Dan Owen reviews
Batman Begins
Viewed at Odeon, Lincoln Wharf
- Cert:
- Running time: 141 minutes
- Year: 2005
- Released: 16th June 2005
- Widescreen Ratio: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic Panavision)
- Sound: DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1, SDDS
Director:
(The Exec, Insomnia, Memento)
Producers:
Larry J. Franco, Benjamin Melniker, Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Cheryl A. Tkach & Michael E. Uslan
Screenplay:
Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer
(based on characters created by Bob Kane)
Cinematographer:
Music:
James Newton Howard & Hans Zimmer
Cast:
Bruce Wayne/Batman: Christian Bale
Ducard: Liam Neeson
Alfred: Michael Caine
Lieutenant Jim Gordon: Gary Oldman
Lucius Fox: Morgan Freeman
Rachel Dawes: Katie Holmes
Dr Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow: Cillian Murphy
Carmine Falcone: Tom Wilkinson
Earle: Rutger Hauer
Ra's Al Ghul: Ken Watanabe
Tim Burton jump-started the comic-book movie with 1989's Batman.
Burton's gothic realism segued into purer fantasy in 1992's Batman Returns, until
Joel Schumacher offered his neon permeated re-imagining with 1995's Batman
Forever, before destroying the franchise with Batman & Robin in 1997.
Now, eight years later, British director Christopher Nolan unleashes a more
dynamic and realistic take on the Caped Crusader with Batman Begins; the
first movie to explain the origins of the titular hero. This is less a
prequel and more a rethink of the Batman mythology. David S. Goyer's
screenplay - focused by Nolan, but relatively unchanged - finds Bruce Wayne
as a tormented billionaire (with a phobia of bats) who commits himself to
avenging the death of his parents at the hands of a thug.
Years later, Wayne
abandons his rich lifestyle to get inside the psyche of criminals by
becoming one himself before meeting the enigmatic Ducard (Liam Neeson) in
the Far East. Ducard is a member of The League Of Shadows, led by mystic
Ra's Al Ghul, who train Wayne to conquer his fears.
As you've no doubt guessed, Wayne's torturous training and eventual return
to Gotham City leads to him embracing his fears and inverting them on the
underworld to become Batman a winged avenger of crime who uncovers a
nefarious plot between crime boss Falcone (Tom Wilkinson) and Arkham Asylum
psychiatrist Dr Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy).
Batman Begins offers an art-house experience similar to Ang Lee's Hulk,
blessed with a cast of veteran character actors (Rutger Hauer), Acadamy
Award Winners (Morgan Freeman), movie stars (Liam Neeson), film legends
(Michael Caine), and up-and-coming young talent (Christian Bale). The cast
is simply phenomenal, with each actor involved because the movie, unlike its
recent predecessors, treats the material with respect. At heart, all
comic-book movies are fundamentally silly, yet Batman Begins goes to great
lengths to make sure its premise seem plausible. The result is a movie that
expertly moves between hardboiled crime flick and action-packed
superheroism.
Christian Bale embodies Bruce Wayne and Batman like no other actor before
him. As Wayne, he's sophisticated and debonair, yet uses this public image
to hide deep turmoil and fears. As Batman, his inner chaos finds a voice
and he becomes the most threatening incarnation of Batman ever seen. One
sequence where Batman interrogates a criminal by suspending him upside
down from the side of a tall building - is a genuinely frightening moment
that single-handedly explains why every villain should be on their toes.
Bale nails the sinister aspect of Batman completely even making Michael
Keaton's broody incarnation seem monotone and limp by comparison.
Michael Caine, as loyal butler Alfred, is the most surprising addition to
the cast, but creates a more human creation than Michael Gough managed
throughout his '90s tenure. Similar gravitas also comes from Morgan Freeman
as Lucius Fox purveyor of Wayne Enterprises Applied Sciences division, and
consequently the master-at-arms for Batman's weaponry.
Katie Holmes performs well as the increasingly clichιd gutsy female, while
Cillian Murphy brings a glassy asexual quality to Dr Crane/Scarecrow.
Tellingly, in all previous Batman movies, Murphy's character would have been
the main antagonist, yet Batman Begins is littered with more human
criminals that take centre stage. Liam Neeson is wonderful as focused mentor
Ducard, Tom Wilkinson impresses as slimy mobster Falcone, while Gary Oldman
is great value as idealistic cop Lieutenant Gordon.
The impressive cast goes some way to making the movie a success, but the
resolutely interesting plot is also a major factor here. The origin of
Batman has been given an overhaul by David Goyer, and consequently makes far
more sense out of the far-fetched notion of a crime-fighting billionaire in
a bat-suit. In Act I, the story weaves flashbacks to Bruce Wayne's childhood
and his later training in the East with great deftness immediately giving
the film a more layered narrative and, therefore, a more adult structure
late than the A-B storytelling of Spider-Man, for example.
The special-effects are very impressive, and not reliant on CGI. There are
some great visuals throughout, given depth by Wally Pfister's excellent
cinematography. The new-style Batmobile effectively an armoured tank is
a brave rethink for such an iconic vehicle, and the sound design as it roars
its way through the city, demolishing rooftops and crashing into police
cars, is simply fabulous. Sequences where Batman glides across the sky are
well executed, as are the abundant amount of CGI bats. One minor gripe is
that the hallucinogenic affects of Dr Crane's fear toxin rarely provokes
much terror because of the film's certificate rating - although a sequence
with Batman transformed into a black-faced demon is quite chilling.
Musically, Batman Begins is not particularly memorable, and it's a shame a
theme tune (akin to Danny Elfman's triumphant tune in Burton's movies)
couldn't be utilized. The movie actually uses two high-profile composers, so
it's a shame neither of them could concoct a new audio signature for Batman.
Strangely, it actually seems be a trend in recent comic-book movies to lose
such themes as X-Men, Spider-Man and Hulk have all been musically
unidentifiable. Let's hope 2006's Superman Returns keeps John Williams'
iconic theme...
Overall, Christopher Nolan's reinvention of Batman after the apparent death
toll of Batman & Robin is a huge success. With help from David Goyer,
himself clearly influenced by Frank Miller's graphic novel The Dark Knight
Returns, the movie manages to combine realism with fantasy in a manner
attempted in Hulk, but perfected here.
It is a cause for celebration that all of the principal actors have signed a
three-picture deal, as the prospect of Batman's more theatrical villains
(The Joker, The Riddler, The Penguin) being grounded in the reality of
Batman Begins is a delicious one worth savouring...
DIRECTION
PERFORMANCES
PLOT
SPECIAL FX
SOUND/MUSIC
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OVERALL
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Review copyright © Dan Owen, 2005.
E-mail Dan Owen
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DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
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