Batman Begins
If I could have my way, "Batman Begins" would be the first and possibly the only Batman movie. In the latest retelling of one of the world's favorite comic book characters, Christian Bale ("American Psycho," "Little Women") dons the batsuit, which I'm proud to say does not have nipples like the one George Clooney wore in 1997's "Batman & Robin." Seeing Batman, perched on a tall building, looking over his city, Gotham, for the first time, is so powerful. That is the stereotypical image that everyone has of Batman, and it goes so much deeper with this movie.
"Batman Begins," directed by "Memento" filmmaker Christopher Nolan, starts off with a junior Bruce Wayne (Gus Lewis) falling into a well filled with bats while playing with childhood friend Rachel Dawes (Emma Lockhart), the housekeeper's daughter. This leads to his immense fear of bats, ironically enough. Once his parents are tragically killed by a mugger, Bruce's life spirals downhill, being kicked out of Princeton and almost killing the mugger, who received probation only to be killed by one of mob boss Carmine Falcone's (Tom Wilkinson) henchmen. Bruce takes off for a while, and eventually winds up in jail in an unnamed desolate Eastern country. There he meets Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), who tells Bruce about being trained to avenge the death of those he loved and to seek justice. This peaks Bruce's interest, and he goes to train with Ducard and the mysterious Ras Al Gul (Ken Watanabe). He overcomes his fear of bats and embraces them. Once his training is completed, Bruce discovers that the desires of the men who taught him do not match up with his own. Al Gul and his men want to end all evils at any cost; they have no consideration for the innocents who get left in the dust. Bruce would never agree to that, as he is filled with compassion, which Ducard cited as Bruce's biggest flaw. They start fighting, and Bruce torches Al Gul's estate, only saving Ducard, unconscious, and leaving him with a neighbor.
Bruce Wayne then returns to Gotham, set in modern-day Chicago, where he gets everything together to become Batman. The loyal butler Alfred (Michael Caine) is there to help, with additional support by Wayne Enterprises employee Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman). Bruce, as Batman, also makes it a point to forge relationships with Rachel (Katie Holmes), now an Assistant District Attorney, and Lieutenant Gordon (Gary Oldman), the officer who consoled young Bruce when he lost his parents. Both of these people share Batman/Bruce Wayne’s plight to vanquish Gotham of evil without doing anymore harm to its citizens. The audience quickly learns that Falcone is not the biggest of the bad guys, as he has meetings with Gotham's top psychiatrist? Dr. Crane (Cillian Murphy), and they discuss the mysterious big boss. Dr. Crane is also known as the very creepy Scarecrow, who blows a powder onto his victims to make them go insane.
Bale shines as Batman, it seems like it is the role he was meant to play. Michael Keaton was decent, Clooney was fun, and Val Kilmer was so-so, but Bale just knocks it out of the park. Neeson, Caine, Freeman, Oldman and Wilkinson all give terrific performances as well. Oldman, who usually plays the villain, is well utilized as the good-hearted Gordon. On the other side of the street, Wilkinson, known for his roles in smaller films, usually as a good guy, was great as the stereotypical mob boss. Holmes gives a dutiful performance as Rachel. It's quite a trip to see Joey Potter up there sharing the screen with Batman. However, I must say, as a Batman movie, the romance between Bruce/Batman and Rachel pales in comparison to those of the previous four movies, and I think that might actually be a good thing. There was just enough interaction between the two characters to know that something was there, but it wasn't dwelled on as one of the top focuses of the movie.
This remodeling, for lack of a better word, of the iconic Batman saga is incredible. This is the only "Batman" I've seen that has truly great plot twists in addition to the gadgets, wit and the other archetypes of the Batman series. At a runtime of about two and a half hours, "Batman Begins" may seem long, but I believe it isn't long enough.
"Batman Begins," directed by "Memento" filmmaker Christopher Nolan, starts off with a junior Bruce Wayne (Gus Lewis) falling into a well filled with bats while playing with childhood friend Rachel Dawes (Emma Lockhart), the housekeeper's daughter. This leads to his immense fear of bats, ironically enough. Once his parents are tragically killed by a mugger, Bruce's life spirals downhill, being kicked out of Princeton and almost killing the mugger, who received probation only to be killed by one of mob boss Carmine Falcone's (Tom Wilkinson) henchmen. Bruce takes off for a while, and eventually winds up in jail in an unnamed desolate Eastern country. There he meets Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), who tells Bruce about being trained to avenge the death of those he loved and to seek justice. This peaks Bruce's interest, and he goes to train with Ducard and the mysterious Ras Al Gul (Ken Watanabe). He overcomes his fear of bats and embraces them. Once his training is completed, Bruce discovers that the desires of the men who taught him do not match up with his own. Al Gul and his men want to end all evils at any cost; they have no consideration for the innocents who get left in the dust. Bruce would never agree to that, as he is filled with compassion, which Ducard cited as Bruce's biggest flaw. They start fighting, and Bruce torches Al Gul's estate, only saving Ducard, unconscious, and leaving him with a neighbor.
Bruce Wayne then returns to Gotham, set in modern-day Chicago, where he gets everything together to become Batman. The loyal butler Alfred (Michael Caine) is there to help, with additional support by Wayne Enterprises employee Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman). Bruce, as Batman, also makes it a point to forge relationships with Rachel (Katie Holmes), now an Assistant District Attorney, and Lieutenant Gordon (Gary Oldman), the officer who consoled young Bruce when he lost his parents. Both of these people share Batman/Bruce Wayne’s plight to vanquish Gotham of evil without doing anymore harm to its citizens. The audience quickly learns that Falcone is not the biggest of the bad guys, as he has meetings with Gotham's top psychiatrist? Dr. Crane (Cillian Murphy), and they discuss the mysterious big boss. Dr. Crane is also known as the very creepy Scarecrow, who blows a powder onto his victims to make them go insane.
Bale shines as Batman, it seems like it is the role he was meant to play. Michael Keaton was decent, Clooney was fun, and Val Kilmer was so-so, but Bale just knocks it out of the park. Neeson, Caine, Freeman, Oldman and Wilkinson all give terrific performances as well. Oldman, who usually plays the villain, is well utilized as the good-hearted Gordon. On the other side of the street, Wilkinson, known for his roles in smaller films, usually as a good guy, was great as the stereotypical mob boss. Holmes gives a dutiful performance as Rachel. It's quite a trip to see Joey Potter up there sharing the screen with Batman. However, I must say, as a Batman movie, the romance between Bruce/Batman and Rachel pales in comparison to those of the previous four movies, and I think that might actually be a good thing. There was just enough interaction between the two characters to know that something was there, but it wasn't dwelled on as one of the top focuses of the movie.
This remodeling, for lack of a better word, of the iconic Batman saga is incredible. This is the only "Batman" I've seen that has truly great plot twists in addition to the gadgets, wit and the other archetypes of the Batman series. At a runtime of about two and a half hours, "Batman Begins" may seem long, but I believe it isn't long enough.
posted by Admin at 2:56 PM
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