Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 4.0
Dananannananana Batman!
Batman Begins is a fitting title, a statement in itself, stamping an end to a saga that had lost its direction long ago.Gone are the cameo appearances, the paper thin plotlines and the one dimensional characters. It seems one comic book geek, Christopher Nolan, finally did what all arm-chair critics would never do. He got off his rear end and rewrote the whole thing. That alone is admirable.The first move by Nolan was to cast a handful of well established supporting actors. Liam Neeson as the alluring mentor and conflicted villain, Michael Caine the witty and loving Butler, a perceptive Morgan Freeman as the trusted scientist, the list goes on. Interestingly, the part of Batman went to a less familiar Christian Bale, however, this is one of Nolan's best decisions. In the past this role has gone to actors like George Clooney, making it hard to separate identities onscreen. This way Christian Bale is Batman and not vice versa, and the supporting actors are dispersed carefully within the plot as to not overshadow the hero himself.The second move by Nolan was to return to the roots of heroes\villains, explaining the essence of identities and characters. At first the flashbacks of Batman's childhood seem generic, but the progression of this story helps set stage to the action that follows. The action of man, whether hero or villain is less defined than most could understand. The birth of Batman is truly more intense that meets the eye, more philosophical than Hollywood would usually care to mention. It has captured a depth in comic books that is rarely celebrated by onscreen adaptations. It is a depth in story and character I would only expect in Japanese animations like Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and so forth. And inevitably when Batman fails to stop a villain on his first try (being set alight and gassed), it doesn't feel like a predictable build up of tension, rather a moment in which we understand his weakness and his flaws. The world of Batman is shaped by humans with a cause, not supermen with magical powers.Unfortunately, the movie has its flaws. The plot to save Gotham City plays second to the tension at hand, and the finale is somewhat an anticlimax to the concoction of identities that are born and interwoven. To save Gotham City was not high on my agenda to say the least. The action itself was awkwardly shot. Batman Begins is one of many recent releases of big-budget action movies that insist on close up cut scenes flickering at an indistinguishable rate. In the end all we see is hands jerking, heads turning, and the sound of `ching ching'. Is it cost saving, I don't know, but I would prefer a panned out view of all the butt kicking! Thankfully the childish one-liners (specially during the car scenes) were restrained just enough to prevent a `star wars' catastrophe.I wouldn't go as far to say this movie is a classic, but I am hopeful this saga will resurrect a trend in story telling for our comic book heroes to come.