Batman Begins review

2005.06.26 — Entertainment | Movies | Movie Reviews | by Andrew Cole

Christian Bale continues his string of disturbed anti-heroes from American Psycho and The Machinist to star in the all-new please-forget-about-the-previous-movies Batman Begins. Bale gets support from Michael Caine as loyal butler Alfred and Katie Holmes as the chick we're supposed to think he's going to fall for. But wait! That's not all! If you act now, you also get Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman absolutely free!

This prequel to the films fans would rather forget is directed by Christopher Nolan, famous for Memento and not famous for the overlooked Insomnia. It's co-written by Nolan and David S Goyer, who wrote Blade and Dark City.

The story concerns one Bruce Wayne, son of a wealthy doctor, who witnesses his parents' murder and vows to avenge them. His chosen method of revenge is not a tell-all book—that's for pansy politicians—but rather dressing up as a bat and fighting crime! He goes to Asia to learn to fight, meets Morgan Freeman, who builds his cool gadgets, and makes a friend in a young cop named Gordon. Somewhere along the way, Katie Holmes breaks a heel (metaphorically, anyway) and must be rescued.

The story mostly looks into the psychology of Bruce Wayne and his development into Batman. It's well done, altho it treads a lot of the same ground we've seen before, especially in the training-in-Asia-under-a-tough-mentor scenes we can't help but compare to The Shadow, Kill Bill, The Last Samurai, and maybe The Karate Kid. Much of the 2h 15m running time is given over to this transformation, while Bruce's billionaire playboy cover is given only a cursory nod.

The villain is a slippery concept here, and none of the bad guys are particularly well fleshed out, but it doesn't matter much. The thrill is in the gradual gathering of the elements that define the Batman character, and the ultimate villain is Bruce's own demons. We can wish that the choice of villain underscored that better, but it's not bad.

Shock of shocks, tho, the female lead is not given much to do in a blockbuster action film. Holmes, as assistant DA Rachel Dawes, is relegated to huffing and puffing about corruption and psychoanalyzing Bruce Wayne.

First he's too soft; then he's too rough. Good luck luck with Tom, Katie.

There could have been some great scenes for her actually tracking down corruption and/or being fed evidence from James (future commissioner) Gordon to build a case, but oh, well. She's clearly the weakest link in the chain here, and director Nolan makes a big mistake with her character at the end, but there's time in the sequels to tie up that loose end.

Something should be said for the other supporters, tho. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman shine, and Liam Neeson and Gary Oldman play tough parts in a low key. Cillian Murphy and Tom Wilkinson (as an Italian-American mob boss!) get to ham it up a bit. And relative unknown Linus Roache does a bang-up job as Bruce's father, a character whose only job is to die tragically, yet who is infused with well-meaning paternalism that makes us like him and still recognize that he is flawed.

Hey, I just realized that practically the entire cast comes from across the Pond.

The gadgets are terrific for the most part (altho I'm not personally fond of the Batmobile). And, appropriately, there are moments of black humor and moments of warmth (mostly between Alfred and Bruce), but overall the film is much darker and psychologically-driven than most superhero flicks (let alone most blockbuster action flicks). It's a satisfying walk down a dark, creepy alley that makes us giddy with fear and anticipation and relieved to exit into the well-lit street. Bale, Nolan, and company will have us lining up for number two... or six, if you feel the need to count the previous four.

I don't.

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