Robin and I celebrated our 14th anniversary (and my racquetball gold medal) on Thursday with a night at the movies. She hadn’t seen Revenge of the Sith yet, so that was one possibility. Also, Batman Begins had just come out recently and she was interested in that also.
I was more inclined to see something new, so we let the reviews be the tiebreaker. Batman Begins was getting some very good press, so we decided to see it. It was an excellent choice. Batman Begins is possibly the best superhero movie ever made.
Batman Begins
Rating: 5/5
I am going to assert that Batman Begins is the best superhero movie ever made. I will admit that I haven’t seen all the movies based on comic book superheroes, so you can take my hyperbole with a grain of salt if you like. I have, however, seen a lot of them, including most of the ones that got good buzz and critical reviews, and Batman Begins overshadows all but the best. I’d put both Spiderman movies and The Matrix at least close to it, but there was something about Batman Begins that drove it to the top of the list for me.
Christopher Nolan, of Memento fame, directed this darker, more complex Batman movie. His customary tricks with continuity and flashbacks are showcased here, particularly early on where he deftly knits together threads from Bruce Wayne’s childhood, college years and mid-20’s to quickly impress the formation of his personality and character on the audience before progressing to the creation of the persona of Batman.
A stellar cast gives this movie a lot of acting depth. Michael Caine as Alfred, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Rutger Hauer and Gary Oldman are just a sampling of the excellent character actors that grace this film. Strong screenwriting works with these actors’ talents to give them ample opportunity to shine and animate their characters with a strong sense of humanity and reality.
Christian Bale, a relative unknown compared to many of these veteran actors, makes an excellent Batman. He portrays Bruce Wayne as tormented, lonely, driven and implacable, but never loses the character’s compassion and connection to humanity that makes him a superhero instead of just a costumed vigilante or terrorist. This Batman is built much more on the Frank Miller model as seen in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns than any other of the cinematic Batmen over the years. Katie Holmes plays his semi-love interest Rachel Dawes, and the two invest this relationship with the bittersweet futility that will be familiar to superhero comic aficionados.
Batman Begins is unique among the recent Batman movies in that the primary focus of the movie is on Batman himself. Although there certainly are an array of villians both prosaic and theatrical, Nolan never lets them become overly ridiculous or allows them to steal the focus off of Bruce Wayne for very long. This is the film’s greatest triumph: by keeping the focus on the complex, deep motivations of Batman, we get a movie that can entertain while still staying close to believability. Aside from a couple of pieces of technology in the movie that were transparent plot devices, almost everything in Batman Begins seems like it could actually take place in the real world, if you squint just a little.
Serious Batman fans may be a bit disturbed by some of the modifications made to the canonical Batman origin story. Although the major details are still there, the screenwriters have taken some liberties that are bound to irritate some. For the most part, I felt that the changes improved the story and strengthened the portrayal of the fundamental qualities of Batman — his indomitable force of will, and his total committment to protecting the common man from the criminals that would prey on him. Contrasting Batman’s moral sense to that of Ra’s al-Ghul and the Shadow League (in several ways throughout the movie) was a masterstroke and probably did more to define the essence of Batman than anything else that happens in the movie.
When you put everything together, Batman Begins has it all. Great acting, great writing, strong effects and cinematography, and the powerful, archetypal figure of Batman to anchor it. If you like superheroes or action movies at all, I recommend this movie without reservation. Even if you don’t, Batman Begins may win you over anyway.