Surprisingly watchable

Rating: 8/10 (23 January 2011)

On hearing that Christopher Nolan was to reboot the 'Batman' franchise with a new seriousness, it was tempting to roll one's eyes. This is a story about a man who fights crime dressed as a giant bat; how much inner depth is there to discover in this concept? Added to the innate absurdity of the idea, there is also a fair share of standard Hollywood nonsense in 'Batman Begins': a pair of near-teenage, drop-dead gorgeous attorneys; Liam Neeseon virtually reprising his role in 'Star Wars'; and a Batmobile that, in spite of being the most amazing vehicle ever designed, can barely outrun a police car (although I did like the idea of it coming with sat-nav). In reality, the success of a comic book adaptation doesn't really depend on true seriousness, rather on it's ability to combine superficially interesting ideas (which rarely hold up on closer inspection) with arresting images, and it has to be said that in this respect, 'Batman Begins' actually works: there's always something going on, something to look at, some cause of tension, even if the underlying story is innately preposterous. And the climax is really quite a thrilling spectacle. It's certainly a much better beast than Nolan's later, overpraised 'Inception', with better pacing, a more internally consistent fictional world, and less portentous philosophising and intrusive exposition. I'm still not a huge fan of comic-book adaptations in general; but this one is done well.