Batman Begins

Title: Batman Begins
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson
Year: 2005
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense action violence, disturbing images and some thematic elements.
Date of Review: June 17, 2005

In 1989, Tim Burton treated the world to “Batman”, a rubber and leather clad crime-fighting vigilante whose under explored past and motives involved something about his parents being murdered. Since the only other on-screen representations of the iconic DC Comics character had presented him and his world as a campy theme park, critics worldwide praised Burton’s vision as showing the true spirit of Batman. It seems critics don’t read comic books.

Luckily, though, someone in Hollywood does, and it has paid off in spades. Christopher Nolan released his low-on-action, high-on-character film “Batman Begins” to North American audiences on June 15th, and it has acquired much deserved critical and fan praise. It is nothing at all like Tim Burton’s overly comic adaptations, and that is perhaps its greatest triumph. Gone are the days of leather, yellow bat symbols, ridiculous gadgets and rubber nipples. “Batman Begins” plays out completely seriously. There are no puns or ridiculous one-liners to constantly pull you back to reality. The world of Gotham is completely engrossing, and Bruce Wayne feels like he could be a real man, searching for the means to bring justice to those who have ruined his once fair city.

The film stars an A-list ensemble cast, including Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, and, of course, Christian Bale in what will be known as the definitive representation of Batman and his alter ego, Bruce Wayne (and no, I didn’t write that backwards). Every performance feels human and is played out realistically by the actors. Gary Oldman shows us Sargeant Gordon (soon to be the Commissioner Gordon we all know and love) as a fragile family man, who is also seemingly the only honest cop in Gotham City. Michael Caine provides a much more fatherly figure in his portrayal of Alfred, Bruce Wayne’s butler and guardian angel. But perhaps the most effective performances in the film were from Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy, who played Ducard and Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow, respectively. Ducard is Bruce Wayne’s mentor whom he encounters on a journey through the mountainous regions of Asia in order to study the criminal mind so he may effectively fight it. Jonathan Crane, however, is a much more sinister character, whose questionable motives are apparent from his first appearance, and his Scarecrow identity is, without ruining anything, quite terrifying.

This is the first of the Batman movies to present a character that is both deep and believable. Christian Bale brings a darkness to the role that has until now been non existent, along with the realism of the character. Batman is a comic book character, but he has no powers and his motives and methods are entirely human. In the other screen adaptations of Batman, we saw the hero escape fantastical situations without a scratch, always by chance having all the right gadgets to finish the job. This film shows Batman as just a man, who is often hurt and must truly fight to survive the schemes of Gotham’s underworld of crime.

Before production began, Christopher Nolan said that he and David S. Goyer, his co-writer of the film, were using the comics and the animated series of the early 1990s as the main inspirations for the film, and it shows. There are no grey tights or beer-bellies on this Batman. There is no “shark repellent spray” or “anti-bullet pills”. This is Batman in it’s most minimalist, and truest form. Everything on his suit and all of his gadgets are there for a reason, and are needed for him to do what he does. Nothing here is for purely aesthetic purposes, which is how it should be.

The style of the film is impeccable. Reportedly, Nolan held a screening of “Blade Runner” for the entire cast and crew before shooting began, and said “this is how we’re going to make Batman”. And once again, it shows. As the camera glides over the modern day, crime ridden Gotham, we see the same darkly beautiful mixture of futuristic technology and poverty ridden wastelands that was apparent in Ridley Scott’s science fiction masterpiece. The cinematography throughout “Batman Begins” is phenomenal, making Gotham feel like a real, living, breathing city. The fight scenes are quickly cut, to the point of being disorienting, but not without reason. The ultra fast editing adds to the panic the criminals fear as they are separated and quietly taken out one by one by Gotham’s Dark Knight. And, with a film that has such a strong analysis of human fear, what could be better than the camerawork giving the audience a taste of that fear?

“Batman Begins” is a remarkable achievement. It is the best and most accurate representation of the character to date, and has more heart, depth and emotion than any of the blockbuster dramas Hollywood has pumped out lately. It is the first comic book adaptation to breech the line that divides fantasy from reality, fact from fiction, and in the process becomes not only a summer movie for people to see and enjoy, but an undeniably powerful film that will go down in history as being one of the greatest of the new millennium. Bravo to the cast and crew, you have created a masterpiece.

10/10