MAX's Mind: Batman Begins

Batman Begins:



"It's not what I am underneath. It's what I do that defines me."


Let's get one thing straight, right off the bat (heh...) - this is the most faithful cinematic representation of Batman ever.

It's not just the events that occur - the reference to Year One at the end of the movie, the way in which Bruce's parents were killed by an unknown and not the Joker in his youth - but the basic ethos that permeates the entire film.

Fear.

Where Burton's Batman succeeded in bringing a dark character to life in what could be seen as the prime of his life and leaving Bruce's demons to the odd flashback, Nolan has opted to make Bruce's past the central conceit of the drama that this movie handles so very well. I guess it's little wonder, then, that perhaps the greatest moment in the entire film is when Bruce stands up amidst the writhing swarm of bats as he embraces his fear in the chamber what will soon become the iconic 'Bat-cave'.

In terms of characterisations, this film can't really be faulted. Every performance in the film, including that of relative newcomer, Katie Holmes, is solid and believeable. Neeson and Bale raise the bar of performances in comic book adaptations to an amazing level - never before has a hero and his nemesis looked so evenly matched and so personal...and with so much bloody gravitas, too. While the X-Men movies and Spider-Man films had this almost unstated self-awareness that 'we are comic book movies', Batman Begins almost completely dispenses with the comic book aspect and embraces it for what it really is - a psychoanalysis of some very disturbed men. What's even more rewarding is seeing that the cast are with Nolan blow-for-blow.

One thing that this movie does have in common with the likes of Spider-Man, however, is that it's a better film before the costume comes on.

In the midst of all this praise, Begins did have a couple of downsides. Naturally, they were so outweighed by its merits that they seem to have little prevalence in retrospect. Nevertheless, the sometimes impossible-to-follow action scenes detracted from the enjoyment. The goal behind the train sequence seemed somewhat contrived, almost as if Nolan had taken this huge Legion Of Shadows conspiracy and simplified it into one action sequence that the standard movie-going audience would accept in a Summer film. Also, there were scenes in which Bale looked almost out of place as the Batman - perhaps it's just because I'm so used to the generally quiet tones of Keaton's characterisation, but whatever it was, Bale's growl seemed almost off-key. This wasn't exactly the Batman I was banking on, but hey, maybe as he gets more experience, he gets less melodramatic.

Who knows?

The narrative choice of having the protagonist's starting point in the prison and following him through flashbacks as he is recruited by Neeson and trained before returning to Gotham was a great expositional tactic used by Nolan. Combined with his intelligent handling of the characters, it adds flavour to a narrative that could otherwise have been reduced to a simple 'bad guys wanna destroy Gotham, only Batman can save it' story. The dynamics and nuace certainly helps to raise the bar on the overall film.

Personally, I hope that there is a director's cut of the film as I can't help but feel that some of the movie's integrity had to be sacrificed by Nolan on certain studio demands. I would sincerely like to see what Nolan would do with this movie if he could make his movie 100% the way he wanted to. As it stands, however, Begins is just half a star away from being the first comic book movie masterpiece.

Score: <font color="red">****1/2</font>

 

I'm not a big batman fan but that has to be one the best movie comic adaptations to date and the best batman films. His role was very cool and he kept the fear in him for most the movie.

Film did kinda remind me of James Bond when he was getting a talk on all his gadgets and stuff, lol.

I have to say, I like the camera shots but I didn't like the cutting too much, it felt like the scenes were cut like a second before whats gonna happen leaving you to fill in the gap with imagination. While it's nice to do that once in a while during movies, this felt like it was continous through out the movie. Probably why the movie was SO short too. It's like a 1 hour 20 mins movie. It did confuse me at the start with all the flash backs, I didn't know where he actually was. Going back to the quick cuts, I looked at my watch during the movie to check the time, when I looked back up, mayhem was over. Cuts are far to quick. I hope the DVD version will be extended. I did like the old bat mobile tho, but hey! who doesn't, lol.

On the whole, I hope this movie gets rich and popular for a sequal and be a longer film.

I'd give it 4 outta 5. The quick cuts really didn't do the film justice but the acting was very good I thought. I hope someone does Batman of the future!

Wonder who's gonna be the next villain, They've done all the major ones in the previous films.

 

Didn't the end of the movie indicate that the Joker was next?

 

yah but it could also mean nothing. The next movie might be based in between the old batman's 1&2 for all we know.

 

[ QUOTE ]
RagingSilver said:

I'm not a big batman fan but that has to be one the best movie comic adaptations to date and the best batman films. His role was very cool and he kept the fear in him for most the movie.

Film did kinda remind me of James Bond when he was getting a talk on all his gadgets and stuff, lol.

I have to say, I like the camera shots but I didn't like the cutting too much, it felt like the scenes were cut like a second before whats gonna happen leaving you to fill in the gap with imagination. While it's nice to do that once in a while during movies, this felt like it was continous through out the movie. Probably why the movie was SO short too. It's like a 1 hour 20 mins movie. It did confuse me at the start with all the flash backs, I didn't know where he actually was. Going back to the quick cuts, I looked at my watch during the movie to check the time, when I looked back up, mayhem was over. Cuts are far to quick. I hope the DVD version will be extended. I did like the old bat mobile tho, but hey! who doesn't, lol.

On the whole, I hope this movie gets rich and popular for a sequal and be a longer film.

I'd give it 4 outta 5. The quick cuts really didn't do the film justice but the acting was very good I thought. I hope someone does Batman of the future!

Wonder who's gonna be the next villain, They've done all the major ones in the previous films.

[/ QUOTE ]

The movie was actually 2hrs 20mins in length, which is probably testament to how much you enjoyed it /versus/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Oh, and the next villain left his calling card at the end of the movie... /versus/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[ QUOTE ]
RagingSilver said:

yah but it could also mean nothing. The next movie might be based in between the old batman's 1&2 for all we know.

[/ QUOTE ]

Important point: Batman Begins is not designed to 'fit in' with the Burton originals. It's a completely fresh take based on the graphic novel Batman: Year One.

 

This movie was great, its finally good to see a hero that has a dark character instead of the geek that is spiderman.

 

I so love the new batmobile.

 

The scarecrow was hot... oh wait, wrong board...

*cough* Great movie. Better than the originals

 

Look guys, Batman is just pure shit without Adam West and Burt Ward.

 

for the next film,, i'd like them to continue with him dealing with his feelings and /or adjustments to the new life..
when the do add the joker - instead of having his life explained by a cop or something ,, it would be nice to see a bit of his struggle(s) and a little more ruthlessness of his than in previous films

 

Don't forget the slanted angles, camp acting and POWs, ZAAAPS, BIFFs etc

Seriously though, I've heard lots of good feedback on this film (directed by Christopher Nolan right? director of one of my fave films Memento, if I'm correct?) am planning to check it out soon.

 

Watched this on Sunday. Quite a good film, although it dragged on for too long IMHO. Christian Bale worked really well as a 'darker' batman, but thank God it was better than the previous Batman's (not counting number 1). It makes me shiver to hear Arnie say 'I'm gonna send you to the cooler!'. LOL.