Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 5.0
Holy S#@%, Batman! This Movie Is Great!
Rarely does a movie live up to its hype. This is one of the exceptions.If you didn't catch this movie in theatres buy it now. It's not only as good as you've heard, it's actually even better. For the first time, a Batman film has succeeded completely in capturing all of the elements of the fabled comic book character while also producing a Batman that seems fully grounded in reality.Let's face it, though the Tim Burton Batman movies have a large and devoted following, those movies are ultimately less about the Dark Knight and more about Burton's ongoing fascination with offbeat characters and the bizarre. Joel Schumacher's "Batman Forever" was an enjoyable if overly campy romp but by "Batman & Robin" this series had collapsed under the weight of too many villains, sidekicks, and corny dialogue. It's telling that on the recent DVD special edition of that film even Schumacher admits that movie stunk and issues a public apology for running this series into the ground.This meant that "Batman Begins" director Chris Nolan had a hell of a task on his hands when he took the reins of this film: Deliver a Batman film for the 21st Century and restore credibility to the character.The idea of going back to the character's origins was a master stroke and serves the story well. Here we get the most detailed on-screen documentation of Batman's beginnings ever shown and damned if it all doesn't come off as more than a little epic. Much credit must also go to Christian Bale in the title role.It helps that Bale is the first Batman who is diesel enough to play the role without the benefit of a muscled, rubberized suit. Seriously, you could probably crack walnuts on this guy's abs.It helps that he also looks good in a tuxedo. The whole appeal of Batman was always that as Bruce Wayne by day, he was the biggest playboy this side of James Bond. But by night he was an obsessive revenge freak bent on striking at criminals from the shadows. Bale's got the acting chops and the look to nail this in a minute.The movie also benefits from a strong supporting cast. While much of the pre-release publicity on this point went to the future Mrs. Tom Cruise, Katy Holmes, the real standout performances come from Michael Caine as Alfred, Wayne's stalwart Butler, Gary Oldman as the Gordon, one of Gotham's last honest cops and the city's future police commissioner, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, an inventor who helps equip Wayne for his war on crime.One thing that is a holdout from the earlier Batman films is that the movie features two villains, in this case criminal mastermind Ras Al Ghul and Scarecrow. But where this detracted from Batman in the earlier films, it works here because Nolan keeps the story centered where it ought to be, on the Dark Knight.Granted these aren't exactly A-list Batman baddies but "28 Days Later"'s Cillian Murphy imbues Scarecrow with just enough serpentine evil to make him a major player.Hardcore Batfans will of course know that Ras Al Ghul, though not a household name, is depicted in the comics as the Caped Crusader's most dangerous adversary. As the head of centuries-old criminal empire with ties to all levels of government and organized crime, he's the Batman universe equivalent of Keyser Sose. The movie gets this exactly right and you're likely to be thrown by a nifty twist involving this character.If there's one complaint about this movie it's that it's perhaps too long. But this is perhaps expected given that movie not only introduces Bruce Wayne/Batman, his entire supporting cast, two villains, and lays out a plot to destroy Gotham by driving its citizens mad.Still this movie is a treat and stands along with Sam Raimi's Spiderman films as the new benchmark by which all superhero films will be measured.So now that DC is shown that they can get Batman right on film and is getting ready roll out a new Superman next year, how about they drop the Caped Crusader and Man of Steel fixations and greenlight movies based on some of their other cool characters.A Flash movie would be awesome if done right and, speaking of "greenlighting" where's that long-discussed Green Lantern flick.Come on DC! Marvel seems to be prepping movies for just about every single one of its characters, including the C and D list ones. Get on the ball!Here's my last suggestion in four words: "Jim Carrey Is Plasticman!"