Batman Begins
Remember what happened the last time we saw Batman on film? Arnold Schwarzenegger was running around Gotham City and the Bat-suit had nipples. The laughable Batman and Robin supposedly killed this franchise, but who would have guessed that eight years later a brand new Batman would rise from the ashes of that disaster? Batman Begins, as the name suggests, wipes the slate clean and starts from the very beginning. Which, it turns out, is a very good place to start.
The opening flashback reveals that the young Bruce Wayne was frightened by – wait for it – bats, although unfazed by bullies in the Asian prison he resides in as an adult. This is very far away from Bruce Wayne, billionaire playboy etc. and sets the tone for this much darker, grittier Batman film. Fear is what this is all about, the weapon of both Batman and his enemies, and is what really makes this movie interesting. Having said that, this theme is plonked into the action a bit too frequently, and I found myself wishing sometimes it wasn’t quite so obvious. Wayne is saved from his incarceration by Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) who offers him a chance with the mysterious League of Shadows. What follows is an in-depth exploration of exactly how and why Wayne decides to dress up as a bat and fight criminals, an issue never actually addressed in previous films. In Nolan’s typical time-shifting style, used to great effect in Memento and The Prestige, we see how the death of Wayne’s parents when he was a child, and a fervent desire to know what drives the criminal mind years later landed him in that prison in the first place. We also get to see his training as a ninja with Ducard, which works well to explain where Wayne got his improbably excellent fighting skills. Christian Bale is possibly the best Batman ever, muscular and brooding, with an intensity that burns throughout. Neeson does well in his mentor role, although Ducard’s philosophical sound-bites are a bit too Jedi-ish for us to forget who it really is on the screen. Also, although perhaps necessary, this first half of the film drags on somewhat. After all, the audience is ultimately waiting for Bruce to don the cape and utility belt.
