A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: Batman Begins

Date Viewed: 6/25/05

Details:

Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman)

Michael Caine (Alfred)

Liam Neeson (Ducard)

Katie Holmes (Rachel Dawes)

Gary Oldman (Jim Gordon)

Cillian Murphy (Dr. Jonathan Crane)

Tom Wilkinson (Carmine Falcone)

Rutger Hauer (Earle)

Ken Watanabe (Ra's Al Ghul)

Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox)

And with special guest appearances

by Chicago as Gotham

and Iceland as Tibet.

Director: Christopher Nolan

Score: +

The Review: Batman Begins slowly and gets better.

This is not just another entry in the Batman franchise, but a reasoned (or as reasoned as one gets in this proximity to comic book characters) return to the roots of his obsession and training. BB covers similar ground as did Burton & Keatons's (1989) Batman, but in more psychological depth, with more peripheral characterization, and the introduction of the League of Shadows as motive force. And about one-third of the way into the movie, it also found its sense of humor and racheted up the audience interest a notch or two.

Not at all camp, Gotham (as a geography) is stylized slightly but realistically, and definitely not over the top. It's as if it was constructed from leftover Bladerunner sets, out-takes from an futuristic early-middle 20th century. And for the first time, the path to the gadgetry and tools was outlined in a believable fashion -- including the bat-suit and, most curiously, the bat-mobile itself ("does it come in black?").

Bale carries off the damaged Bruce Wayne -- not quite as well as Keaton, but adequately -- but Michael Caine was very well-cast as Alfred. Gary Oldman does a good job as the younger, more aggressive, and considerably thinner, Inspector/Detective Gordon (this obvious connection into the past has not been dealt with in previous versions). Finally, there is a spectacular score by Hans Zimmer, much better than his recent Madagascar, with strong echoes of Gladiator (the latter aural connections making BB all the more interesting).

There are inevitable comparisons with Batmen past, and in that light, BB and Bale both hold up well. As a character, Burton & Keaton's Batman is still perhaps the strongest interpretation with excellent motivation, even if the Gotham setting was excessively stylized and the theatricality of the protagonists a bit extreme and unexplained (see below). BB offers more details of Wayne's background and for his psychological transformation -- including the possibly extraneous League of Shadows -- but the character is still strongly rendered, and there is a ground-setting recognition of theatrical excess as an emerging feature of the Gotham backdrop. Most of the other versions are gross mischaracterizations, ultra-camp exaggerations with little interest and less psychological impact.

(26-Jun-05)

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