| Batman Begins (2005) | |
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Rating: 8.2/10 (1,574,064 votes) Director: Christopher Nolan Writer: Bob Kane, David S. Goyer, Christopher Nolan Stars: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe Runtime: 140 min Rated: PG-13 Genre: Action, Crime, Drama Released: 15 Jun 2005 |
| Plot: After witnessing his parents' death, Bruce learns the art of fighting to confront injustice. When he returns to Gotham as Batman, he must stop a secret society that intends to destroy the city. | |
So it was, with memories of the abysmal failing of the last film in the Batman franchise, that I ventured to see this dark retelling of the origin of the Dark Knight of Gotham City. Rather than continuing the story, Christopher Nolan chose to do a ‘Year One’ with the tale, and take us back to where it all began. He promised a sturdier, more focused, character driven tale. The good news is, he managed to deliver it! Batman is back!
As mentioned above, the film takes us back to the beginning again. Therefore we get to revisit the brutal death of his parents (no longer at the hands of the Joker…this film is faithful to the comics), see the origin of his bat fixation, and get to see where he learned all those skills he employs. Seeking to lose himself, he travels the world and soon finds himself recruited by Ducart (Neeson) who trains him up, on behalf of Ras Al Gul (Watanabe) in deadly ways to join the League of Shadows. Opting to not join them he returns to Gotham to put his new abilities to the test as a defender of justice, and the Batman is born. The rest of the story, involving the Scarecrow dispersing fear gas, and the theft of an EMP generator, is just padding to give the popcorn-crowd something to chew on. The beef of this tale is the development and growth of the Bat, from those training days, to his building friendship with Detective Jim Gordon (Oldman in a role he must have been born for), and his façade as Bruce Wayne – aided by the ever loyal and devoted Alfred (Caine).
There is only one flaw in this whole film and that is the action. Nolan shows his inexperience in directing fights and chases by presenting us with a lot of jerky camera shots, swift cuts, and confusing edits – yup it is FTF time again! I have said it before and I will say it again – I don’t want to “feel like I am in the fight” I want to see the fight! Can we have more long shots please so we can work out what is going on? This type of action directing is akin to putting cameramen on the pitch at football matches, only allowing you to see the numbers on the shirts and the occasional glimpse of the ball! Nolan hasn’t directed anything this action orientated before, so I will let it pass – but please, get some training before the second film! The only reason I can let it pass here is because the action isn’t the important element to the film. As mentioned above, the sub plot is just there for the popcorn crowd, who will have been bored by the concept of story and talking for the majority of the film. We get over ¾ of the film for us lovers of good yarns, great dialogue, fantastic characterisation – they can have their small bursts of action to keep them sated!
Yup, this film’s true strength lies in the characters. You feel for Bale’s Wayne throughout, and the support from such an excellent cast is perfect. You will truly emote with the players on screen because they are all so believable! If anything the casting is too perfect, and any fans of the comic book series will work out a key twist very early on because of it. This doesn’t matter though as it works so well, and the fans will love it. Even the inclusion of minor names from the comic series (Vicktor Zsaz for one) will cause grins as opposed to groans from the fan-base – as will the meetings between the Batman and Gordon. Yes sir, casting wise this is perfect.
Everything in the film seems ground in reality, and all the stars act with such conviction, that the tale is turned from ‘comic book’ to ‘dark reality’. “Where does he get those wonderful toys?” quipped a certain Joker in the past. Well, here we see, and what believable gadgets they all are! From the costume inspirations, to the utility belt, all are shown their background inspirations.
Batman Begins is what comic book films should be! Whilst not a patch on Sin City, it is still a fine example of how to deliver a dark knight tale without resorting to neon lights and bad jokes! Schumacher may have seemingly killed the franchise back in 1997, but Nolan found a Lazarus pit and has imbued the tale with new energy!
