Batman's Saviour

Rating: 7/10 (27 June 2005)

After George Clooney stabbed Batman in the heart and watched him die, Christian Bale breathed life back into the suit and once more created the 'Dark Knight', something which hadn't been achieved since the glory days of Michael Keaton and Tim Burton. As is the seeming trend at the moment, 'Begins' is a prequel to the 1989 'Batman'. However, the keen observer may notice a few adjustments/errors in the storyline.The first being that 'Batman Begins' actually follows the comic book storyline regarding Bruce's parents. In the original story, Joe Chill murdered the Waynes, whilst Tim Burton changed this so that it was Jack Napier (who later on became The Joker) who shot them both, thus creating a relationship between Batman and The Joker. 'I made you you made me, how childish!'- The Joker Also, what's with Sergeant Gordon (who I am assuming later makes it to Commissioner)meeting Batman and being on his side? It was only at the very end of 'Batman' that he finally realised Batman was a crime fighter, not a criminal. At the end of the film, the next villain is introduced; 'He leaves a calling card', which was a joker from a pack of cards. Now then, all credit to the writers for trying to create a definite link to the 'next' movie, but at the beginning of 'Batman' The Joker is not a super villain, nor is he even The Joker. He is Jack Napier, a gang member working for a gangland boss, 'Grissom'. It is only when Grissom sets Jack up, Batman tries to save him but drops him in a vat of chemicals, and his plastic surgery goes horribly wrong (using the tools from 'Little shop of Horrors) that he finally snaps and takes over the mafia gang as the new super villain, The Joker. This last point persuaded me that it was meant as a definite prequel to the 1989 work of genius and therefore I am hoping that the errors were, for some reason, intentional. The thing that makes Batman the greatest superhero ever is the fact that he has no actual super powers and one great bit of story-writing is actually explaining where Batman gets 'those wonderful toys' which enable him to fight crime the way he does, without having been bitten by a spider or sent to Earth because his planet is about to explode. Having been designed for the US Army, the suit, car and weapons were far too expensive to mass-produce and so the entire operation was dropped. The suit was bullet/knife-proof Kevlar body armour, which Bruce personalised and turned into the Batsuit. Batman also never uses a gun, preferring such elements as hand-to-hand combat, 'Baterangs' and gas powered mobile zip-lines. Again, the film shows that all of these were created with the intention of being used in urban warfare, making them fit perfectly into Batman's arsenal. The new Batmobile is a fantastically fresh look at Batman's famous run-around. As one police officer states, 'It's a black...tank.'The Batmobile was actually MADE. The car did everything in real life that it does in the film. It drives, it jumps, it weighs two tons and it will be on Ebay within a week. Having said that, I still personally prefer the sleek stealthy Batmobile circa Michael Keaton, 1989-1992. For someone who has trained as a ninja in the art of stealth, a huge tank with lights everywhere that charges through the streets destroying everything in it's path is not the best mode of transport. But I suppose Mr Wayne had to make do with what he had. Finally, congratulations are in order for Christian Bale, the man wisely chosen by Christopher Nolan to play Batman. Despite the almost cheesy gruff voice, Bale brings a sense of foreboding, and rebuilds the Dark Knight after being left behind in the trail of camp destruction that was George Clooney. In all a great film, but still not beating the majesty that was 'Batman'.