Sunday, June 26, 2005
Batman Begins

Enough praise has been heaped on this latest installment of the Batman franchise already,such that it wouldn't really matter what I say about it.But I'm still going to pitch in my two cents' worth."Batman Begins" is indeed the best movie in the entire series of Batman movies,if you could call it a series since the four movies prior to this really went through two visions.One of Tim Burton and another (wretchedly) of Joel Schumacher.

I had liked the original "Batman" well enough.It's first sequel wasn't half-bad either.But Tim Burton's kooky vision had an odd feel to it.It was violent and dark,but still felt like a comic-book.Good entertainment but not very involving nor absorbing.There was just something "off" about these two movies.Michael Keaton didn't make a bad Batman either.But he was just,well,not aristocratic enough.And he certainly wasn't intense enough.He looked and came across more like a next-door neighbour than a millionaire playboy.The villains were great though.Jack Nicholson's Joker was a hoot while Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman was slinky.Danny Devito's Penguin just didn't feel right (the Penguin was really more of a crimelord and less of a freak as depicted by the movie).

As for Joel Schumacher's two movies...oh,please,let's not go there...

I like the direction Chris Nolan elected to take with "Begins".It's like the coming-of-age tale of Batman,how he became who he is.And it also went well as a thriller in the second half.Sure,it was dark but that wouldn't make it dissimilar to Burton's version.The difference was that Nolan shot this movie more like a drama than a comic as compared to Burton and that was the reason why it worked.Because the character was taken seriously.

Now now,I'm not going to go much into the plot but basically the movie starts with Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) in some god-forsaken Asian country (Tibet?Mongolia?Who knows.),came under the apprenticeship of one Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) and Ra's Al-Ghul (Ken Watanabe),learned to confront his childhood fear of bats and guilt over his parents' deaths,returned to Gotham,got back control of his father's company,took on the Batman persona and fought villains like the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) and Ra's Al-Ghul (an important plotpoint is this character's true identity.If you haven't watched the movie,do a search and look for his comic illustration,see who resembles him more in the movie.Then you might know the "twist",if you consider it one.)

In terms of the casting,I wouldn't have a complaint against it.Christian Bale is,by far,the best Batman ever.He really does look upper-crust but more important,he's actually menacing.Batman isn't really a nice-nice character like Spiderman and you needed someone who can act in shades of grey to potray him.In this respect,Bale is quite excellent actually.

As for the other supporting cast,Michael Caine is great as the faithful butler Alfred Pennyworth while Liam Neeson is worth his salt as a menacing villain.Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox (the gadgets man) was,I think,really just into his element in a wise,old man role that didn't particularly stand out for me.I do like Cillian Murphy's Dr Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow though.While the villain is not a strong one,Murphy does come across as suitably creepy for the role.Not a bad performance at all.A very restrained Gary Oldman (as Detective Jim Gordon,the last good cop in Gotham) is also suitably good (in fact,I actually thought he was very good.Proves when it comes to acting,less is more sometimes.So don't always overact.)As for Katie Holmes,there isn't much to say.She is sweet,but it's no big loss she's not in the sequel.

The movie spends a huge chunk (half of it) of its time building up the Bruce Wayne character,background and motivations.And then,of course,it then begins to construct the Batman myth,of how everything we already take for granted (the Batcave,Batmobile,grappling hooks,body-armour,etc) came into being.So the action really only,kind of,explodes in the second half.But when it does,well,it's standard Hollywood blockbuster stuff.But at least it's well-done.And it is certainly better than the action in past Batman pictures.That's all I have to say about it really.

So is the movie good?Yup,i'd say it is.I certainly liked it quite a bit.

8/10

PS:The ending of the movie,of course,points to the Joker being the main villain in the 2nd movie.I have no idea who might take the role of a young Joker but if age wasn't a restriction,it might have been a real hoot to have Jack Nicholson back but he's too old for this shit.His Joker will probably get hammered by the very buff Christian Bale.