Does it Entertain?

Rating: 5/10 (22 July 2005)

BATMAN BEGINS The title of this film proves to be an interesting choice. It encompasses in two words the full intentions of the film's developers, whose ultimate goal was to revive a potentially lucrative franchise that audiences left for dead years ago. Unfortunately, it also foreshadows an aimless, lackluster narrative that manages a few, fresh breathes during its otherwise mediocre, two-and-a-half hour journey. Ultimately, the film fails to entertain.
This failure is most apparent in its attempt to bring the two worlds of its hero together. On the one hand is Bruce Wayne's world, which occupies the daylight hours of society; the other world, of course, is assigned to Batman, who occupies the night. These two identities make up the overall identity of the film's hero, who really deserves the overall name of Batman, as that character is what interests us most.
The makers of this film must know this themselves: this is, after all, a Batman film, and this is what the audience expects to see. The film they made, however, does not reflect this knowledge. True, the film spends a sizable amount of its time  and budget  covering the background of everything associated with the Batman mythos, such as how he fights, what inventions he uses, and how he develops his reputation as a caped crusader. Yet through it all, the character of Batman eludes us, even when he is obviously present on-screen.
Something is missing from this film, and its lack is sorely felt throughout. Perhaps it's a sense of the majestic, of the truly heroic. For so much time is spent dissecting the various inventions and techniques that Bruce Wayne  not Batman yet, because the cowl is off  plans to employ, that once we see them in action, their use, and the way it all looks, is a matter of course. It is hard to be astounded by the result, because the method has been fully explained.
This almost neurotic emphasis on the realism of Batman's kit is strange, especially when one considers that the principal character was conceived of decades ago, well before any of this technology even existed. Somehow, Batman managed to chase down villains, break crime syndicates, and even save the entire globe, without the use the film's high-tech gadgetry that would feel more at home in a James Bond effort.
This reliance on contemporary technology is so acute, the actual character of Batman is left ill-defined. Thus, while we can understand how he jumps from a tall building, and floats to one a few stories below, we have no idea what kind of mettle a man has to made of to even consider making that leap. Nor do we know what truly drives him to stay up every night, risking his life in the pursuit of criminals, only to leave them at the mercy of a system that will most likely free them in a short time.
A few answers are offered, and these are revenge for the death of his family; a wounded sense of injustice; and some dimes-store psychology about childhood fears. Yet these are only partial answers, and hardly suffice as explanations of Batman's character. Most people experience a sense of injustice at some point in their lives; but what is it about Batman's beliefs that distinguishes him from us, to the extent that he wears a costume, and chases down some of the most dangerous people in the city? Most people understand the concept of revenge; yet what is it about how is Batman's desire for revenge is so intense that he dedicates his entire life to fighting crime? The remaining characters in the film are equally offered half-baked, and hollow. The lower goons and villains Batman encounters in the film are scared witless by the merest hint of his presence, while the major antagonists of the film muster no greater reputation than that of a bully. Once Batman appears on the scene, they lose the tough coolness they exhibited in front of secondary characters, and revert to laughing, cackling crackpots that know little of strategy, and probably couldn't reason through the theft of a single candy bar. Gotham city is only briefly referred to, and even then, our knowledge is limited to that of dark, grimy streets, and a lot of pouring rain.
With few likable, genuinely heroic characters, the film offers little purchase for the viewer to grab on to during its long-winded ride. The fact that, during this ride, very little happens, only adds to the sense of ennui. The flashback scene that occupies almost a full hour passes by in a montage of scenes that could have been taken from a mediocre kung fu flick; while the rest of the movie involves a hefty amount of the aforementioned gadgetry, and an ambitious, villainous plot that is introduced in a decidedly clumsy fashion.
Perhaps that is a good term to describe the film's overall mood: it is clumsy. The film attempts to be a thoughtful, genre-defining origin story, for a character that has fascinated many for over half a century. In this effort it fails, instead attaining a mediocre status that is entirely due to an earnest cast, and an inflated, Hollywood budget.
Does it Entertain? In a word, no. The film is long, and the story uneventful. The narrative is uninspired, and played out by actors who work their hardest, in roles that might as well be straitjackets. The heavy-handed exposition behind every gadget is tiresome, and succeeds only in tarnishing whatever lustre the action might have brought. This is a Batman movie in name, and look, only.