Whether you personally like it or not, you can use the same narration in a movie as in a comic book. It can work. Sin City showed us that first, also Kick-Ass, and it worked in Batman: Year One for me as well. I'm glad the screenwriter Tab Murphy included as much of the noir style narration as he did of Batman: Year One, especially with Bryan Cranston as Gordon in the Gordon centric Year One, and I was disappointed that screenwriter Bob Goodman did not include hardly any of the narration in the Dark Knight Returns, because Bob Goodman obviously wasn't a fan of voice over narration and argued against including it. Goodman could have done a more efficient job conveying the precise personal thoughts, emotions and the noir tone by including the narration. It's that extra layer into the thoughts and emotions of the characters in the comic book that is lacking in the film. That's one area that it's lacking in an otherwise impressive film of Dark Knight Returns. Goodman did manage to convert some the essential narration story points into dialogue at least, so the lack on narration didn't ruin it for me.
