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#671 - Batman Begins
Christopher Nolan, 2005
After his wealthy parents are murdered by a mugger, a young man join a clan on ninjas and decides to use the skills he learns to become a masked vigilante.
Batman Begins kind of gets lost in the shuffle when it comes to discussing Christopher Nolan's trilogy of films dedicated to bringing the caped crusader to life. It does take up the burden of setting up an all-new origin story for the world's greatest detective, which becomes especially notable given how the previous set of films only alluded to his origins through brief flashbacks rather than dedicate an entire film to them. The series arguably needed a proper reboot after the campy shambles of Joel Schumacher's Batman and Robin derailed the cinematic side of the franchise, and in the hands of the capable director who was then best known for delivering clever thrillers like Memento and Insomnia it stood to reason that this film might just work despite being an origin story. It does so by building an interesting story out of Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) being met by an enigmatic gentleman (Liam Neeson) while serving time in a Bhutanese prison. Neeson then recruits Bruce into joining a secret clan of ninjas dedicated to dispensing justice, training him to do everything from close-quarters combat to controlling fear and making it a weapon to be used against one's enemies. When the clan's draconian brand of justice proves to be too severe for Bruce's liking, he bails on his newfound comrades and returns home to Gotham City. Once there, he teams up with trusty manservant Alfred (Michael Caine) and proceeds to invent Batman, the secret identity under which he plans to bring true justice to Gotham.
Though the origin-story angle is ultimately what keeps it from being a classic film in its own right, Batman Begins still handles a lot of other stuff right. Stacking the cast with good actors regardless of the part's size seems to be a quality that Nolan has developed, and it is especially pronounced here. Bale proves adept at playing both Bruce Wayne and Batman, though I do wonder if he's just recycling his work as American Psycho's Patrick Bateman in scenes where he plays the former (and as for the latter's incredibly hoarse attempts to disguise his voice...enough said). Neeson's rough yet soothing type of charisma guarantees him an X-factor that makes him a pleasure to watch even in the most dire films; this pleasure definitely extends to virtually every line of dialogue he spits out in this film. Old-school veterans like Caine and Morgan Freeman serve well as Bruce's trusted offsiders, especially when they work as articulate foils who challenge their youthful superior in a number of ways. The same goes for Gary Oldman as he makes the most of a restrained heroic role to make up for all the hammy villains he played during the '90s. Cillian Murphy also proves to be quite the saving grace as the handsome yet deranged villain of the piece whose silky yet sinister delivery does give way to manic overacting from time to time but never without reason. In this company, it's very easy to see Katie Holmes as a weak link in the chain, though she holds her own well enough as the idealistic attorney whose own attitude towards Batman is complicated by her desire for justice that doesn't resort to vigilantism.
The action on display is admittedly the weakest of any of Nolan's three Batman films. His attempts to capture hand-to-hand fighting definitely seem more than a little flat when the camera spins around the fighters and cuts a lot, effectively obscuring any actual skill on the participants' parts. Everything else seems to go just fine, whether it's anything involving the Batmobile or any sort of chases. Even the choppy scene of a series of crooks being picked off one by one is handled well. I also like some of the more interesting angles such as Murphy's usage of a highly powerful hallucinogen to scare people into insanity, which gives way to some impressive-looking effects (especially when one sees Batman through the eyes of an infected person). Though I was watching the villains' main plan unfold with more than a little incredulity, I can't really deny that it was shot through with care as it blended practical effects with CGI landscapes in a way that worked. I still take issue with how it gets a little bogged down in developing the story in a way that makes me forget that it is the shortest of the three Batman films, but it provides enough subtext to its tale of a city in economic despair and the many unfortunate consequences of such a situation. Though I'm going to be boring and still give the edge to The Dark Knight, I still think Batman Begins is arguably the second-best film in Nolan's trilogy. Despite clearly being set up as a building block towards a bigger and better sequel, it still holds its own well enough in a way that other origin-story superhero movies could definitely stand to replicate.
Christopher Nolan, 2005
After his wealthy parents are murdered by a mugger, a young man join a clan on ninjas and decides to use the skills he learns to become a masked vigilante.
Batman Begins kind of gets lost in the shuffle when it comes to discussing Christopher Nolan's trilogy of films dedicated to bringing the caped crusader to life. It does take up the burden of setting up an all-new origin story for the world's greatest detective, which becomes especially notable given how the previous set of films only alluded to his origins through brief flashbacks rather than dedicate an entire film to them. The series arguably needed a proper reboot after the campy shambles of Joel Schumacher's Batman and Robin derailed the cinematic side of the franchise, and in the hands of the capable director who was then best known for delivering clever thrillers like Memento and Insomnia it stood to reason that this film might just work despite being an origin story. It does so by building an interesting story out of Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) being met by an enigmatic gentleman (Liam Neeson) while serving time in a Bhutanese prison. Neeson then recruits Bruce into joining a secret clan of ninjas dedicated to dispensing justice, training him to do everything from close-quarters combat to controlling fear and making it a weapon to be used against one's enemies. When the clan's draconian brand of justice proves to be too severe for Bruce's liking, he bails on his newfound comrades and returns home to Gotham City. Once there, he teams up with trusty manservant Alfred (Michael Caine) and proceeds to invent Batman, the secret identity under which he plans to bring true justice to Gotham.
Though the origin-story angle is ultimately what keeps it from being a classic film in its own right, Batman Begins still handles a lot of other stuff right. Stacking the cast with good actors regardless of the part's size seems to be a quality that Nolan has developed, and it is especially pronounced here. Bale proves adept at playing both Bruce Wayne and Batman, though I do wonder if he's just recycling his work as American Psycho's Patrick Bateman in scenes where he plays the former (and as for the latter's incredibly hoarse attempts to disguise his voice...enough said). Neeson's rough yet soothing type of charisma guarantees him an X-factor that makes him a pleasure to watch even in the most dire films; this pleasure definitely extends to virtually every line of dialogue he spits out in this film. Old-school veterans like Caine and Morgan Freeman serve well as Bruce's trusted offsiders, especially when they work as articulate foils who challenge their youthful superior in a number of ways. The same goes for Gary Oldman as he makes the most of a restrained heroic role to make up for all the hammy villains he played during the '90s. Cillian Murphy also proves to be quite the saving grace as the handsome yet deranged villain of the piece whose silky yet sinister delivery does give way to manic overacting from time to time but never without reason. In this company, it's very easy to see Katie Holmes as a weak link in the chain, though she holds her own well enough as the idealistic attorney whose own attitude towards Batman is complicated by her desire for justice that doesn't resort to vigilantism.
The action on display is admittedly the weakest of any of Nolan's three Batman films. His attempts to capture hand-to-hand fighting definitely seem more than a little flat when the camera spins around the fighters and cuts a lot, effectively obscuring any actual skill on the participants' parts. Everything else seems to go just fine, whether it's anything involving the Batmobile or any sort of chases. Even the choppy scene of a series of crooks being picked off one by one is handled well. I also like some of the more interesting angles such as Murphy's usage of a highly powerful hallucinogen to scare people into insanity, which gives way to some impressive-looking effects (especially when one sees Batman through the eyes of an infected person). Though I was watching the villains' main plan unfold with more than a little incredulity, I can't really deny that it was shot through with care as it blended practical effects with CGI landscapes in a way that worked. I still take issue with how it gets a little bogged down in developing the story in a way that makes me forget that it is the shortest of the three Batman films, but it provides enough subtext to its tale of a city in economic despair and the many unfortunate consequences of such a situation. Though I'm going to be boring and still give the edge to The Dark Knight, I still think Batman Begins is arguably the second-best film in Nolan's trilogy. Despite clearly being set up as a building block towards a bigger and better sequel, it still holds its own well enough in a way that other origin-story superhero movies could definitely stand to replicate.