Dominatio Per Malum

Batman Begins (2005) 9/10

So That We Might Better Learn To Pick Ourselves Up.

That recurring theme of recovering from failure, perhaps encapsulates the histories of the Batman movie series.

Why did we have to endure the crap that was Batman and Robin?

So that we can be dazzled by Christopher Nolan’s masterful reworking with Batman Begins.

Walking out in a daze from the cinema after my first viewing of the film, i was struck by how Christopher Nolan had far exceeded my expectations in recreating a legend and giving the Batman franchise a much needed shot in the arm. It was a moment of movie euphoria, your mind replaying the cascade of imagery in the film, and raving about how absolutely brilliant it was.

Last year, i had written in my review of Spiderman 2, that it was “the best comic book superhero movie since Tim Burton’s Batman“. Now, Spiderman 2 has been relegated to third position after Batman Begins takes the top spot. Let that fact sink in for a moment. Why is that significant?

Because Batman Begins is the only comic book adaptation to ever merit a position in the top 50 films ranking, debuting at #44 in my Top 100 films list. It displaced, fittingly, Tim Burton’s (1989) Batman which is #83 in the list to become the best comic book film i have ever watched. And together with Spiderman 2 (ranked #93), it is one of the only 3 comic book adaptations to make it into my list. With a 9/10 rating, it is the only comic book film to get a 9, which is a rare accolade. But, don’t take my word for it. IMDB gives it an average user rating of 8.5 (correct as of June 22, 2005) which puts it into top 250 films list at #74 with an adjusted rating of 8.2. To get an idea of how hard it is to even get a mention in the list, consider that Revenge of The Sith and Spiderman both do not make in into the list, while Spiderman 2 gets in at #229.

Now let us get back to the film proper. Under the hands of Christopher Nolan, we finally have a superhero film which is able to entertain as a mainstream film, and yet retain its arthouse sensitivites. All you need to know about Christopher Nolan is that he directed Memento (2000). Including Batman Begins, i have watched every single one of Nolan’s films, and while i won’t readily reccommend Insomnia and Following, i’d just say that Memento is an example of tour de force directing. Which makes Nolan a director to watch out for.

Beyond Nolan, credit must also go to the cast, a star studded ensemble that would make any director green with envy. Christian Bale is quite possibly the best Bruce Wayne to don the black cape ever. Whilst his predecessors were content to let the Batsuit do the impressing, Bale’s potrayal makes both Bruce Wayne and Batman into more than cardboard characters, and infuses real depth in his role. While previous Batman films have been defined by the villian, so much so that the main character of Batman is at times relegated to a supporting role, here the focus is on Batman and he steals the show as the Dark Knight of Gotham. Christian Bale, who had previously distinguished himself in The Machinist (2004), rebounds from the skeletal frame he starved himself for that film to a buff and fit physique for Batman Begins, a stunning transformation for anyone who has seen both films as i have.

* SPOILERS ALERT*

While the film starts out awkwardly in the first act, with scenes in an unidentified prison coming across as a tad contrived, i did enjoy the flashbacks of the young Bruce Wayne which served as a solid backstory and was generally well done. The eastern mysticism/ninja training was a tad too contrived for my tastes, but having the impeccable Liam Neeson act as Bruce Wayne’s mentor during those scenes did help make it more bearable. Some well crafted combat sequences can be found here, and so long as Liam Neeson was at hand during the training stages, it was more or less not bad, even if i felt that the eastern mumbo jumbo should have been toned down.

It is only when Wayne returns to Gotham that the film finds it groove and never looks back. And when it rocks, lets just say that it leaves most other films in the dust. My first reaction to Nolan’s vision of Gotham city was one of elation. This was Gotham done right. While i still prefer Tim Burton’s darkly gothic vision, Nolan’s Gotham was more realistic, having a hint of Tim Burton’s noirish vision yet grounded in realism. Needless to say, it was a huge improvement over the jarring neon clad Gotham of 1997’s Batman And Robin.

While Batman Begins will no doubt be compared to its predecessors, and to the hugely popular and critically acclaimed Spiderman franchise, i on the other hand find similarities in the lesser known The Hulk, directed by Ang Lee. In both Batman Begins and The Hulk, the directors are more concerned with fleshing out the character, giving it depth and valuing substance over style. In both films, the alter ego of the hero, Hulk and Batman respectively do not appear until well into the one hour mark. This is because both directors understand that it is not the clothes that maketh the man, and value the development of the character arc.

The rest of the main supporting cast are introduced once we reach Gotham. Michael Cain as Alfred is excellent in his avuncular manners, serving to underscore his roles as butler, mentor, surrogate parent to his young charge, serving to provide the film’s main source of comic relief via his witty repartee with Bruce Wayne. Morgan Freeman, as usual, can do no wrong, putting up a solid performance as “Q” like character that provides Bruce with all the gadgets he needs. My favourite supporting role is that of Gary Oldman who gets a rare turn as a good guy as Jim Gordon (the latter day Commisioner Gordon) as well as substantial screen time. Cillian Murphy is also creepyly effective as Scarecrow, although he lacks the screen presence to make for a riveting villian. Another weak point is Katie Holmes as Bruce Wayne’s love interest. While Holmes is a fine actress, and one of my favourite among the new generation actresses after a superb performance in Pieces of April, her role here is underwhelming. This is due in part to the script which fails to give her character much scope in development beyond the damsel in distress role, but more importantly it lacks the on-screen chemistry needed, unlike the sizzling chemistry of Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst in Spiderman and Spiderman 2.

Several other worthy points to note: The Batmobile, while lacking in the cool factor of the 1989 original, makes up for it with functionality and exciting car chases. Although the part where Batman has to lie down while firing is real dumb.

Several sequences, like Bruce Wayne standing alone in the cave surrounded by bats, or the solitary figure of Batman standing atop Gotham looking pensive stuck me as being really asthetically pleasing and well shot.

The scene where Batman summons backup bats really rocks.

I loved it when Gordon got a ride in the batmobile and Liam Neeson battles Batman in a kind of mentor-pupil struggle.

The beautiful juxtaposition of day and night in the first and second half of the film. In fact, in the second half of the film, most of the scenes take place in the dark or at night, often within clautophobic confines, a striking contrast to the first half, which is marked by daylight and a more open expanse, marking the difference as Bruce Wayne matures from angst ridden billionaire to the Dark Knight.

Having said that, there are nevertheless flaws that prevent it from claiming a perfect 10. In addition to the first act, with all the eastern mysticism being a drag, many of the combat scenes, especially as in the role of Batman, is shot too much in close up, so much so that the frenzied pace of the combat sequence fails to impress. Also, the plot about contaminating water supply and some microwave gun is just so… corny! But truth be told, any plan that involves world domination or the destruction of a city often is kinda exxagerating. Finally, while the film rightly focuses on Batman, his adversaries are merely competent, but lack the charisma and the verve to be memorable. That is one weakness Batman Begins has compared to the original Batman. Jack Nicholson’s Joker was the enigmatic villian, the villian that fired imaginations. He was brilliantly evil and played with aplomb. Here, Christian Bale lacks a truly great adversary- while there were several villian characters, none of them truly made an impression, save for Liam Neeson, who unfortunately did not have enough screen time. And certainly, none of the had the brilliance of Jack Nicholson’s Joker. Another nitpicking is that the musical score, while decent, lacks the emotional pull of the original Batman score by Danny Elfman which remains the best Batman score to date, one always worth listening to.

SPOILER END

Having said that, Batman Begins is still a must watch, if only to see Christian Bale nail the role of Batman perfectly. Now if only there was an equally engaging adversary, then Batman Begin would truly be a masterpiece. When a film makes me anticipate the sequel, you know that that is a film done right. All that’s left is for me to mark Batman Part 6 into my to-watch list…