Review of Batman Begins (2005) by Dillinger P — 06 Nov 2014

Far too often, our caped crusader had been portrayed as campy and completely over the top. Christopher Nolan manages to do something not only invigorating with a close to dead franchise, he also managed to shape the future of comic book movies forever.

It would be later on however, with The Dark Knight, where Nolan really set the record straight, however without the crucial building blocks, wrapped up within this, extremely chunky, movie, Gotham's hero would never have shined quite so brightly for all to see.

Unlike conventional Batman outings, Batman Begins takes us back to Bruce Wayne's troubled past, the guilt that plagues him over his parents death, Gotham's underworld rotting the core of the city and Wayne desperate to rekindle his fathers legacy.

Bruce decides to go rogue and lead a life of crime in order to be a part of criminal life, its not until a mysterious figure named Ducard, pulls him, kicking and screaming through a regime that most people would crumble at the thought of.

After saving Ducard, Bruce returns home to become a legend, to start his Batman origin, utilizing his fathers business, Wayne Enterprises, to aid his outgoings. Helped along the way by his friends such as Rachel Daws, Lucious Fox and most importantly Alfred, Bruce must face a psychotic shrink, Craine and an old foe, Rhas Al Ghul, before they tear Gotham apart.

There are of course a whole array of other characters and sub plots flickering through this, but to describe them all in a review would do the film a disservice. The cast of this film is almighty, in stature and talent.

Christian Bale can play Batman with his eyes closed, he brings a cocky but likeably confused hero to the table, who can more than hold his own. Michael Caine as Alfred is nothing short of a master stroke of genius, constantly being the voice of reason in Wayne's ear, its Michael's subtle and heart felt abilities that really make us feel something for the entire story.

Morgan Freeman does what Morgan Freeman does very well, Tom Wilkinson plays a crime lord, and he is brilliant and threatening. Gary Oldman plays Gordon, one of the very few bent cops left in Gotham and much like Oldman, the character never dissapoints.

Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy provide exsquisit road blocks for Batman, notably Murphy, who chews the screen with psychotic enthusiasm every second hes on it. There are more actors here but i'll be here all day mentioning them.

It's all good to have such talent as your cast but the question is does it work? It all fits together like a glove. Intricatley placed and introduced all characters feel weighty and essential. The director is bang on, Nolan has a huge amount of detail and plot to drive through and making that not feel like a chore to watch is a task in itself.

Luckily his furiously paced ride, ramps up and doesnt stop to breathe until its closing moments, leaving us with a teaser back then that had us aching for more. Wally Pfister's cinematography is glorious to look at, his epic sweeping shots of vast land scapes are just breath taking, especially in the earlier segments of the film.

The lighting is perfect, dark and ominous by night and the balance between the visuals of the underworld and the upper class is just such a contrast its a lush dynamic, that works so subtley. Unfortunatly this film has a few flaws, the action for example, most notably the fighting, is handled so choppy and close quarters that its hard to get a bearing on whats going on a lot of the time.

The wide shots of Gotham, are extremely dated and unbelievable and because there are so many criminals in the broth, Rhas Al Ghul, Scarecrow, Falconi, Tsaz, not to mention other less threatening characters, its hard to dial in on just where exactly the focus lies, yes they are all working together in the big picture, but personally I could have done with more time with fewer nods.

It doesnt kill it however and even with the films dark tones, it still manages to keep its tongue firmly in cheek. Somewhat chessily during the final action sequence. The score is EPIC! Hans Zimmer rattles your heart so hard the blood never stops flowing throughout, this helps tremendiously to keep the pacing feeling fresh and constantly exciting.

This really is a brilliant comic book film, its grand, bold and takes risks, yes it spends its time getting to know Bruce but from what was to follow in the franchise, this outing was worth it.