Batman Begins

Screenplay By: Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer

Genre: Action/Adventure/Crime/Fantasy/Thriller

Released: October 2005

Rating: PG-13 intense action violence, disturbing images and some thematic elements

Runtime: 141 minutes

In Batman Begins, the Dark Knight returns to the screen after a seven year hiatus, but instead of moving forward with new foes to fight, we travel back to the roots of Batman and take a look into the man behind the mask.

Batman Begins Plot

In this "before" look at the man that will be Batman, Bruce is abroad, living among criminals in an attempt to prepare himself for the battle against injustice that awaits him in Gotham city. In a foreign jail, Bruce is visited by a man who extends to him an invitation to join the League of Shadows, a group of ninjas who have been fighting against injustice for centuries. Bruce is released from prison and begins his training with the League, struggling to confront the demons of his past, but when he is expected to perform an execution without trial to "graduate", he sees the true nature of the League and rejects their ideas.

When he returns to Gotham, Bruce has it in his head to give his home city a symbol, a hero that will strike fear into the hearts of those that wish to do no good. With the help of his faithful childhood guardian and butler, Alfred, and Wayne Enterprises employee, Lucious Fox, he creates his alter-ego, Batman, and begins his fight. During his take down of a Gotham City crime boss, though, he uncovers a more heinous threat that even the criminals of the city should fear.

Characters & Setting

Batman movies always touch base on the murder of Bruce's parents, save for the original staring Adam West, and always miss the mark in connecting this event to the real torture in his mind. Previous movies have always portrayed the Dark Knight in a stoic fashion, flashing back to the moment the pearls drop and the roses fall, returning to the present to a stone-faced Bruce staring expressionless into the air. This is not so in Batman Begins, as the movie focuses more on a man that becomes Batman, and not a man that is Batman. The same is true for all of the characters in Batman Begins - they all have emotions, fears and a sense of duty, even the bad guys, which always make for a better movie experience.

Venturing outside the city limits of Gotham, there is a much more realistic feel to Batman Begins, as if Bruce's home town is a part of our natural world and not a realm of fantasy. Gotham itself has had a face lift, taken out of the shadows and put into a more flattering light. Yes, the city is infested with crime, but the cleverly named "Narrows" is a lot darker than the safer "straight" section of the city. Arkham Asylum has also been subject to plastic surgery, and while it is still a formidable fortress of insanity, it possesses a more hospitalized look instead of a strictly prison-like appearance.

Cinematography & Sound

Some of the actions scenes in this movie are so fast that it is hard to believe that Batman can take on so many at one time, but the absence of Matrix-like effects make this movie stand out more. So many have duplicated the "stop, then go in slow motion, then go really fast again" method that not seeing it in Batman Begins is like a glass of ice water after mowing the lawn on a hottest day of August. It is also nice to see the standard "Batman on atop a building" scene, but prior attempts at making this shot look cool have been blown out of the water. Combined with a killer soundtrack, seeing the Dark Knight stand against a background of the setting sun as the camera turns a circle around him is simply breath-taking.

Speaking of the soundtrack, Batman Begins leaves behind the fire and brimstone of the past and strikes a much bolder cord. The Batman melody that is expected is nestled into the undertones, climbing dramatically upwards into the crescendo and falling gently downward, back into the flow. The sound effects are also done well and even when there are none present and the music has fallen away there is no silence in this movie.

Performance

Unfortunately, Christian Bale in the role of Batman isn't the shining star of this film. Michael Caine (Alfred) and Morgan Freeman (Lucious Fox) bring so much charm to the screen that it is difficult not to love their characters a little bit more than the hero. Bale does an excellent job, though, much better than George Clooney, but with such seasoned veterans on screen with him, he had quite a lot of talent to stand up against. It was also nice to see that Katie Holmes' character (Rachel Dawes) wasn't the swooning object of affection that previous Batman babes have been. Overall the performances from the actors in this movie are top-notch, accurate, emotionally driven and it is nice to see such humanity in a Batman flick.

Final Thoughts

Despite a couple minor irregularities and a few silly lines of dialog, Batman Begins is a gold star in the world of comic book movies. We get to see Batman as we've never seen him before - we get to see him as Bruce Wayne, a tortured kid who misses his parents and wants nothing except justice against those who commit crime. It's a refreshing change of pace considering most super hero movies rely on special effects, flashy costumes and hot actors to sell their films. Batman Begins, however, boasts a believable plot and emotional characters, but not to worry - the Caped Crusader still has those oh, so wonderful toys.