Batman As It Should Be

Rating: Null/10 (30 July 2006)

The Joe Cool Review: Batman Begins(2005)
Starring: Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Cillian Murphy as Dr. Johnathan Crane/The Scarecrow, Liam Neeson as Ducard, Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, Gary Oldman as James Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox
Plot: Focuses on the origins of how Batman came to be. This is a complete revamp of the Batman series, focusing away from the Gothic Tim Burton stories and campy Joel Schumacher films. Bruce's parents get killed and he swears vengeance, eventually becoming Batman, who now has to stop a plot by the League of Shadows to destroy Gotham City.
Openers: A new Batman movie had been in development for a long time before this came out, but after the silliness that was Batman & Robin no one really wanted to go into that territory again. Probably the same reason it took so long for Superman to come back. Fans really loved the Burton Batman films, even though it did have some inaccuracies(Joker never killed Batman's parents), and generally hated the Schumacher films because well, it took the serious Dark Knight and used it as an excuse to have celebrities act over the top, gave us Arnold, Bat-nipples and George Clooney playing Batman. Basically, if a new Batman movie was to be done, it had to be done right or you could swear off Batman appearing on the big screen ever again. So did Batman Begins help establish a new franchise or does it fall the way of the ones before it? Just before we begin I need to state I am by no means a Batman fan boy, he's not that high on my list.
The Good: This film takes Batman into a far more serious tone than any of the films, Burton's original included. Sure there are some bits of humor here and there, but it's doesn't detract from it. This Batman pretty much has everything. Great story, direction, acting...and the casting was just perfect. Michael Gough played Alfred in the original four, and while he did do a great job, it seems like Michael Caine was just an overwhelmingly perfect pick. Adding Morgan Freeman was a good touch as well, and Liam Neeson made for a very strong cast. But with those three, you can almost always expect quality. The questionable ones were really the "new blood" so to speak. Christian Bale delivers an excellent performance as Batman and as Bruce Wayne. Believe it or not he doesn't just play the same guy only with a costume. He plays two different people which I think is the better way to do it. Cillian Murphy had a big year in 2005 between this and Red Eye, and he does an excellent job as Scarecrow. I wish he would have spent more time in Scarecrow form, but that's nitpicking.
The Bad: Katie Holmes does okay, but on average her character just seems like a pointless love interest and really unnecessary. There are other minor characters that really served no purpose in my opinion. With all the different people and plot lines being thrown around, it is a little hard to keep track. But with the over two hour running time, I guess they needed to fill up some space. Which is another problem I have with this film. It is a little on the long side. Fortunately it never gets boring so running time really doesn't play too much of a factor.
The Ugly: Nothing of note. This movie never had any cringe-worthy moments.
Final Verdict: I can say with a resounding yes that Batman Begins is a great film. Not just a great comic book film, but a good film overall. Bringing the whole cast back for a sequel is very smart(it's already been confirmed) and if you want to know who the villain will be, without spoiling it for yourself, then just wait until the very end of the movie when they announce it.
Rating: ****1/2 of *****