Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 5.0
BATMAN REVISITED AND BETTER THAN EVER!
In Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, we got to see the title character onscreen and in action within the first ten minutes of the film. However in Batman Begins, Director Christopher builds the story slowly. We are a nearly a full hour into the 140 minute film before we see the Caped Crusader for the first time. This would not be the only contrast in this latest, and best Batman film. What sets this film apart from any of the previous Batman films is the depth of character development not of the Batman character, but of the Bruce Wayne character. By the time Joel Schumacher came out with his awful "Batman & Robin" the character of Bruce Wayne was nearly lost among a host of heroes, villains, and campy silliness. Credit Christopher Nolan for taking Batman and Bruce Wayne serious.For the first time we really get a sense of what drives and motivates Bruce Wayne to become Batman. Comic fans have known this for years but this was never conveyed with any skill or intensity in the previous films. Here we see a man who has gone into seclusion, far from the rest of the world due to his inability to cope with his own fears and guilt over the murder of his parents years earlier. Wayne is tutored under than hand of Ra's Ah Ghul a mysterious figure from comic lore, who trains ninjas to carry out their own brand of justice. Wayne's difference of opinion with the oriental war lords tactics lead to a violent confrontation as Wayne escapes the mountain stronghold and returns to Gotham to find he'd been declared dead and that Gotham is infested more than ever with crime, led by organized crime boss Carmine Falcone. Wayne is reunited with loyal butler Alfred played magnificently by Michael Caine. Caine's Alfred is a more hands on character than we've seen in previous films, aiding Bruce in the development of the Batcave in tunnels found underneath Wayne Manor.Wayne also is aided by Lucious Fox (Morgan Freeman) the head of R & D at Wayne Industries. Jack Nicholson asked in the first movie, "Where does he get those wonderful toys?" Well the answer is from Lucious Fox who developed the body army, memory fabric cape, weapons, and the new Batmobile referred to as "The Tumbler". He's kind of like Batman's "Q", and provides some much needed detail and backstory. I mean even stalwart comic fans have always wondered if Batman came up with all this stuff on his own. There's a great tip of the cap to Bob Kane's original Batman origin when Wayne encounters the bats in the caves and overcomes his fears and realizes that the bat is an image that will strike fear into criminals. It's these little touches that make this movie so good.The rest of the supporting cast is superb, too. Gary Oldman plays an uncharacteristic normal and good guy role as office Jim Gordon, before he would become Commissioner Gordon as the lone honest cop that Batman trusts to aid him. This very much stays with the canon created in the Batman Year One story by Frank Miller. Cillian Murphy of "28 Days Later" is Dr. Jonathan Crane, a psychiatrist in charge of Arkham Asylum who also takes on the guise of Scarecrow, using a powdered drug to induce fear and psychosis into those who breathe in the drug. Murphy fits the gangly scarecrow character very well.Christopher Nolan has contrasted the comic look of Schumacher and the Gothic/Art Deco look of Burton to present Gotham has a gritty, dirty, slimy cesspool, overrun by the criminal element and desperately calling out for rescue. Lets also give kudos to the cinematography of Simon Margetts and Wally Pfister. The scenery was just gorgeous. In the final summation this is really Christian Bale's movie. He is Bruce Wayne. He comes the closest by far, of playing the character the way he's always been depicted in comics for over 65 years. We can only hope that Warner will continue to let this creative group continue to handle the Batman franchise.Reviewed by Tim Janson