Director: Christopher Nolan
Genre(s): Action, Drama, Thriller, Crime
Starring: Christian Bale, Ken Watanabe, Michael Caine
Summary: Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight's emergence as a force for good in Gotham. (Warner Bros.)
Review: To make another "Batman" movie might seem cynical, but not to anyone who sees "Batman Begins." To see "Batman Begins" is to think maybe this is the way to go: Take an artistically spent franchise, and instead of adding to the series and compromising with the mistakes of lesser filmmakers, pretend as if those other movies never existed. Start at the beginning of the saga, and tell the story again. This time do it right.
"Batman Begins" does it right, and it's the first "Batman" movie to get it right since Tim Burton's "Batman," 16 years ago. Like the first "Batman" it has a dark spirit and an intellectually viable leading man -- Christian Bale, in this case. Unlike the first "Batman," it's not a masterpiece of set design, and it doesn't have a flamboyant villain. Those elements were virtues of the original film, but they became pernicious as a prototype, when subsequent "Batman" movies tried to top the first in terms of both visuals and flouncing, raving villainy.
"Batman Begins" goes in another direction, telling the story as neither a comic book in motion nor as a wild fable, but as the true story of a man who has a series of odd, transformative experiences. Directed by Christopher Nolan ("Memento," "Insomnia") and written by Nolan and David S. Goyer, the film adopts an elegant narrative strategy, flashing back from Bruce Wayne's opening circumstances -- as an inmate in an Asian prison -- to his childhood.
"Batman Begins" does it right, and it's the first "Batman" movie to get it right since Tim Burton's "Batman," 16 years ago. Like the first "Batman" it has a dark spirit and an intellectually viable leading man -- Christian Bale, in this case. Unlike the first "Batman," it's not a masterpiece of set design, and it doesn't have a flamboyant villain. Those elements were virtues of the original film, but they became pernicious as a prototype, when subsequent "Batman" movies tried to top the first in terms of both visuals and flouncing, raving villainy.
"Batman Begins" goes in another direction, telling the story as neither a comic book in motion nor as a wild fable, but as the true story of a man who has a series of odd, transformative experiences. Directed by Christopher Nolan ("Memento," "Insomnia") and written by Nolan and David S. Goyer, the film adopts an elegant narrative strategy, flashing back from Bruce Wayne's opening circumstances -- as an inmate in an Asian prison -- to his childhood.
We find out that as a boy, Bruce was terrified of bats. In fact, his inability to sit still for a performance of "Die Fledermaus" causes his parents to leave the opera early -- which puts them on the street at exactly the wrong time. They're murdered in a holdup, an event that sets up young Bruce (Gus Lewis) for years of anguish, rage, guilt and soul-searching.
Bale is the first Batman since Michael Keaton to bring a skewed and somewhat vulnerable sensibility into the psychological equation. Bruce's ultimate decision to become the caped crusader is presented here as a neurotic person's way of channeling his neurosis toward a positive end. Since he knows he'll never stop obsessing about crime -- even his stint in the Asian prison was by way of researching the criminal mind -- he might as well do something positive with his obsession.
Keaton suggested these qualities and motivations, as well, but what Bale has that Keaton didn't is a physicality that also makes sense of all the action hero elements. In an early scene, Bruce Wayne beats up a half dozen guys in a prison yard. In terms of direction, it's one of the worst scenes: Nolan, as if uncomfortable shooting a conventional action number, relies on the modern cliches of constant intercutting and of filming so close to the action that it's impossible to see what's going on. But the sequence nonetheless demonstrates that Bale, the most cerebral Bruce Wayne since Keaton, is the most lithe to date. He's physically loose and graceful and looks like what Bruce Wayne pretends to be, a handsome playboy.
"Batman Begins" lives up to its title, concentrating mainly on the hero's pre-history. He's trained like a Ninja by a great teacher (Liam Neeson). Later, in a crime-ridden, economically depressed Gotham City, he encounters none of the familiar villains, such as the Joker, the Riddler or Catwoman. They're in the future. The villains who turn up in this early era are normal in appearance, at least by "Batman" standards. Tom Wilkinson plays an Italian mob boss, and he's like any other mob boss, full of threats and resentment, while Cillian Murphy is a perverse psychiatrist, on the mob payroll. On the side of good is Gary Oldman, as a gruff, honest cop, and an assistant D.A. played by Katie Holmes, who, alone among the actors, doesn't quite seem comfortable in her role.
The special effects are easy to take for granted, but they're first rate. Batman does a lot of cape gliding in this one. He relies on pulleys to shoot up the side of buildings and, in one notable case, to scoop someone off the ground for a private interview, 10 stories up. There's no doubting any of this. It's all obviously real. The action sequences are genuinely gripping. Even the chases are amusing. But best of all, there's just the pleasure of seeing something that's both fantastic to the eye and emotionally dimensional. This is how to make action movies.
Of course, now that Batman has begun, the Batman movies will never end, at least not for another 10 years. But maybe this time around they won't get so awful.
Of course, now that Batman has begun, the Batman movies will never end, at least not for another 10 years. But maybe this time around they won't get so awful.
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Source: metacritic.com
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