Batman is the "shadow"

Rating: 8/10 (26 September 2005)

15 years ago, when I was a child, one of my greatest cinema-experiences was Tim Buton's original Batman (1989). Eventually I grew up with the Batman-world: not only the sequels but with the animated series (unfortunately the comics in Hungary wasn't distributed too long). I loved very much Burton's two Batman-films (especially Batman Returns), Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever was fine too, but not compare to Batman 1-2. But Batman & Robin was simply unforgiven, a bad joke, a disgusting travesty of Batman-mythology. Well, after that Batman slowly disappeared from my everyday - but every times were good, when I saw again Burton's films. I could just hope there will be a worthy return of the Dark Knight: and Nolan's film isn't disappointing at all. This is really the first Batman-film, where Batman IS the main character. In spite of there are a lot of villains and other roles, this film is definitely about Batman. So, Batman Begins not a prequel: this is a completely new beginning, a new start. First time, the criminals aren't more important than Batman himself. Nolan rehabilitates the hero not only by the narrative but the concept as well. There wasn't any piece of the original series, which would explain WHY Bruce Wayne chose the bat as his persona. Batman Forever tried to give a short answer, but it lacked any complexity or coherency. Thanks to Nolan and especially Christian Bale, we can see why BATman is born - and moreover, how. Earlier the filmmakers showed us a completed character, now we can see him in a mental and carnal progression. I think the most important idea in Batman Begins is that, Batman is the manifestation of Bruce Wayne's dark side, his "shadow". Carl Gustav Jung called the bad, unpleasant, regressive and destroying tendencies in ourselves as the "shadow" - well, Batman is literally the "shadow", but he is more than that, because Wayne uses him to good and justice. Batman Begins at the same time warnings us there is a little line between hero and executioner, justice and vigilantism - but we must know about the difference. So, the "new" Batman has a moral codex - not as, for example, Michael Keaton's character. This "moral codex" at the same time doesn't deny Batman-Wayne's mental and moral ambiguity. Anyway, there are a lot of didaxis in the movie, but maybe this is the consequence of the complex portray of the main character and his unusual problems. The new world of Gotham City is more hopeless and less characteristic than Burton's expressionist Gotham and the music - except for some themes - is less memorable than Elfman's were. On the other side, Batman Begins has the most massive and coherent narrative - so the dramatic progression is better than ever. Such as the whole film: even with its faults, Batman Begins: better than ever.