Batman Begins (2005)
Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, Morgan Freeman, Sara Sterwart, Richard Brake, Gus Lewis, Linus Roache, Colin McFarlane, Larry Holden
Director: Christopher Nolan
Running Time: 140 minutes
US MPAA rating: PG-13UK BBFC rating: 12a
Action, Adventure, Crime, Fantasy, Thriller
Since his first appearance in 1939, 'The Bat-Man', masked vigilante over the streets of Gotham City, has proved to be an enduring favourite of the comic book superheroes, due to his darkness, his mortality and, most importantly of all, the adaptability of his myth to changing times. On the big screen he has fared less well - 'Batman 1966', the feature-length outing for Adam West and Burt Ward's corny television series, is to my mind one of the funniest films ever made, but its high camp high-jinks hardly do justice to DC Comics' brooding original. Tim Burton's Batman (1989) certainly nailed the legend's noirish, gothic look, but was less assured in its handling of tone - and a rash of sequels brought the predictable diminishing returns. Now, however, Christopher ('Memento') Nolan's 'Batman Begins' wipes the slate clean, taking viewers right back (again) to the caped crusader's origins - and in this far more earnest adventure, the bat has well and truly abandoned camp and headed into more epic territories.
Haunted by anger and guilt after witnessing his parents gunned down in cold blood, and frustrated in his desire to kill the man who did it, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has turned his back on Gotham City and his father's legacy. Traveling incognito amidst the world's thieves and murderers in an attempt to understand the criminal mind, Wayne ends up in Bhutan, where he is recruited and trained in fighting and stealth techniques by Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) on behalf of Ra's al Ghul, leader of the secretive 'League of Shadows'. Rejecting the group's merciless brand of vigilantism, Wayne returns to Gotham, where the judiciary and constabulary are corrupt, and crime boss Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson) now operates with impunity. Determined to put his new skills to good use, Wayne becomes the masked crimefighter Batman. Aided directly by his trusted family butler Alfred (Michael Caine), and less directly by the head of Wayne Enterprises' Applied Sciences division, Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), by old childhood friend turned Assistant DA Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes), and by honest cop Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), Wayne soon uncovers a far more catastrophic threat to the city than Falcone and his thugs. In a plot involving Arkham Asylum's chief psychiatrist Dr Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy), his mysterious backers and a panic-inducing hallucinogen, Gotham is about to be visited by some very rough justice.
Fans of the Dark Knight's on-screen iconography will not be disappointed by this new film, which traces Batman's customised suit, car, utility belt, weapons and secret cave right back to their very beginnings, while giving them a more functional, and dare I say more rationalised, feel. While still at heart a dark fantasy, this adventure is more grittily realistic than Batman's previous outings, with stunts and effects that are mostly physical rather than computer generated. The fights are close and hard, although in perhaps the most visually striking sequence Batman is reduced to a black blur in the midst of a crowd of toppling criminals. The ever excellent Christian Bale manages to make Wayne seem a real, complex individual, while giving Batman a formidable physical presence - the very opposite of Bale's previous, skeletal performance in The Machinist. He is well supported by an excellent (and stellar) cast - most notably Michael Caine seemingly born to be Alfred, Gary Oldman for once getting to play the nice guy, Cillian Murphy creepily nerdy, and Liam Neeson bringing a clever twist to his previous 'guru knight' rôles in The Phantom Menace and Kingdom of Heaven.
'Batman Begins' is emphatically concerned with retributive justice and the politics of fear - themes which have an inescapable geopolitical resonance in a post-9/11 context. Yet after the disappointingly simplistic takes on the dynamics of revenge offered by recent films like The Punisher and Man on Fire, it is gratifying to see that Nolan's film depicts the morality of justice in a manner that is anything but cartoonish. As Wayne struggles to do what is right, he is informed as much by the values of the judicial system, of law enforcement and of patriarchal philanthropy (values embodied respectively by Rachel, Gordon and, through Alfred, Wayne's own father) as he is by anger, fear and a desire for vengeance (an ideology represented by the fascistic 'League') - and so the film's dialogue, scripted by David S. ('Dark City') Goyer, weaves an ongoing, highly nuanced argument about crime, punishment, and the uses and and abuses of terror. It is inevitable that Wayne become an extra-judicial vigilante - for that is the very core of his legend - but the film ends not on a celebratory note, but rather with dark mutterings about 'escalation', and a suggestion (fulfilled by the films to which this stands as a chronological precursor, if not quite a prequel) that the beginnings of Batman also mark the beginnings of a new, more dangerous sort of criminal, modeled on Batman's own underground methods. From this it is not difficult to unmask a multi-faceted commentary on America's current flouting (however well-intentioned, or even necessary) of international law in its War on Terror, and a subtle warning about what the consequences may be. Such serious and intelligent engagement with the issues that darken our own times make 'Batman Begins' more than merely an entertaining blockbuster about a man in a cape.
It's Got: Excellent acting; a much more serious tone (and a much more epic scale) than Batman's previous cinematic outings - although there are still lots of funny lines; a very tightly written script (where tiny, apparently meaningless details - like the blue flower - take on an unfolding and unexpected relevance); great action sequences, counterbalanced by credible characterisation and intelligent psychodrama; a character created especially for the film, Assistant DA Rachel Dawes; the iconic "I'm Batman" line; and some pessimistic (if even-handed) commentary on the downside of retributive justice and the conduct of the 'War on Terror'.
It Needs: For its 'sequels' to be as intelligent (but as they have already been made, it is safe to assert that they are not).
Alternatives: Batman, 'Batman 1966', The Punisher
Summary: In his best, and darkest, outing to date, the masked avenger's personal 'issues' reflect those of the world in the wake of 9/11.
Review Date: 8th June 2005
External Links
Official Web Site
Batman Begins at the IMDB
Comments1 Comment |
| I'm not Batman. It fits it's written by the writer of "Dark City." And, Gotham forbid the maker of "Memento." A film I have never seen but have prejudged with the wisdom of God, and so avoided like the "grudge." For all the potential interest, even new ideas, it never really grabbed me, which is a story's first priority, not talking. Probably the analogy with the terror war on terror was not meant. Critics always say these things, but I am a critic of critics. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was about Reds under the beds they saids. The author said it was not. The movies just happen to coincide with reality. It's telling that Batman has been made so many times, this film had to resort to an undone villian - the most boring. Yet, again, how timely and fitting. I found it sadly lacking in action, even when there was action. Maybe that was to do with the first half hour (or was it an hour?) was all talk. Even the climax was wet, with Gordon driving the Batmobil, which just had no tension - again. And Mr. Oldman was always oddly non-descript, maybe because he had to play it straight without his intense character peculiarities - or pecharaculiarities. Just because he's a good guy now. Boring again. See, this is what happens when you give action projects to the "intellects," who are dead anyway, intead of more alive. Batman disguising his voice into an ever descending grating monotone grated on my nerves and grew almost comic-al, as well as painful for him. Near the end, I almost began to admire the behind the scenes 'League of Shadows' concept infiltrating major world affairs in history. Face it, that was the only new thing in this film (unlike 89's "Batman" which was all new, and as gooder as it gets, especially with the divine Mr. N as The Joker...err the devilish) - apart from the weirdly unsatisfying origin of the Batmobil - the man of the manor didn't make it himself, or at least commission it, Commissioner Gordon, meaning it was not unique. But I still don't mind that change - it is neutral, new, not negative. I can grOW t0 AdapT like the bAt. Incidentially - that was the best scene in the movie - as we all know - when Mr Scarecrow or Dr Crane (shouldn't he be Dr Crow? Anyway, a strange bird) cocked his bird head skyward in one of the most expressive enigmatically engaging lines in film of all time. The single one you want to see again and again and in your head as many times again. And it will never drain. Ahh, that all could be so concentrated goodness as the preview. That and the joker calling card - were, alas, real skill. I guess Dianna Daws - or what's her name, Katie Holmes character? - is destined to become Batgirl in a twist I - oh sorry - just gave away. Consider yeaselves spoilt. |
| Comment by:- - The Unmasking Crusader, BASH, MD, PM, PHD, MS, MH, PP (Bachelar of Arts of Super Heroes, silly), (Mad Doctor), (Polymath) ...etc... (Polymorphous Philanthropist) | | 01 July 2005 | ip: logged |
