Christian Bale stars as the new caped crusader, re-exploring the origin of the Dark Knight and the events that made him the fearless protector of Gotham City. The film shows Bruce a young, 10-year-old boy, living a luxurious life in Gotham, despite the city having fallen to corruption and organized crime. After his philanthropist parents were gunned down in front of the young Bruce, he grew up bitter, angry, and guilty... with a mind bent on revenge. Seven years go by, and when the vengeful Wayne finally gets his chance to take his revenge, someone else beats him to the punch. He then leaves Gotham to travel the world and study the criminal mind, where he is then taken in by a man named Ducard, who represents an ancient Ninja order known as The League of Shadows, led by a mysterious man named Ra's Al Ghul. Sharing Bruce's hatred from crime and evil, Ducard trains Bruce to conquer his anger and inflict fear on the faces of his enemies all while pushing him to his physical limits. After his training is complete, Bruce rejects the League of Shadows offer to lead their army once he discovers that their plans for justice involve killing their enemies, and worse yet, their next target is Gotham city. After temporarily sabotaging their plans, Bruce returns to Gotham to save the city from corruption and crime. Upon returning, Wayne unleashes his alter-ego, Batman, created to strike fear into hearts of Gotham's criminals and remove the corrupt element from Gotham.
Anywho, Batman Begins was by no means the first live action Batman movie, but it was the first one to get it right! Finally, we had a live action Batman movie that didn't shortchange the main character for the villain. Not to mention, it's led by an incredibly creative and insightful director who seemed invested in the characters and mythos behind them. Removing the surreal fantasy element from the previous films in favor of gritty realism (well, as realistic as a superhero can get), this is easily the most human and believable film adaptation of the Caped Crusader.
Batman Begins details the development of the Batman persona, along with the rage and guilt that drove Bruce Wayne to create such a mantra. Some have argued that showing this much of the main character removes a lot of the mystery and intrigue that made Batman so interesting in the first place. Personally, I can see where they're coming from, since usually I'm the first one arguing for less is more and that the less we know about someone, the more interesting they are. That said, for this particular film, I disagree. If it weren't for Christian Bale selling the hell out of the role, I might have agreed (more on the performances later), but this movie does a bang up job fitting in it's explanation of why such a character would exist. Batman isn't just a means for a borderline-psychotic individual to go out and beat the living crap out of thugs every night (though it's implied that's part of it too), but he's a symbol for the criminals running the city to fear. In a city as corrupt as Gotham, Bruce Wayne states that a dramatic example is needed to remove such a criminal element, so in a strange sort of way, it makes sense. It at least made enough sense for me to buy this concept, and to understand why someone would be led to make such dramatic choices.*Just to let you know, I am going to reveal some major spoilers. Since just about everyone on the planet has seen this movie, it probably doesn't matter, but just in case, you've been warned.
Christian Bale portrays the Dark Knight here, and is by far the best actor to ever step into the costume. It helps that this time, he's given more to do than just look awesome in a cool costume, but as I mentioned, he really makes this character believable. From the very beginning, we get a real sense of the dread that drives Wayne. You understand his motivation, and root for him the entire way. Batman here, isn't a perfect and unstoppable fighting machine, but rather a very skilled, if flawed, individual who learns from his mistakes and takes the time to improve himself. As Thomas Wayne said to his young son, "Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up." That is the theme that drives the movie, and Bale makes it work. He starts off as flawed loose cannon and throughout the film, learns to become the true Caped Crusader we all hoped to see.
It's also nice to see prominent supporting characters like Sgt. Jim Gordon (played by Gary Oldman, and no he's not commissioner yet) and Alfred (Michael Caine) get something to do. In this film, Gordon is one of the last remaining good cops in the city. As one of the few trustworthy enforcers, Batman recruits the reluctant Gordon into helping him with his cause.
Oldman might be the best actor in this film, despite being one of the few idealistic and relate-able characters, he understands why such a dramatic example like Batman is needed and why he chooses to go along with it. Michael Caine brings a tough, no-nonsense, though very likable presence to Bruce Wayne's trustworthy butler, Alfred Pennyworth. He's not just a loyal servant here, but a surrogate father to Bruce that's both supportive and tough we he needs to be. You might even say that he is the one who teaches Batman how to be Bruce Wayne. While he may not always agree with Bruce's psychotic plans, he's always there to aid and help him when he falls. I also have to give a special shout-out to the always great Morgan Freeman, here play Batman's equipment supplier Lucius Fox.The villains here don't exactly stand out as much as previous Batman flicks, but to be honest, I think that's kind of a good thing. When they're on screen, the actors do a commendable job portraying them and bring a natural sense of threat that you would expect. There's just nothing amazing about them, though that's hardly a critique, they still do a solid job. The big spoiler here (don't say I didn't warn you) is that Bruce's mentor Ducard (Liam Neeson) was actually Ra's Al Ghul the whole time. Neeson was mainly known for playing upstanding mentor characters prior to this (oh, and Oskar Schindler too) and he initially does that as Ducard/Ra's Al Ghul. By the time the third act roles around, he makes his villainous turn, still keeping his cool composure while showing his true colors. As the mentor and trainer of Batman, he makes for an intimidating foe and provides a necessary adversary to Batman.
The secondary villain is ironically the one that made more of an impression (for me at least). The character is Dr. Johnathan Crane aka The Scarecrow (played by Cillian Murphy), a mentally disturbed psychologist who plays twisted mind games with his patients.
Using a special gas compound of his creation, the Scarecrow inflicts violent hallucinations upon his victims, driving them insane. Murphy is a talented actor with a penchant for playing crazy villains (also see the 2005 thriller Red Eye) and he brings that same sensibility as the Scarecrow here. He's not a particularly physically imposing villain, but he makes up for that with his wits and intelligence. In the world of cinematic psycho psychologists, he's no Hannibal Lecter, but he makes a strong impression here. Neither one of these villains are quite excellent or perfect adaptions of their comic book counterparts (like most of the film, they're somewhat more grounded in reality). Nonetheless they are solid characters and help contribute to the film's overall greatness. In short, nothing amazing, but they did their jobs well.The only actor that doesn't quite work is Katie Holmes as the assistant district attorney, Rachel Dawes (one of the few characters without comic book origins). She was a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne and one of Gotham's few morally upstanding citizens. There's nothing inherently wrong with her character, it's just that Holmes doesn't quite live up to the rest of the cast. I don't think she's terrible, but I can't help but feel like there's just something fundamentally missing from her performance, though I can't quite put my finger on what that might be. Maybe it's that she just looks too young to be a DA or maybe that many of her deliveries just come off as a bit awkward. Like I said, she is far from terrible, but compared to the rest of the stand out cast, she just comes off as lacking.
From a technical side, the film is pretty damn awesome. Chicago was used as the filming location for Gotham, and through the excellent cinematography, Gotham has never looked better. That said, I am kind of curious as to why there was so much shaky cam during some of the action scenes... it just made them seem a little to erratic and hard to follow. I don't know how much of this was shot on location and how much was shot in a studio, but the look of the film maintains the gritty realism aesthetic and overall works. 
The action scenes are, like I said, sometimes plagued by excessive shaky cam but most of them work. There's at least one stand out fight scene and an awesome chase scene involving the Batmobile (yes, I know it's called the Tumbler here... but I don't care, its the freaking BATMOBILE!) Special effects wise, the film is damn near perfect. What I love about this movie is that it struck a near perfect balance of practical effects and cgi. Most of the stunts are actually performed by the actors and the car stunts are mostly what you see, most uses of cgi are used either for brief touch ups or to create some creepy Scarecrow gas hallucinations (which are awesome by the way). The only other minor nitpick I have is with Batman's new costume. While it's neat that they actually made a costume where every piece and bit has a purpose, the heavy black rubber material makes it kind of hard to buy Batman being this super-agile ninja and master of hand to hand fighting (though this has been a problem since the 1989 films.) A minor nitpick admittedly, but nothing major.
The action scenes are, like I said, sometimes plagued by excessive shaky cam but most of them work. There's at least one stand out fight scene and an awesome chase scene involving the Batmobile (yes, I know it's called the Tumbler here... but I don't care, its the freaking BATMOBILE!) Special effects wise, the film is damn near perfect. What I love about this movie is that it struck a near perfect balance of practical effects and cgi. Most of the stunts are actually performed by the actors and the car stunts are mostly what you see, most uses of cgi are used either for brief touch ups or to create some creepy Scarecrow gas hallucinations (which are awesome by the way). The only other minor nitpick I have is with Batman's new costume. While it's neat that they actually made a costume where every piece and bit has a purpose, the heavy black rubber material makes it kind of hard to buy Batman being this super-agile ninja and master of hand to hand fighting (though this has been a problem since the 1989 films.) A minor nitpick admittedly, but nothing major.Finally, we come to the story. I admit that this particular script has a few issues, but overall I was very impressed. It's a character driven narrative that puts Bruce Wayne at the forefront of the story and for once, NOT the villains. Most of the supporting characters have an integral role in the plot too. Sgt. Gordon and Alfred, as I mentioned before, are not just a bit players here, but rather play an important role in Bruce Wayne's plans. Rachel Dawes is still more or less a damsel in distress and love interest for Bruce, but she's nonetheless a strong character who you end up rooting for, and isn't as cliche as most love interests in these kinds of movies. The movie is a bit long, and does tend drag a bit in some places, plus some might be disappointed that Christian Bale doesn't officially take up the Batman role until approximately one hour into the film, but these are relatively minor nitpicks that didn't bother me too much. It gave the characters, well Bruce Wayne anyways, a chance to develop and grow. They all felt like they were building up to something bigger and better, and I don't mean just the exciting finale, but rather the inevitable sequels. While some might be upset that the film's ending doesn't provide a whole lot of closure, it nonetheless set us up for an exciting trilogy that, when I saw it for the first time, got me very excited for what was to come. So aside for a few dull moments and a few plotholes, it kept me entertained.
So yeah... Batman Begins was pretty awesome when it came out and it still is. If you're one of the very few people in the world who hasn't seen it, check it out!
My Score: 4.5 out of 5!
No comments:
Post a Comment