Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 5.0
The Real Batman
Christopher Nolan, with his new Batman Christian Bale, set out to tear down the franchise as it existed in the previous four "Batman" films and reconstruct it anew. They did so with great success by building the movie around the Batman character, and by building the Batman character bit by bit.Here were the two main problems with the Batman franchise in the other four films: (1) the directors; (2) the Batmans. Pretty deadly combination. And be honest, it's true. Fans of the Batman comics despised the choice of Michael Keaton to play Batman, and I thought he actually did a better job as Batman than as a rather doddering Bruce Wayne. But he was upstaged by the villains (especially JACK) and Keaton's weak chin always detracted from the stalwart defender-of-justice Batman is supposed to be. Tim Burton did a decent job in the semi-plotless Batman, but he mailed it in on the sets and atmosphere in Batman Returns and all that rot about hiding behind masks was just a useless directorial essay inspired by a 17-year old (at that point) Billy Joel song, The Stranger. Who cared?As for Val Kilmer -- a nondescript Batman and Bruce Wayne hampered by a cruddy director (Joel Schumacher), a poor script, an overemphasis on the man-boobs in the batsuit and a just-picking-up-my-paycheck performance by Tommy Lee Jones. So bad, I didn't even see Batman & Robin, with the over-smug George Clooney and what were reportedly the two worst performances by villains in any action movie not involving Timothy Dalton.So the bar is not high for Batman Begins to beat any of the prior four. It does, but it does more than that. Indeed, if Batman Begins had been the first of the five Batman movies, its reputation as one of the most mismanaged comic-hero legacies would never have been made. And here's why:First, the Batman. Christian Bale is a creepy bugger primarily because of his starring turn in American Psycho. But as a brooding, damaged and haunted Bruce Wayne, he conveys the essential roots of the Dark Knight as an avenger who will do justice better than any other on-screen Batman. Indeed, the only one who approximates Bale's heavy soul is Kevin Conroy -- the voice actor who was Batman in Batman: The Animated Series. A milquetoast Kilmer and clueless-playboy Keaton did not come anywhere near to conveying Bruce Wayne's pain or dark side; Bale hits those notes and does it well.Second, the direction and story. Christopher Nolan essentially destroys the previous Batman movies in order to recreate the legend here. Batman begins as a rich American in a Southeast Asian wilderness who has lost his sense of himself, only vaguely knows his ultimate goal and needs a lifeline from the mysterious Henri Ducard to help him find his way. Nolan shows the decline of Gotham as it parallelled the decline of the Wayne family, the death of Bruce Wayne's parents, the child's stifling guilt and loss of his moorings, his Asian martial arts training (shown also in the animated series) and his initial fight against the corruption of Gotham. Through all this, Nolan is capable of showing the building of the basic foundation of the legend: the Batcave, the Batmobile, the Batsuit, the utility belt, and the answer to Joker's question in the 1989 Batman: "where does he get those wonderful toys?"Some critics complain that this is a slower, duller Batman. Not so: there's plenty of action throughout, but this really isn't a classic action movie, it's an action movie and a drama rolled into one.Third, the villains: not merely outcasts who are oddly twisted by fluke physical transformations, the Batman Begins villains are power hungry, clever and coldly evil.There are weaknesses: Katie Holmes is 26 but seems 21; so she's miscast as a hard-charging anti-corruption assistant DA. The motivations of the Scarecrow (one of the villains) is unexplored (although that may be fodder for another film) and there are other minor concerns.Ultimately, however, Batman Begins is the only Batman movie that is a flat-out good movie. It deserves the sequel it will spawn.