Batman Begins But Never Finishes

What is the appeal of Batman that he has to be shoed into the silver screen every so often to refresh the minds of the American public as to what a great guy he is? It isn’t because of his cool gadgets and amazing car or his array of colorful villains. What makes Batman such an enduring character is that he is very human and very tangible: how many people can you think of who, at the tender age of 6, were already sitting on a billion-dollar inheritance when suddenly and unexpectedly their parents are murdered in cold blood in a dark, rainy back alley? I can think of at least ten.

It is this realism that Christopher Nolan goes for in the latest treatment of the Dark Knight. It is a welcome addition which fills the gap between two extremes: Tim Burton’s incredibly raw and gothic Batman and Joel Schumaker’s neon-colored, nipple-suit-wearing Batman & Robin. In the comics, Batman’s tales are told as legends with no real continuity. It is the artistic license of the writer to portray Batman to the limit of his storytelling potential, exaggerating or downplaying his role in the most entertaining way possible. That is one reason why Batman works as a character and why he can be both dark and camp at the same time: no one knows the “true” Batman, only the legends. Christopher Nolan must think legends are for sissies, because he looked in the phone book and found the true Batman (he lives in Illinois).

Batman Begins portrays a Bruce Wayne who is rich and idealistic and yet lost physically and mentally after the death of his parents (a radical departure from the hardcore Bruce Wayne of the comics, who pretty much goes nuts after they get shot). With his unlimited wealth, he lives freely but cannot rest comfortably with the shadow of his parents’ death overhead. He doesn’t even have the better sense to stop seeing Katie Holmes. It is only through a slow process of seeing the long arm of crime that Bruce embarks on the fun journey of living amongst criminals to abstractly imagine taking them down one day. Don’t ask how, but he trains with ninjas. It’s pretty sweet. He then conceives the idea that propaganda, especially the propaganda of fear, is necessary to dispell the corrupt criminal bureaucracy. With a handful of supporters (butler Alfred, tech-guru Lucius Fox, and mustache-wielding Commissioner Gordon), the Batman is created as the personification of fear to the scum of Gotham City and the icon of hope to its citizens.

The acting is top notch with major props going to its main villains, Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy, who add life to otherwise bland comic book egomaniacs. Cillian Murphy is especially creepy without mask, being the most androgenous male in the universe. Katie Holmes poses some problems as the nagging D.A. who seems to be the obligatory love interest, but she is essential in giving Batman moral propulsion. Perhaps the best acting award goes to the Batmobile, who is impressive to watch in motion and utters his lines with great consistency (”RAAAAR!”).

The music is not likeable at first since it lacks the fanfare of most hero-flicks, but it does have a certain rhythm to it that is noticeable as the movie progresses. Some critics have called it “mood music,” which I guess is the funky beats that bats listen to as they fly.

Batman Begins is the most realistic portrayal of an iconic hero since the year that Rambo filled the role of Sylvester Stallone. It is even more realistic than the Missile-Firing Batman you bought at Wal-Mart for $5.99 last week and you would be doing yourself a great disservice by not seeing it.

Grade: A

Comment posted by Batman: Mask of the Phantasm - Movie Reviews Blog
at 11/13/2006 11:21:49 AM

[…] What’s the greatest Batman movie ever made? Well, it’s isn’t Adam West’s Batman, it isn’t Tim Burton’s Batman and it isn’t Batman Begins. At least, not to me. In my personal opinion, the greatest Batman movie ever made is Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. This film was brought to us by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, the creators of Batman the Animated Series, which is arguably the best interpretation of the Dark Knight out there. Mask of the Phantasm gets to the core of the character, delving into what makes Batman tick, aiming for character depth over action sequences. […]

Comment posted by Batman (1989) - Movie Reviews Blog
at 11/2/2006 4:04:59 PM

[…] Michael Keaton is one of the best actors to portray Batman in any live action outlet, getting the separation between Bruce Wayne and Batman down to perfection. Really, the only other actor who can match Keaton’s skill at the part is Christian Bale, who played the character in the recent franchise reboot, Batman Begins. However, Jack Nicholson really steals the show as the Joker. While at times the “Jack Nicholson”-ness overshadows the fictional character, for the most part, he really embodies the psychotic humor of Batman’s archnemesis to a tee. […]

Comment posted by The Prestige - Movie Reviews Blog
at 10/20/2006 10:05:16 PM

[…] Batman vs. Wolverine? Awesome. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went into this movie. I mostly went at the behest of my brother, who wanted to see it quite badly, telling me the fellas over at IMDB were rating it exceptionally well. Well, I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised with this film. Certainly Oscar-worthy material, without a doubt. […]

Comment posted by Red Eye: Review - Movie Reviews Blog
at 2/9/2006 8:43:58 AM

[…] On the other end of the runway comes Wes Craven’s delightful little gem Red Eye, starring Cillian Murphy (a href=”http://www.filmsy.com/reviews/batman-begins-review/”>Batman Begins) as himself. The trailers are deceptive by showing Murphy as literally having a glowing red eye and by not fully revealing the plot of the movie. Knowing the staple of Wes Craven’s films, the trailers seemed to suggest that Satan himself was on the flight and that you get red eye from looking at him for too long and that Rachel McAdams (Wedding Crashers) is here to stop it. Fortunately, no. […]

Comment posted by DrSpengler
at 1/25/2006 6:51:57 PM

Was that person named “Joel” by any chance?

Comment posted by OnePumpedNinja
at 1/25/2006 6:50:12 PM

I have actually talked to one person whose favorite Batman movie was “Batman & Robin.” They found Burton’s take on the Dark Knight to be too dark and too gritty for their taste. And they absolutely loved Batman Begins.

It just goes to show that despite how crappy one’s taste is, we can all agree that Batman Begins is the balls.

Comment posted by AhmedF
at 1/25/2006 5:37:16 PM

I loved this movie. A comic book movie that tried to ground itself in some form of reality - I appreciated (and highly enjoyed) how his development into the Caped Crusader was chronicled.

Comment posted by DrSpengler
at 1/25/2006 2:01:19 PM

What do you know, it’s the most accurate live-action interpretation of Batman EVER!

This movie gets just about everything right. Batman’s a brooding loner the lurks in the dark, Bruce Wayne ISN’T a brooding loner the lurks in the dark (at least not in public), Batman doesn’t look like he’s constipated, he can move his neck in different directions, the Batmobile could actually function in a realistic urban environment or a monster truck rally, Batman doesn’t ONCE attempt to mutilate a villain with a machine-gun mounted on the wings of his jet…I could go on like this.

But I think what makes this movie stand apart from the 20 other comic book flims that came out recently is that, at first glance, one wouldn’t know it was a comic book adaptation. The first half focuses so squarely on the characters, mostly Bruce, that by the time he suits up with the cape and cowel the audience is left believing “Hey, this could actually happen”.

And for once a live-action Batman movie actually provides us with a Bruce Wayne that isn’t some stereotypical cardboard cut-out who has to battle the super villains more for screentime than for the sake of Gotham City. Instead, you become so wrapped-up in the tormented main character and his tragic childhood that when the time comes for his parents to eat the bullets you actually feel sorry for the young boy left all alone. You knew it was going to happen. Hell, every human being and their grandfather knew it was going to happen. But the character work was so good, so real, that it drew you in never-the-less and actually made you feel sympathy for someone who was once the second biggest comic book cliche’.

Then there are the villains. While the film focuses mostly on Bruce (this is BATMAN Begins, after all) it still manages to present 2 of Batman’s most notorious foes in a gritty, REALISTIC light. Ra’s Al Ghul isn’t portrayed as an immortal hippy-zombie, sure, but the appearance and so many staples of the character remain intact that you find yourself not needing Lazarus Pits, Ubu and Talia to believe they “did him right”. Then there’s my personal favorite Bat-Villain, the Scarecrow, embodied so perfectly by Cillian Murphy. They made the Scarecrow disturbing and threatening exactly as he should be, yet managed to slip in the fact that, deep down inside, he’s a sad, pathetic wimp.

And all the hardcore fans will dig the references to Year One and Long Halloween as well as appearances from lesser-known characters like Commisioner Loeb, Mr. Zasz and Carmine Falcone.

Now, the movie did have its faults. I KNOW that’s Michael Cain’s real accent, but it doesn’t help that he sounds identical to Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. “Yew Grate Gran-dad-day wuz inna unda-groun ray-rhode. Step in toyme! Step in toyme! Step in toyme!”

There was also the lack of a riveting Batman theme that you could immediately identify. I know, it’s impossible to out-do Danny Elfman’s theme from the Tim Burton film, but that’s no excuse to give us something so bland. I found the music to be alright and appropriate, but completely forgetable.

The camera-work in the fight scenes is probably the complaint you’ll hear from most people. It works at times, giving you that “What’s going on? Where’s Batman!?” feeling you’re supposed to get (because Batman fights like a ninja!). But at times the camera wobbles around way too much and for way too long, leaving you to think you rented Blair Witch 3 by accident.

And, for the ADD-troubled who are more familiar with the previous 4 Batman films than the source material, or the superior animated television series, the first Batman-less half of the movie will seem “boring” and “stupid”.

The movie is vey deserving of the Ninja’s A, as it’s easily one of the most accurate comic book adaptations of all-time and one of the deepest, most satisfying action movies to come out in years.