Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 4.0
Batman Begins....again
"Batman Begins" or more likely, "Begins Anew". We already know Bats's origins - driven to become a costume vigilante to save Gotham City but also avenge the years-past murders of his parents, Bruce Wayne becomes Batman. Glanced briefly in the 1989 movie, this film actually shows the murders, then follows Wayne across the world in self-imposed exile. Rescued from a horrid Asian prison by the mysterious Ducard (Liam Neeson), Wayne finds himself recruited into Ras-Al-Ghul's League of Shadows, a small vigilante army. In the frost of some unnamed eastern wilderness, Wayne learns the ways of the warrior while confronting personal demons harbored since his parents' murder. Successfully earning his way into The Brotherhood, Wayne learns of its merciless approach to criminal justice and its plans to restore order to Gotham City, and betrays it. (The Brotherhood proves to have a longer memory and reach than Wayne had anticipated, using mass destruction to stave off chaos throughout history - they sacked Rome, brought diseased rats to medieval Europe and burned London to the ground.) Escaping the Brotherhood, Wayne returns to crime-ridden Gotham, beginning an anti-crime campaign that puts him at odds with both criminals and cops. Meanwhile, Jim Gordon, Gotham's last-good-cop pursues his own investigation. While the city is apparently ruled by crimeboss Carmine Falcome, the script hints at an even darker power lingering in the shadows, ready to strike.This was a pretty good film, though at times it took itself a tad too serious, hoping to escape the self-conscious dark camp of the older movies with their storybook and cartoonish settings. At times the movie seems unsure of how it wants to look, alternating between conventional looking settings and some mix of Bladerunner and Steampunk. It is perhaps a bit too dark for its own good, and the action was often hard to follow. Though showing Batman from his origins, the script begins with Bruce Wayne already having the motives of Batman to take on crime - just looking for the gadgets and Kevlar to facilitate his caped crusade. We never find the source of Bruce's heroism, though we're supposed to assume it just runs in the family. The story isn't that well defined either, as if they decided that all they needed was to toss Batman into a city of crime, come up with some plot to destroy the city and the rest would write itself. Of the characters, Alfred and Lucious (Morgan Freeman) are the only fun ones. Cillian Murphy is the forgettable Scarecrow, a psychiatrist who rules by fear. Tom Wilkinson is actually well cast and plays Falcone like some 40's era crimeboss, but the story gets rid of him quickly. The best role here is actually Neeson's - he's much more interesting as a morally-questionable killer. In short, it doesn't match the '89 Batman, but easily beats everything that followed it.