The movie that started it all.

Rating: 8/10 (7 September 2018)

I watched this for maybe the fourth time this year, and it was not quite as good as I remembered. However, I don't really fault anyone for the weak points of this movie. Scarecrow is a kind of lame villain for sure, and Falcone lacks legitimacy as a mob boss (in a Season 5 Frank Underwood way). There's a bit of cheesy dialogue that rings of the 2002 Spiderman and an annoying amount of repeated lines. The climax is somewhat standard and does a lazy job of tying some themes together. But even with those flaws, this is, in my eyes THE movie that proved that superhero movies can be really good and paved the way for the MCU's success.
Batman is separate from other superheroes in a lot of ways, and David Goyer and the Nolan brothers really took advantage of that here. They use Batman's identity as a vigilante to show how he kind of bends the law in a way that carries out the spirit of it more in some ways and less in others. They also make Bruce Wayne legitimately flawed in some irredeemable ways that most superheroes are not. Nolan has said that one of the things that attracted him to Batman was the fact that, while his technology and money certainly grant him a lot of power, he doesn't possess any innate powers. Nobody calls him a superhero, they call him a vigilante which is more accurate to what he is. Also, while people often say that Iron Man is basically the Batman of Marvel, there are major differences between them. Bruce Wayne takes a much more serious approach to his role as a superhero and is uncomfortable with his identity as a public figure, whereas Tony Stark uses his suits and technology to show off. Bruce Wayne feels more comfortable as Batman because he has a very narrow view of what fighting evil is. Rachel's line at the end about how Bruce Wayne is really Batman's mask to the world may be a bit trite and on-the-nose, but I think it's very true and it accounts for his eight years of seclusion between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Speaking of the two sequels, I must say that some of the character points and themes that I've talked about aren't developed that much in this first movie, but the groundwork is laid for them well enough that they are able to be explored more in the later films.
The League of Shadows is a key part of this movie and what I think really sets the tone for the trilogy. They exploit Batman's refusal to kill in a way that lets us know that he will be tested in this regard again, and even within the movie it makes him less capable of defeating the people that threaten Gotham. His enemies are ruthless to the point that he can only stop them by killing them, as is proven in all three movies but most blatantly here. Even though his line "I won't kill you, but I don't have to save you either" even though it's a bit lame, speaks to how his code, while noble, is a major weakness. With Ra's Al Guhl and the Joker and even Crane, Batman has an opportunity to justifiably kill them but chooses not to. This results not only in suffering for him, but also danger to the people of Gotham.
I also want to talk briefly about Alfred. He's just such a good character because of how much he cares about Bruce Wayne. Alfred wants Bruce to strike the right balance between being Bruce Wayne and Batman at every step along the way. He's kind of a tragic figure because, while Bruce does seek his counsel, he never fully takes Alfred's advice to heart. Also, without him and his desire for Bruce to live a healthier and more meaningful life, I think we would view Batman as more of a traditional superhero that is always in the right or at least who can redeem himself by the end. I know I didn't say anything here that hasn't already been said, but I still wanted to say it. Also, I'm not huge on spin-off series, but I would totally go see a movie about Alfred's life before he started working for the Wayne family.
If you're a Nolan fan, this is definitely not one of his better movies, but I think he also made it at a point where studios didn't trust his creative vision as much as they do now. Maybe this is just my Nolanite side talking, but I think that the flaws of this movie were probably not caused by Nolan. It's also arguably the weakest Batman movie, certainly the weakest in my opinion. You don't have to see it if you want to see The Dark Knight, but it's better to see the movies in order. Still, as I have said, it did an amazing job of proving to the world that superhero movies don't have to be campy and can be meaningful works of art and narrative. Overall Rating: 8.1/10.