Batman Begins Review

I suppose I should start this review at the most logical place: the beginning. I was 6 years old when Tim Burton’s Batman opened in theaters and fell in love with the film and character immediately. I’d seen the TV show from the 60’s before that, but this was something completely different. For the first time outside of the comic books Batman was taken seriously and portrayed as a true creature of the night. The film remained my favorite movie for over a decade until Spider-man was released in 2002. So how does Batman Begins compare to the Batman film I’ve loved for so many years? It is still a little early to say whether I like this one better or if it will hold the title as my new favorite bat-flick, but I can say with confidence that this is a better movie. For the first time the Batman (and Bruce Wayne for that matter) on the big screen is a fully fleshed out character with motivations and flaws that we can actually see. For the first time Batman is the star of the picture, rather than a member (or members) of his rogues gallery. For the first time actors have been cast instead of stars, including three Oscar nominees and two Oscar winners. And for the first time we get a film that captures the greatness of the character that had thus far eluded Hollywood.

So now that you have my official opinion of the film, I’d like to get into the specifics of the movie. Just like last time I feel the need to warn readers that I’ll be discussing details about the movie’s plot and you should not read the rest of the review before seeing the film. But just in case you’re scanning through without paying attention, here’s the caution sign: SPOILERS AHEAD. Before the titles, we get DC’s new film logo. Although I wish they’d gone with something a little different than Marvel’s this is a great moment for comic fans, as it marks DC’s return to movies and shows that they plan to give Marvel Films some much needed competition. From there we get the quickest titles sequence I’ve ever seen in a superhero movie, as the faintest bat symbol can be made out from within a swarm (flock?) of bats. The actual title of the film is not presented until the very end which is a choice that I think can be very cool when appropriate and absolutely works perfectly here. The next hour or so of the film follows Bruce’s origin (pssst, his parents get shot) and training. Superhero movies walk a fine line when it comes to extended origin stories, because if you don’t care about the character this can become incredibly (no pun intended) tedious. Thankfully the first half of Batman Begins falls on the side with Spider-man rather than the Hulk. At no point in the movie did I find myself going “put the damn suit on already”, and I feel that a lot of the most exciting and engrossing parts of the film come from the first half. Particularly good is Bruce’s ninja training in the Far East. Here we find Liam Neeson again in the mentor role that he plays so well. However the film uses the audience’s familiarity with Neeson in this role to play with their perceptions of the character. I won’t get too specific, but it makes for some very cool surprise moments in the movie. As long as we’re talking actors let me say that Christian Bale is far and away the best Bruce Wayne I’ve ever seen. We see more sides of the character in this film than all the others combined and Bale handles all of them perfectly. As the film shifts settings to Gotham City, we’re introduced to the rest of the principle cast. This is the first Batman movie where Alfred is not played by Michael Gough, who was the most consistently good part about the last four. This time around another British Michael, Michael Caine takes over in a much expanded role and does a very good job. The spark of a father figure that we saw in the first Batman is fully developed here, making the character much more interesting. We also get Morgan Freeman playing a lesser known supporting character, Lucius Fox. What can be said about Morgan? I’ve yet to see a movie with him in it where he wasn’t one of the best parts (or the best part) about it, and this is no exception. Admittedly Fox isn’t one of the more interesting characters in the film, but Morgan does such a good job of drawing you in and making you want him back on screen whenever he leaves. Then there’s future commissioner James Gordon, who has always been huge in the comics but relegated to a bit part in the movies. Gordon is finally given his due in the form of Gary Oldman in a dead-on performance. His part is still a little smaller than I would have liked but there were so many characters vying for screen time in this origin story, it’s understandable. I have a feeling he will be taking a much more active part in the next one as we start to see more of Batman’s detective skills. Speaking of those skills, I hope we see a lot more detective work in the next movie. I understand that he’s just starting out in this one and that worked fine for a first movie, but in the next one I want to see more Sherlock Holmes and less Vic Mackey. He’s called the world’s greatest detective for a reason and if the rumors are true and the Joker is the villain in the next picture, it’s important to show the dichotomy between Batman’s analytical nature and Joker’s fractured psyche. That’s what’s always made the Joker the perfect foil and it would be a shame if they do not capture that. As far as the villains for this movie go, both are phenomenal. Cillian Murphy is perfect as the Scarecrow and the effects of his fear toxin are absolutely stunning. I really doubted that they could make the Scarecrow scary but they pulled it off in spades. Ra’s Al Ghul is one of my favorite villains from the comic and he is flawlessly translated here. The immortality of the comics is only hinted at though and it will be interesting to see if he turns up again. To the fans wondering if they changed his character too much, all I can tell you is that they didn’t change him as much as you think. If I had to make any complaints about the film, I would say that I’m still not completely sold on the costume. Most of the time it looked good to great, but once in a while there would be a long shot of it where it just looked awkward. Much of the film is shot in a horror movie style with quick glimpses of the monster (or bat). This is a very interesting directorial choice that works well with the theme of fear in the film and probably comes close to what the perception of Batman would be to those unfortunate enough to encounter him. It also works well as the suit looks best in small doses. My other complaint would be that too many people find out Bruce’s secret. I know, I know, you could say the same thing about Spider-man (particularly the second one) but Bruce has always been more careful about his secret identity than Peter Parker has. One complaint I have been hearing a lot that I would like to dispute however, is Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Dawes. Her acting is fine and the criticism that her character is unnecessary is unfounded. Although the love interest subplot could have been cut out, Rachel is very important to the film as a utility character. She gives voice to Bruce’s superego throughout the film and introduces both Jonathan Crane and crime-boss, Carmine Falcone. These are all necessary things that without Rachel, various bit characters would have to fulfill. Instead they decided to combine them all into one character, which works fine. There are also plenty of scenes in the film that I felt Rachel was integral to and I do not believe would have worked without her.

I think this was a great start to what will hopefully be a very successful series. Screenwriter, David Goyer has shown that he absolutely understands the character of Batman as well as the other Gotham regulars, so hopefully he’ll have time to write a sequel as well as bring the Flash to the big screen. Director, Christopher Nolan brings that city to life with the most realistic portrayal of a comic book world I’ve ever seen. It’s a breath of fresh air to see a summer blockbuster (and a superhero movie at that) with minimal CGI, and I think that devotion to realism really paid off. Here’s hoping they hire everyone back for the next one and get started right away. I have a feeling we might be getting a few more laughs next time around.