Burton Hit The Nail on the Head

Rating: 8/10 (9 July 2005)

Not being a comic book geek, let alone a Batman comic book geek, I've never felt the strong enthusiasm for the Batman mythos as others have. As a kid, I grew up watching and loving the campy 1960's television show. I'd always thought this was what it was all about. Then, when I was about ten or twelve, I read a few of the earlier comics. I loved the gloomy weirdness of those early comics, and realized how different the t.v. series was from the 1930's and 40's print version. In my teens I ate up Frank Miller's treatment in the "Dark Knight" series, with his realistic yet colorfully comic approach. When Tim Burton's movie "Batman" came out, I was thrilled. I never thought someone could bring together the sombre look and feel of the Bob Kane original and the Frank Miller melodrama with the colorful kitsch of the '60's show. Of course, the movie franchise only went downhill with the replacement of Burton with Joel Shumaker.
When I'd heard about "Batman Begins" my first reaction was that the film would bring back the darkness, bring back the tragedy and feeling of loss that the sequels failed so miserably to maintain. I was right. But what I didn't expect was that "Batman Begins" would retain none of the comic book feel of the first two Burton Batman films. Aside from two fantastic action sequences, I came away from "Batman Begins" gaining nothing more from what I had seen in "Batman" and "Batman Returns". In fact, I got more of a sense of torture and conflict from Michael Keaton's take on the Bruce Wayne/Batman character. None of the characters, especially the child version of Bruce Wayne, got me caring for them. Christian Bale was just a moping poop as Bruce Wayne, and a too-often wise cracking sub-hero as Batman. And Michael Caine as Alfred seemed as appropriate as Sean Connery playing Mary Poppins. What interests me is that, when the original Burton film came out, Roger Ebert complained about the fight sequences being too vague, his not being able to see any of the action in those scenes. Yet he says this version finally gets it right, with the fight shots as clear as mud.
The one saving grace this Batman film has is Liam Nieson as the villain, a much more sedate and calculating baddie as the previous villains.
For all its efforts, "Batman Begins" did nothing more than introduce new gadgets and one liners to a still failing franchise.