“Batman Begins” is one of the best superhero films ever made. This film is for the fans: the true fans, the ones who read and love the Batman of the comic books. The ones who felt that “Batman: the Animated Series” was the first non-comic medium portrayal to do the Dark Knight justice. This is the Batman film that should have been made when Tim Burton began filming his first Bat-film with Michael Keaton. Now, Burton’s film was ok (in my opinion), but he spent way too much time on Jack Nicholson and the film was way too… Hollywood. I don’t know if it was the suits at Warner Bros. or just Tim Burton’s nature, but I didn’t see the need to (A) link Batman’s origin with the Joker’s and (B) kill off the villain at the end of the film instead of have him incarcerated at Arkham Asylum.
But enough about Tim Burton’s “Joker” movie, let’s talk about “Batman Begins”. The cast was perfect. Everyone brought his or her “A” game. Christian Bale was born for this role. He seamlessly pulled of the dual identity of Batman and Bruce Wayne. You could see that they were literally two completely different people. Michael Caine’s portrayal of Alfred Pennyworth was excellent. He conveyed both the concern of a father and the supportiveness of a servant. And Let’s not forget Gary Oldman’s performance as Sgt. Jim Gordon (if that name isn’t quite ringing a bell, replace “Sergeant” with “Commissioner”). For me it was as if his character literally stepped off the comic page. The rest of the cast: Morgan Freeman, Cilian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson, and even Katie Holmes all played their parts extremely well.
The plot was (ironically enough) Batman’s origin story. Beginning from the time young Bruce Wayne discovered a cave filled with bats under his family’s manor and continuing up to the point when he and Gordon officially begin their “partnership” after saving Gotham City from the villains of the film. And it was perfect. You meet his parents. You get to see what a wonderful man his father is and you feel Bruce’s heartbreak when a street thug kills his parents before his eyes. You learn what motivates him beyond vengeance to fight crime. You observe his training in the martial arts. You even get the infamous scene where a bat is flying around in his home, helping him to choose his “moniker” (I’ve been waiting to see that on film for a long time).
The filmmakers got EVERYTHING right, from the bat-suit (no bat-nipples) to Gotham City! No neon Greco-Roman permanently dark city (pay attention Joel Schumacher), instead, we get a modern, gothic city with slums and dark alleys as well as shining, towering skyscrapers.
In the comics Batman has always been human. Sure, he has all the cool gadgets that even James Bond would be envious of, but he also gets bruised when he fights, he needs sleep, and he can get sick. But still, he fights on. This film captured that. For me the best part came at the end when Bruce is told (by someone close to him) that The Batman is who he really is and that Bruce Wayne is the mask. He knows it, we know it, and thankfully so do the filmmakers. In short, I loved every moment of this and I can only hope that everyone involved comes back for the sequel.
