Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Bob Kane, David S. Goyer, Christopher Nolan
Photography: Wally Pfister
Music: James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer
Editor: Lee Smith
Cast: Christopher Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Morgan Freeman, Linus Roache, Gus Lewis, Ken Watanabe, Mark Boone Junior
On my second look at Batman Begins in recent days—I saw it when it was new in 2005—I was a little surprised to realize it wasn’t exactly the movie I thought it was. I had the impression it was an adaptation of the Frank Miller / David Mazzucchelli series, later a graphic novel, Batman: Year One. It’s fair to say Year One is an influence—how many Batman productions have we seen since 1987 that include details of the murder of Bruce Wayne’s father and mother in a back-alley stickup, Bruce witnessing it, Bruce going single-minded OCD on it and swearing eternal vigilance against crime and violence? A lot, is the correct answer. “A bat! That’s it! It’s an omen. I shall become a BAT!” Also: “I am vengeance, I am the night, I am Batman.” These are the kinds of things the original Batman told himself for motivation, and they echo on today.
As a superhero Batman is a little different, of course, having no superpowers. Well, but he does have the real-world superpower of being obscenely rich. Bruce Wayne is a billionaire and able to afford stuff at will: a Batcave underneath his mansion, a costume with cowl and swirling cape (for standing atop the tallest city towers in high winds, don’t ask me why he isn’t just blown off), the Batmobile, a superior utility belt, the batarang (here looking more like a ninja weapon, the shuriken), of course the bat-signal when Commissioner Gordon needs him and he’s not answering the hotline bat phone, and no burdensome regulation, ever. The origins of most of that stuff is in this version of Batman’s origin, so there’s plenty of bang here for your origin story bat buck.
On my second look at Batman Begins in recent days—I saw it when it was new in 2005—I was a little surprised to realize it wasn’t exactly the movie I thought it was. I had the impression it was an adaptation of the Frank Miller / David Mazzucchelli series, later a graphic novel, Batman: Year One. It’s fair to say Year One is an influence—how many Batman productions have we seen since 1987 that include details of the murder of Bruce Wayne’s father and mother in a back-alley stickup, Bruce witnessing it, Bruce going single-minded OCD on it and swearing eternal vigilance against crime and violence? A lot, is the correct answer. “A bat! That’s it! It’s an omen. I shall become a BAT!” Also: “I am vengeance, I am the night, I am Batman.” These are the kinds of things the original Batman told himself for motivation, and they echo on today.
As a superhero Batman is a little different, of course, having no superpowers. Well, but he does have the real-world superpower of being obscenely rich. Bruce Wayne is a billionaire and able to afford stuff at will: a Batcave underneath his mansion, a costume with cowl and swirling cape (for standing atop the tallest city towers in high winds, don’t ask me why he isn’t just blown off), the Batmobile, a superior utility belt, the batarang (here looking more like a ninja weapon, the shuriken), of course the bat-signal when Commissioner Gordon needs him and he’s not answering the hotline bat phone, and no burdensome regulation, ever. The origins of most of that stuff is in this version of Batman’s origin, so there’s plenty of bang here for your origin story bat buck.
Written by director Christopher Nolan with David S. Goyer (author of Nick Fury, Blade, Superman, and many other comic book movie adaptations), Batman Begins follows the lead of Year One by telling the famous story of the Wayne mugging in high operatic style. It’s not long until we are on to seven years of training under Liam Neeson, playing a mysterious martial arts savant named Ducard, who is associated with an equally mysterious but ultimately dropped (and very pulpy, by feel) League of Shadows. Who are these people and what do they want? Few answers here. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne’s seven years of training reminded me of what we see in the Kill Bill movies or various Star Wars scenes. Ducard is a kind of Obi-Wan Kenobi, slightly more cruel, administering spirituality-tinged lessons in extreme martial arts straight outta Sun Tzu.
Batman Begins leans into the bat theme in another way at least as much as any other Batman leans into anything. Here, for the first time in the Batman canon I believe, Bruce Wayne has a morbid fear of bats, which frequently appear in undulating swarms. In one scene later in the movie a swarm of them even appear to be helping Batman in one of his fight scenes. That’s new, but also bears the mark of someone trying too hard. In fact, all the stilted-language business here about fear—you know, facing it, accepting it, acting through it, that kind of thing—felt way too heavy-handed and touchy-feely for Batman, at least for me.
I normally object to the costumes in superhero movies, the one element that regularly torpedoes the whole willing suspension of disbelief thing for me, and alas Nolan’s Batman is no exception. There is some sense that much of this costume, at least the torso part, is some kind of bulletproof material, which I thought was generally dense and heavy? The cape is made, we are told, of extremely light and durable fabric. Apparently it can work as a quasi-parachute on his numerous falls from buildings or when he glides around on wind currents between the skyscrapers. This Batman, it appears, can fly. Very difficult time believing all this.
In a general way, I have to admit I’m a little tired of Christopher Nolan these days. We’re in a bad patch. But this is one I enjoyed the first time and certainly still has its points now. It’s a mash of stars—Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson (is this the start of the tough-guy second half of his career?), Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, etc., etc. Michael Caine somehow elevates the role of Alfred the butler and brings an interesting gravitas to it, way beyond anything we got from Alan Napier in the TV show. The Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) is an interesting choice of first villain for Batman to face. He goes all the way back to 1941, I don’t recall him well if at all from reading the comics and following the Batman saga on and off in the ‘60s and later, and he’s pretty cool here, just Murphy putting on a hideous scarecrow mask he somehow keeps handy and tossing around dangerous toxic hallucinogens. Good stuff.
Still, I am tired now of the obligatory melodrama of Batman’s origin, though it was admittedly still fresh here in 2005 and certainly was in 1987’s essential Year One. I also happen to be a partisan for Chicago as the best Gotham City, yes even over its obvious model of New York. Batman Begins includes a ridiculous and ridiculously good chase scene involving the weird, tank-like Batmobile and many other good elements in motion across the Chicago landscape. Batman Begins is a good setup for what is arguably the greatest Batman movie ever made, 2008’s The Dark Knight, which among other things does get around to the Joker. I don’t know, though. I’ve seen The Dark Knight a few times and thought it was great, but it has been a number of years now. We’ll see how it goes when I get to it. I’m trying to resist making a joke now about bat times and bat channels.
Batman Begins leans into the bat theme in another way at least as much as any other Batman leans into anything. Here, for the first time in the Batman canon I believe, Bruce Wayne has a morbid fear of bats, which frequently appear in undulating swarms. In one scene later in the movie a swarm of them even appear to be helping Batman in one of his fight scenes. That’s new, but also bears the mark of someone trying too hard. In fact, all the stilted-language business here about fear—you know, facing it, accepting it, acting through it, that kind of thing—felt way too heavy-handed and touchy-feely for Batman, at least for me.
I normally object to the costumes in superhero movies, the one element that regularly torpedoes the whole willing suspension of disbelief thing for me, and alas Nolan’s Batman is no exception. There is some sense that much of this costume, at least the torso part, is some kind of bulletproof material, which I thought was generally dense and heavy? The cape is made, we are told, of extremely light and durable fabric. Apparently it can work as a quasi-parachute on his numerous falls from buildings or when he glides around on wind currents between the skyscrapers. This Batman, it appears, can fly. Very difficult time believing all this.
In a general way, I have to admit I’m a little tired of Christopher Nolan these days. We’re in a bad patch. But this is one I enjoyed the first time and certainly still has its points now. It’s a mash of stars—Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson (is this the start of the tough-guy second half of his career?), Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, etc., etc. Michael Caine somehow elevates the role of Alfred the butler and brings an interesting gravitas to it, way beyond anything we got from Alan Napier in the TV show. The Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) is an interesting choice of first villain for Batman to face. He goes all the way back to 1941, I don’t recall him well if at all from reading the comics and following the Batman saga on and off in the ‘60s and later, and he’s pretty cool here, just Murphy putting on a hideous scarecrow mask he somehow keeps handy and tossing around dangerous toxic hallucinogens. Good stuff.
Still, I am tired now of the obligatory melodrama of Batman’s origin, though it was admittedly still fresh here in 2005 and certainly was in 1987’s essential Year One. I also happen to be a partisan for Chicago as the best Gotham City, yes even over its obvious model of New York. Batman Begins includes a ridiculous and ridiculously good chase scene involving the weird, tank-like Batmobile and many other good elements in motion across the Chicago landscape. Batman Begins is a good setup for what is arguably the greatest Batman movie ever made, 2008’s The Dark Knight, which among other things does get around to the Joker. I don’t know, though. I’ve seen The Dark Knight a few times and thought it was great, but it has been a number of years now. We’ll see how it goes when I get to it. I’m trying to resist making a joke now about bat times and bat channels.
No comments:
Post a Comment