Batman Begins

Rating: 6/10 (28 June 2005)

A good summer blockbuster movie. Nothing more. No interesting elements what so ever. It had potential, especially because of good casting. Did nothing with it, except with Bale and Caine. It did have decent cinematography--created a dark atmosphere, only if for the 2nd half of movie. The movie also did an OK job of explaining Batman's training process and how his gadgets came about. The biggest cause of problems was the script, which had a quite a few illogical plot elements. It attempted character development, ended in failure. Irritating silly quipps, and clichéd placement of reoccurring objects and non-consequential characters.
Oh, there are lots of noisy scenes to show off its budget--the car chase scene, and the final scene with the exploding monorail...but really, no substance. The movie also awkwardly tries to fit Gotham into modern era, and it does not work. Flashback sequences are not well done.
But my biggest issue with the movie was...what was Batman's motivation? According to this movie, it's fear...but what happened to the guilt, which they slightly touch upon in the beginning? What happened to his desire for revenge? What drives him to stalk the nights of gotham for criminals? I got this from, on a random search on the web: "For the sake of his role in Batman's origin, Joe Chill cannot be an individual. He can not be a person who Bruce Wayne can track down and confront, as this would allow closure on the Wayne murders, and negate Bruce's need to fight a personal war as Batman. Because Bruce will never identify and confront Joe Chill as an individual, Chill becomes the embodiment of all criminals. So, to Bruce, every mugger is Joe Chill. Every Criminal is subject to his vengeance." In this movie, Bruce Wayne gets closure, through Chill's trial and death. This is, in my opinion, a major, major flaw in the characterization of Bruce Wayne. He has no reason to be angry anymore, really.
And where to start for other plot oddities...the silliest one is where Bruce Wayne, to avoid executing one criminal("I will not be an executioner"), ends up killing 100's by blowing up the whole place. And of course, he feels no remorse, or even recollects these events. It really seems as though no thoughts went into writing this script.
Another thing...underutilized villain, the Scarecrow--who is a cronie, a rather weak one, rather than a nemesis. Also, wasted use of Rutger Hauer, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman.
Many mentions about how this is better than the 1989 Batman...in concept, it's not. It's a good popcorn flick. Burton's Batman was truly driven by something. This Batman...i don't know where he's coming from.
Basically, bad script. Forgettable movie, except for Bale's portrayal of Wayne.