My geek obsessions through the years have really revolved around three categories; Star Wars, Samurai Films, and the heroes of DC Comics. My Comic Book collection consists of hundreds of adventures of Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, The Flash, and Green Arrow. I would say 65% of that collection consists of Superman and Batman issues. Those two combined are everything I want in my superheroes. Superman represents my love for mighty heroes that use their powers for good. Even though he is not human, his humanity shines though his compassion for others. Batman is the other end of the spectrum. He has no god-like powers. He is merely a man who has pushed himself to the boundaries of physical endurance. Batman is the pinnacle of what a man can do.
With Batman Begins hitting theaters, The Dark Knight has finally been represented on screen faithfully. I would almost go as far as to say that for me there is only one Batman film now. It’s just so gratifying to see a project come to fruition this well. I know I posted a review already, but once again I just have so many more thoughts on the film that I think it deserves a column of its own.
Batman Begins Starring Christian Bale and Liam Neeson. Directed by Christopher Nolan.
While Batman Begins isn’t completely perfect, it is a wonderful starting block for what could be the Batman series we’ve all (except maybe Joel Schumacher) dreamed of. As far as a film depicting the origin of a character, I believe only the original Superman film to be a better opening adventure. That film gave its hero a sufficient amount of time to explore his origin and his motivations. Finally with Batman Begins that type attention is given to Bruce Wayne’s transformation into The Caped Crusader.
From its fantastic opening of Bruce finding the Bat-Cave as a child to the abrupt change with Bruce being locked into a Chinese prison, Christopher Nolan shows that this is definitely not you father’s Batman movie. This is a realistic world, not one of shark repellents or giant games of Battleship. Then the action shifts to another one of my geek loves.
As Bruce Wayne is recruited by Ra’s Al Ghul’s League of Shadows, the film shifts to combine with one of my other loves, The Samurai Movie. Liam Neeson shines in this section of the film as Bruce’s sensei Henri Ducard. Neeson, who has had experience playing similar roles to Ducard in Star Wars: Episode I and Kingdom of Heaven, twists his mentor role a bit. Neeson plays this role in part like many other of his roles as the understanding and compassionate teacher, but here Ducard is savage in his training of Bruce Wayne. He kicks the young man when he is down, discounts his training by countering every move, has him go as far as he will go. It is in the quiet moments that the old Qui-Gon Jin persona comes out, and the two characters really bond.
In this section, the film really pauses from the action to look at the psyche of Bruce Wayne. We see that he is deeply afraid of bats after falling into the cave in an opening flashback. Also very important is the relationship with his father. Linus Roache is very good in this section as Bruce’s father, Thomas Wayne. The relationship with his parents has never really been explored before in a film. This tragic and crucial event in the character’s origin has always barely been shown in the other films in the Batman cannon. Here, the event is shocking and as horrifying as it should be. Batman’s parents aren’t gunned down by a would-be Joker and their murder neatly wrapped by story’s end. The murder is the act of a common criminal, a man Bruce is unable have vengeance upon for his parents’ death. This makes his struggle eternal, not just a simple revenge story.
These scenes also shed some light on Bruce’s relationship with Alfred. Bruce has lost his father and the most important person in his life. Showing how Alfred fills that void in his life is so important to the story. Not only is Alfred a trusted advisor, but the only father figure Bruce has for most of his life. This is just one in a series of relationships that were glossed over in films past, but is finally explored here. When it is time for Bruce to return, it is Alfred who is waiting for him, and the butler is the only one that knows of Bruce’s plan to save the city.
When Bruce returns to Gotham he finds a city on the brink. Here is where the influence of Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One comes to the forefront. Gotham is a city of corrupted officials from top to bottom. Leading the corruption is Tom Wilkinson’s Carmine Falcone. Falcone is an important member of the DC Comics continuity for Batman and it’s nice to see him included finally. For anyone that’s read Year One, The Long Halloween, or Dark Victory, you know already the legacy Falcone’s character has in the Batman Universe. Here he is just as powerful a force for corruption.
The only cop trying to fight the corruption is Gary Oldman’s Jim Gordon. In the comic books, Gordon is an intricate part of Batman’s story. In fact, Year One is actually comprised of a story that is half a story about Batman and half about Gordon. Here many elements of that story are hinted at, with Gordon not receiving the best treatment from his superior, Commissioner Loeb, or his partner, Detective Flass. Both characters from the continuity make their first appearance on screen in this film. Flass is much taller and not as rotund in the comics, but for some reason Batman films have to have at least one fat cop.
This section dedicated to the setup is very important to the story. Not only does Bruce have to put his plan into action, he needs to build a network of allies. The first of those is Alfred and then Jim Gordon, next is Lucius Fox. Fox is an old friend of Bruce’s father and helps mentor the new superhero by providing his gear. It’s very nice to see the character included in this film as his role in the Batman mythos has been completely ignored thus far in the theatrical films. Morgan Freeman is once again his usual stellar self here and makes the most out his limited screen time.
It is in this section that Wayne develops his Bat-Suit and gets his “wonderful toys”. In the comics, Batman has always worn a suit made of cloth or spandex. This gave him the mobility he needed and didn’t weigh him down. In Burton’s Batman, the character ditched the spandex of the Adam West days and wore a rubber, armored suit, which gave him a great look for the time, but in retrospect made the character look inflexible and awkward. In recent years, comic book films have gone away from the rubber suit to try and find a nice balance between the costume on the page and what they would look like in reality. Bryan Singer began things with ditching the traditional yellow spandex of his X-Men and opted for leather jumpsuits, which fanboys still argue over today. The best meld of the costumes comes from Marvel’s Daredevil and Spiderman franchises which both look like they jumped off the page, yet are very practical. This is the look achieved for the Batman Begins costume.
Batman Begins’ suit looks similar to that of Burton’s films, but less cumbersome. The main word here for Batman’s suit and all of his gadgets is “practicality”. The costume is designed as a Kevlar based survival suit, which would stop bullets if necessary. It still looks a bit stiff, but a big improvement. Gone are the automatic skates that popped up in Batman & Robin and the huge grappling gun/zip-line from Burton’s original. In its place is a grapple that soldier would carry; light and resilient.
A big point of controversy was the new Batmobile. Many scoffed at film makers dropping the traditional sleek and shiny vehicle for The Dark Knight in favor of the more tank-like Tumbler, but they’ve all been proven wrong. The Tumbler is a huge success in the movie, giving Batman one of his best extended action sequences ever; a fast and furious chase through the streets and over the rooftops of Gotham City. The scene is enough to make any aficionado of car chases squeal with delight.
Of course none of the picture’s delights would matter if Christina Bale couldn’t pull off Batman himself. Bale is able to carry himself in the way he talks and moves so that it would be inconceivable to the people of Gotham that Bruce Wayne was in fact Batman. Bruce Wayne is a drunken playboy in public. He’s a spoiled and shallow brat who cavorts with supermodels. Batman is truly who consumes his person. His mission is all consuming. Never has the anonymity of a secret identity been more richly displayed.
Batman Begins is such a great setup for what is to come out of this franchise. I can only hope that film makers are able to give the hero’s next adventure the same tone as this picture. With outlandish villains such as The Joker and Two-Face down the road, it would be a shame to ruin the momentum gained by this first outing by not letting old habits die. Batman Begins’ successors could turn out to be the best Comic Book movie series. Film makers just have to take this ball and run with it.
