A pleasant surprise

Rating: 9/10 (9 August 2005)

'Huh ? "Batman" eh ?' One of you film buffs might say. Yes. Batman. I reluctantly went along to the popcorn-manufactured smell infested mega-multiplex to watch, what I was presuming to be, not only the zillionth corny super hero comic adaptation, but also the umpteenth Batman adaptation. And considering the sheer quality of the previous "Dark Knight" blockbusters, I really did have random thoughts of suicide in my head, when entering the cinema. Well anyway I better stop complaining now because 90% of Batman Begins is pretty much the opposite of everything said until now. So why did I say it ? Well just to let everybody know that I'm not easy about movies, especially these summer muilti-trillion blockbusters, and I'm certainly not going to praise or trash a movie depending on it's special effects or other pathetic elements as such (sorry Harry Knowles).
Believe it or not, the plot sticks religiously to the title: Batman Begins really does start right when the seed is planted. At the beginning, there is no fancy Batman with his batmobile & gadgets, instead we're forced to learn the very origins of everything. These origins are partially inspired by Frank Millers sinister graphic novel named (surprise!) "Batman : Year One". So it's back to zero for Batman which is a good thing considering the sheer bat feces that came out from 1989 to 1997 on screen. Christopher Nolan feasts us with the usual Hollywood action bla bla (which can be relaxing and enjoyable if you don't feel like an intense film), whilst for the first time initiating us to the interesting story behind Bruce Wayne, explaining his anger, his fear, and how eventually he will use this fear to maintain order in Gotham City (now we're commin'). As the director of Memento, Nolan sure does show the complex confrontations inside Bruce's mind.
Bruce Wayne/Future Batman (Christian Bale) is supposed to be a billionaire, but the first scene of Batman Begins shows him as a dirty, grubby, tramp, doing slave work, he's a prisoner. Feeling responsible for the unfortunate death of his parents, killed by a Gotham criminal, he decides to take revenge on all men on earth stained by crime. Before long he gets slammed in prison, and then rescued by the mysterious Henri Ducard. The later takes Bruce as his mentor and teaches him various martial arts and spiritual ways of living that will help him confront his real fears. Strange Henri goes a bit far and tries to initiate Bruce into his masters sect dubbed "The League of Shadows". Bruce discovers the amoral values behind the cult and escapes, thus making a new dangerous enemy. The teachings have however helped him cope with his fear, and transform it into a symbol, the bat (his childhood fear). Bruce returns to Gotham, his mansion and faithful butler, Alfred (Michael Caine), with his plan to restore order in the - once beautiful, now rotten with corruption - Gotham City. Coming back to his family business, run by the selfish "Earl" (since the death of his father) Bruce soon discovers Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) the only worker in the science division of the company, who turns out to be willing to supply Bruce with all the familiar batman gadgets. The rest is pure Batman perfection. There is a semi-romantic subplot involving Katie Holmes (don't ask) and it's really not worth talking about.
The first half-hour of Batman Begins is definitely a bit patchy and has the typical and pretentious ""zen-philosophy-mystical"" side that a lot of directors nowadays just place in their movies and expect it to refine the film and give a touch of intellectual thought to it- but it doesn't. The thing is, I can forgive these small errors, as I wasn't expecting a masterpiece anyway and that's how this film just works. It's fun, "cool", yes it has it's Hollywood moments, but it also has some unique and original ideas, you can just sit back and enjoy the show whilst it maintains the element of surprise and plot depth that lacks so much in these kind of films. Nolan also takes a bit of a courageous risk as a director, and adds some nice gory and surprise elements to the party, unlike the other comic book adaptations. Not only does this movie look dark and sinister, but it also looks more real, yes! Nolan has thank god for once used real props and less CGI, so instead of the super slick and shiny animated garbage, we get some real vehicles and sets, and by god it really does change the movie.
Well what can I say? Batman Begins was not only the best Batman movie to date (that's not a huge achievement), but to me it was also the best mainstream Hollywood action movie I have ever seen. In fact it's the perfect model of how a Hollywood blockbuster should be: innovative and enjoyable.
Owen