Batman Begins Review
by Mark R. Leeper (mleeper AT optonline DOT net)June 29th, 2005
BATMAN BEGINS
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: BATMAN BEGINS re-invents Batman for the screen and still has time to comment on the story of a certain other recent blockbuster. Nolan's and Goyler's script is not perfect, but it has many very interesting ideas and touches. The film sports an all-star cast led by Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne--soon to be Batman. Rating: +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10
The real hero of BATMAN BEGINS is director Christopher Nolan (of MEMENTO) and story author David Goyler. Together when they wrote the script they were either just lucky or have pulled off an amazing coup, trumping George Lucas. Early in BATMAN BEGINS Bruce Wayne is being trained in a super-powerful fighting order that combats injustice in its own mystical way. But to protect the thing he loves he betrays his teacher and the wise old guru behind his teacher. He goes over to the "other side," where he dons a black power suit to become a powerful frightening legend. In short, the origin of Batman is the origin of Darth Vader, but as seen from the other side. Assuming that was intentional, it was a bold idea and the timing of the release of the film is just about perfect.
The similarities of the two stories actually may be more than coincidence. George Lucas has long since revealed to fans the planned origin of his Darth Vader and even the date we would see that story on the screen. Nolan's and Goyler's clever, audacious script for BATMAN BEGINS apparently plays off of, reverses, and comments upon Lucas's myth. This is just one of the script's interesting accomplishments. Another is to re-envision and revitalize the entire Batman film series.
Confession time: With the exception of reading "The Dark Knight Returns" I have not read a Batman story written since the early 1960s. Friends assure me that the two characters of Ducard and Ra's Al Ghul really do come from the comics even if they are new to the screen. Still, similarity of the stories and the timing of the release of BATMAN BEGINS seems just about too good to be coincidence.
Another nice innovation of this film is how Batman moves. The film exploits the advantage that cinema has over the comic book medium for creating the Batman character. In the real world when I see a bat it is usually just a flash. Bats usually move too fast for the eye to follow. When we see bats in this film they also move too fast for the eye to follow a single bat. Christian Bale's Batman has this same characteristic. Fights seem to be staged so that it is impossible to keep one's eye on Wayne/Batman. When Batman strikes there is frequently little to see. Batman is a nearly unseen presence. He can seemingly be everywhere and nowhere. The viewer just gets glimpses of him, just like a real bat. That effect cannot be done in a comic book where the panels are fixed in time. In the film his speed elevates Batman beyond being just a crime-fighter in a funny suit. Combine his abrupt movement with dark, film-noir photography and the BATMAN BEGINS makes him scary in a way that even the comic version could not. After two serials, a TV series, and at least five feature films, Batman is finally the mysterious force that creator Bob Kane intended him to be. For the first time Batman is more effective in live-action than he could be in the comic. In the genre of graphic superhero adaptations to the screen BATMAN BEGINS is at least a landmark and may be a high-water mark.
The film begins in what is apparently from the credits Bhutan. Bruce Wayne (played by Christian Bale) can already fight like a demon, but he carries a heavy rage from seeing his parents murdered in front of his eyes. He is adopted by a vigilante society called the League of Shadows. His teacher is Ducard, (Liam Neeson) and Ra's Al Ghul (Ken Watanabe of THE LAST SAMURAI) oversees his training. Wayne cannot complete his training because he is unwilling to be completely unscrupulous in the name of justice. Instead he returns to his home in Gotham City. In the city fate gives him an arsenal of personal super-weapons and allows him to create his vigilante alter-ego, Batman.
The film has a lot of story to tell, and we are better than an hour into the 141-minute film before we even hear the name Batman. Many aspects of the script are enigmatic or complete nonsense. Batman appears to be in his twenties in what seems like the current day, but he was seven or so when his parents were killed during the Great Depression. And from the Great Depression to the time period of modern weapons Alfred, the faithful butler (Michael Caine), does not appear to age a single day.
The plot is very complex with at least five different villains pulling in different directions. Towards the end of the film the editing is so fast-paced and is shot in such a choppy fashion that the film really becomes incoherent. But there is quite a bit of story in its 141-minute length. Why does it seem so many superheroes get their start from either radiation mutation or mystical Eastern philosophies? Batman in this film takes the latter path, like the Shadow, Chandu the Magician, the Green Lama, and everybody who ever graduated from Shaolin Temple. The script, which might be a little over-packed in spite of its long length, has tips of the hat to such divers sources as H. P. Lovecraft, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", and QUATERMASS AND THE PIT.
The cast of this film is massive. Included in the cast are Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, and Morgan Freeman. It is quite a powerhouse cast. I suppose it says something that Morgan Freeman would even consent to do a comic book adaptation film. One problem with casting Christian Bale as Batman is that in spite of efforts to disguise his voice, when he is wearing the Batman suit it is all to easy to recognize that it is Christian Bale in a Batman suit, though perhaps not as easy as to tell the Christopher Reeve Clark Kent is the same person as the Christopher Reeve Superman.
It is difficult to rate a film with such virtues and which also has such glaring faults. On balance it does enough that is impressive that I would give BATMAN BEGINS an affectionate +2 on the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10.
Mark R. Leeper
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Copyright 2005 Mark R. Leeper
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
