Batman Begins Review
by [email protected] (Faust668 AT aol DOT com)July 22nd, 2005
BATMAN BEGINS (2005)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Viewed on July 8th, 2005
RATING: Four stars
The Bat signal shines brightly in the night skies of Gotham City again. Oh, no, you might say? Well, fear not. Director Joel Schumacher, who ruined the Batman franchise with his gaudy and glam Batman in "Batman and Robin," is absent. No Robin or Batgirl are on display. No George Clooney or Val Kilmer as Bruce Wayne or his alter-ego. No, what we have here is the freakiest, keenest and most entertaining Batman film yet. This Batman doesn't
just fly, he soars above all comic-book superheroes we have seen in the cinema screens lately.
Enter Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), shown in the opening scenes as a dour sourpuss imprisoned in some island. He unwillingly endures a training session with Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), a master swordsman and spiritual mentor who is in cahoots with the "League of Shadows." Bruce doesn't realize how dangerous and terroristic this league is until he is asked to decapitate a
man as part of his rite of passage. Needless to say, Bruce declines and fights
his way out of it.
We segue to the billionaire playboy we all know from previous incarnations - the one whose parents' lives were taken by a criminal when he was a tot. Bruce's devotion is to fight crime in Gotham, which is at an alarmingly high rate thanks to a volatile crime lord, Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson). There is also some creepy psychiatrist, known as the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), who wears a paper bag on his head and speaks in a deep bass tone before emitting some hallucinogenic vapor that keeps his patients institutionalized.
Bruce Wayne knows he can't fight crime with his tuxedo and good looks so he opts for a costume and some weaponry. The man to provide the arsenal and a costume fitting is Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), an inventor who works on the ground level of Wayne Enterprises. Fox provides Wayne with some bulletproof armored car that moves with the speed of, well, a bat. There is also
an armored Bat suit complete with all kinds of recognizable gizmos, belts and
well, you know the rest. Now Batman can confront the criminals of society and
prevent Scarecrow's psychedelic drug from making everyone into a mental patient,
as well as stop some superweapon from contaminating the water supply of Gotham.
And the non-corrupt Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman) is willing to help fight crime, even with the assistance of some guy in a bat suit.
But let's not stop there. Wayne has to confront his inner demons, mostly the death of his parents and the haunting memory of being attacked by bats in an underground cave. There's also the assistant D.A., Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes), who pines for Wayne's love yet would like him to mature beyond his wealth interests. And I shouldn't forget Wayne's butler, Alfred (Michael Caine), who looks after the lad as a concerned parent would.
Yes, folks, this is the Batman film I've been waiting for, and I'd assume fans
have been waiting for as well. Forget Tim Burton's own Bat incarnations - as good as they are, they don't come close to the psychological complexity on hand here. For once, Bruce Wayne and Batman are shown as separate sides of the same coin - we understand the duality perfectly and how they complement each other. The filmmakers have found the perfect actor to play the role - Christian Bale makes for a fauxly snobbish Bruce Wayne and a stirringly frightening Batman (face it, there's always been something malevolently creepy about a man dressed as a bat). As Bruce correctly pinpoints about his alter-ego, "anyone who dresses as a bat clearly has issues."
"Batman Begins" is directed by Christopher Nolan (who also co-wrote with David Goyer) with breathtaking sonic rhythms and acute sensibility. The few action scenes on display rivet in ways few action movies do because, listen closely Mr. Michael Bay, they deal with people whom we care about. CARE, CARE, CARE, thanks to good screenwriting!!! Yes, comic-book movies can make us care, including Ang Lee's underrated "Hulk" and the super-duper "Spider-Man" movies. Nolan invests enough time and patience for the first hour of the film to make us see Bruce Wayne's roots before segueing to the Caped Crusader. And Nolan has proven himself to be a master director after the brilliant masterpiece "Memento" and the moral complexity of "Insomnia." I can't imagine another director putting such a personal stamp on a blockbuster film and still make it energetic and exciting.
Besides uncovering Bruce's own psychosis, the film also juggles a few subplots around, a dozen well-developed characters, action sequences to spare, a dank Gotham City, and all in the time frame of 2 and 1/2 hours. Whoever thought that the butler Alfred would come across as something more than a dutiful servant. Whoever thought that the villains would be fearsome in their own way (unlike Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze). Whoever thought that Batman and Bruce Wayne would get more focus than usual. Stop reading this review! Go see "Batman Begins," the best superhero film ever and one of the finest entertainments in many years. I can now say that the Caped Crusader has finally come home.
For more reviews, check out JERRY AT THE MOVIES at: http://www.geocities.com/faustus_08520/Jerry_at_the_Movies.html
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