, not really.

You see the things about these flicks is simply Warner Premiere releases a line of Direct to DVD flicks in the DC Universe. They are primarily animated movies based on popular comic storylines. Some are flat out taken from the pages and placed on the screen while others are loosely based on the original work.

Now what I like about these are that they not only include the flick but they also are loaded with special features that are a present for many and all DC Comics fans.
These features include special documentaries on not just the story and the making of the flick but in-depth documentaries on the original work detailing the process from inception to the market reaction and the legacy of the work.

Some releases also include biographies on writers and Artists and profiles of the villains as well as the behind the scenes origins of certain characters such as Robin, Supergirl or the Darkseid.

Other features include Animated Shorts that follow smaller characters in the DC Universe. Not to mention selected episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, and Justice League.

These Features alone are worth the purchase of the Disc.
Batman: Year One is no Exception.

The main movie features outstanding animation telling the story of both Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon as they arrive in Gotham City for different reasons.

Wayne is returning to Gotham after traveling the world for thirteen years learning the skills to make him a crime fighter, and coming to Gotham to begin his mission.
Gordon is coming to Gotham to accept a job as a Police Lieutenant for the corrupt GCPD.

The story follows the characters as they narrate their story “Dexter Style” as is in the original Comic.

Other Characters featured in the story are Selena Kyle following her origin to become Catwoman as well as her young protégé Holly.

The flick will keep you entertained if you can forget the fact that you saw the whole story before in Batman Begins.

Now let us get on to the Special Features.

The documentary Heart of vengeance tells the story of how the writers and artists of DC Comics’ journey of taking Batman from his campy 1960’s image to his Dark Roots and the origins of the Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller and his return for Batman: Year One and the direction that the franchise to the Dark Knight Rises.

Other Features include a round table discussion with the heads of Batman at DC discussing the directions of the character and where he is going in the future.
What I mainly want to talk about here is the Catwoman short film that first off is HOT in some parts. Catwoman voiced by Eliza Dushku pursues a criminal across Gotham to uncover the truth behind his smuggling ring.

The short is awesome.

There is very much a Catwoman theme to this release. Could Dark Knight Rises have something to do with it?

Anyway this release is definitely a Buy for all Batman fans.

5 Dead Bodies
0 Breasts (close in the Catwoman short)
3 Beasts
4 Car Chases
3 explosions

3 Stars

Comic Fans Check it out!

Chronicle

Now for those of you that do not know what the Found Footage is, please allow me to explain what it is. The basic plot is the audience is shown home video footage of someone filming for a verity of reasons. Then without warning something happens and the person filming doesn’t either cut or run out of tape or battery power and it usually ends with the deaths of the characters or we are told what became of the characters. For many years the genre was marketed as a true story and what we are seeing is the footage that was found. Sadly in recent year’s people are much harder to fool.

I love the found footage genre. Most people complain about it but I like it. Now I admit that some of them like Cloverfield gave me a migraine but sometimes that happens. Hell, there are some Video Games that give me a migraine so I am going to leave that there.

Well I recently decided to check out Chronicle which is a different approach to the subgenre. This flick is both a found footage flick as well as a Superhero flick. However it takes its own approach.

The Flick follows three teenagers, cousins Andrew, and Matt and popular teen Steve as they go to a rave and find a hole in the ground with a strange glowing plant inside. Later on the trio discovers that they have strange powers as a result of this encounter.

Andrew who is relentlessly bullied by both his abusive father and classmates becomes the strongest of the three and begins to see himself as the “Apex Predator” and goes down the dark path leading to a confrontation with the other characters.

One interesting thing about the shooting of the film is the fact that it is filmed with not just one camera and that the characters can use the cameras with their powers so making it look like it is being filmed by another person. I also like the visual effects in this flick, especially in the scene where the kids are flying and encounter an airplane.

The characters are likable and the story where we are shown Andrew’s decent into becoming a super villain.

I definitely recommend this flick.

3 Dead Bodies
0 Breasts
2 Beasts
2 Explosions
1 Car Chase

3 Stars