WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW>>>>>>

BATMAN BEGINS is the superhero movie I’ve waited my entire life to see. Despite his other excellent films (MEMENTO, INSOMNIA), this is the film that Christopher Nolan will be remembered for. Against all odds, he has managed to pick up a movie franchise that was destroyed worse than Anakin in the lava pits, and re-built is, brick by brick, into a character driven, genre masterpiece. Better than SPIDEY 2. Better than X2. This is the film every superhero franchise will be stacked against in the future.

I’ve been a huge fan of Christian Bale’s since AMERICAN PSYCHO. But his casting as Bruce Wayne was the only casting that didn’t have me terrified with this film. Although I’m also a big fan of Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman and, yes, even Katie Holmes, I had horrorful vision of another superhero film destroyed by needless stars. And Gary Oldman, an much-missed actor who, in films such as LEON, TRUE ROMANCE, and THE FIFTH ELEMENT has delivered some of the most memorable bad guys in the last 20 years, playing James Gordon, the only decent cop in Gotham? Get the fuck outta here. But damn, Nolan knew what he was doing. It’s the casting AGAINST type that makes the role work so well. I don’t know that Oldman could have played this character as successfully 20 years ago, but his recent spell in Hollywood wilderness, being reduced to HARYY POTTER films, has aged him perfectly into the pathos he conveys as Gordon, a good man surrounded by filth.

By big gripe with all superhero films in the past has been inconsistencies and huge gaps. Where do they get those wonderful toys? Who makes their costumes? And Batman most of all. How does the son of a billionaire end up such a badass fighter?

And you’ve NEVER seen such a hardass Batman as you will in this film. Let’s be clear - BATMAN BEGINS is one part superhero film, one part horror movie. Whereas George Clooney’s Batman fought off bad guys with Elvis-style karate chops, Bale’s Batman attacks his enemies in the same way the aliens do in ALIENS. He appears out of the darkness and shadows, swoops up his victims screaming and then disappears with their bodies. When he confronts a bad guy, he doesn’t talk to him - he growls at him, in a voice that conjurs up every demon from your worst nightmares. His cool gadgets, toys, car and costume are all explained. His ninja-like skills of stealth and fighting are also explained - he studied with ninjas for years in the mountains on China.

And the super villians are the most realistic super villians we’ve ever seen on screen. They don’t get around in silly costumes. The Scarecrow is a psychiatrist with access to weaponized hallucinagenic drugs which he has vaporized and sprays at his victims while wearing a simple hooded mask made out of canvas. Ra’s Al Ghul is a warrior of ancient tradition, bent on destroying Gotham just as “The League Of Shadows” has previously destroyed Rome, Constantinople and London when they became too corrupt.

Sure, there were a couple of moments that made me slightly cringe. Batman giving away his secret identity to his childhood girlfriend. The way his cape allows him to fly so far (I’m no expert on aerodynamics, but c’mon). The fact that the car chases in Gotham always seem to happen in extremely light traffic for a city of that size.

Oh and that’s another thing - Gotham. We’ve totally excaped from Joel Schumacher’s overblown architecture. No 100-storey statues. This Gotham is gloomy, over-crowded, filthy, desperate. A city that is collapsing under it’s own weight.

Another element of the film which is thankfully missing is the campy humour. Sure - there are a couple of momements where you will laugh. When Jim Gordon firsts sees the Batmobile and says “I gotta get me one of those”. When Bruce Wayne arrives at a party in a Lamborghini and , when the guy parking his car says “nice wheels”, Bruce says “you should see my other car”. Stuff like that. No stupid one-liners in the middle of an action scene.

My only regret with this film is that I won’t be able to share it with my 4 year old sons for many years. It is WAYYY to scary for kids.

At the end of the screening I went to, the audience clapped and cheered. I guess that about sums up my response as well. I can’t wait to see it again.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 17th, 2005 at 2:06 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.