Nothing Happens

Rating: 7/10 (18 July 2005)

I have reservations for how good this film actually is for three reasons: firstly, despite all the great actors in the film the experience is emotionally unmoving and visually rather conservative. Lastly, the film is somewhat hampered by creating key urban sequences on an interior sound stage.
The movie does check all the right boxes for telling a decent story though; heaps of back-story, character subtext, little motifs about childhood trauma and alienation that fuel the idea that Batman (could be) an interesting film character. Unfortunately, the success of Sam Raimi's first two Spiderman films pretty much created an endless (often pointless) superhero re-tread economy. This movie genuinely tries something different, with more dialogue, a more cosmopolitan outlook and more real-world issues than hi-tech Marvel fluff.
I was left largely unimpressed upon the initial viewing of Batman Begins; its not really quite a grown up film, nor is it a stylish fantasy film. Its sort of a crime drama with a guy appearing as Batman for a handful of scenes. The excellent (and not-to-be-missed) sequel The Dark Knight was one of the most successful films of the decade, making the back-story chapters here seem reasonable in hindsight, not that you need to see this film to understand that one.
Oh, yeah - what's it about? Um, Bruce Wayne is trapped in a third world labour prison in the snow somewhere in southeast Asia, a group of terrorists from the region plan to attack Gotham with toxic gas that incites terror and maybe crash into some big buildings so Bruce, as Batman, must figure out their plans and stop them from doing so. Pretty good score, but like the set-design, it pales in comparison to Tim Burtons over-hyped 1989 film. Christoper Nolans film is more like a book come to life, whereas Tim Burtons movie was more like a marketing phenomenon based around impressive art direction and bubblegum. (Literally: bubblegum, the trading cards were omnipresent at the time). Thankfully Christopher Nolan actually has a brain, and treats his audience in the same way but doesn't really hit the narrative stride and excitement that the much-loved character deserves till the next movie.