Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 5.0
Why Batman?
The question with Batman Begins is, "Why does this movie need to exist?" When I first heard of the project, it struck me as odd, considering that the original Batman is not an "old" movie. Also, if you count the entire previous franchise, it just ended in 1997! Eight years is hardly a lot of time to call for a remake. Also, the original Batman is one of my favorite superhero films.On the other hand, great as the original Batman was, all of the sequels were bad. The last film in the series, Batman and Robin, (helmed by that hack, Joel Schumacher) was un-watchably bad. Still, I was having enough trouble dealing with a remake of Superman - and that movie is over twenty years old. Why Batman?The original Batman jumped into its story in the midst of things: Bruce Wayne is already Batman, and that is how we see him in the first scene. Although the original gets the tone right, we never delve that deeply into the mind of Bruce Wayne. What makes Batman Begins the best of the Batman movies is because - dare I say it? - it is a character study. The model Batman Begins follows is the original Superman movie: we begin in the hero's childhood, and explain who he is and how he got to be that way. Like Superman, the superhero doesn't make his first appearance until half-way into the film. The price of this is that we sacrifice some action. The benefit is that we have memorable, three-dimensional characters.If Batman really existed, this would be him. Christian Bale is perfect for the part. (For some reason, the movie is populated by Brits doing American accents. Probably because they are better actors than we are). We believe that Bale can be dangerous and he effectively creates different personalities for the playboy Bruce Wayne, the real Bruce Wayne, and the Batman. (His characterization of the playboy is shockingly close to his performance in American Psycho.) Unlike the Tim Burton film however (which I still love), this movie attempts to take place in the "real" world. Of course, as Jim Gordon points out at the end, the introduction of Batman into Gotham City will surely produce the creation of equally outrageous villains.A final note: One of the great things about the movie is the way it sets up relationships that we know will play out in the future. Pay attention to that little boy Batman saves. Doesn't Batman eventually get a helper?