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when you though that the Batman franchise was dead and buried--certainly
after the abomination that was 1997’s Batman & Robin--along
comes director Christopher Nolan to brilliantly bring it all
back to life with the astonishingly strong Batman Begins.
Nolan, whose curriculum vitae already features
Memento and Insomnia, focuses his attention where films in
the franchise haven’t gone before--by examining that
character of Batman himself. Thus, the story here is the genesis
of the character, from the death of Bruce Wayne’s parents,
harrowing training with the mysterious League of Shadows,
right through to the Dark Knight’s first appearances
on the street of a crime-ridden, moody Gotham City.
Nolan plays several trump cards in his take
on the Batman legacy, and none pay off quite so handsomely
as his casting. Christian Bale is an immense force in the
dual role of Bruce Wayne and Batman, bringing a brooding anger
and genuine unease to the Batsuit. He’s backed with
strong turns from Tom Wilkinson, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson,
Gary Oldman, and Cillian Murphy as the unstable Scarecrow.
In spite of a last twenty minutes that can’t
quite sustain the tone of what’s gone before, Batman
Begins is a major achievement, and one of the finest superhero
movies to date. Easily the best of the Dark Knight’s
big screen adventures, it manages to be a blockbuster film
that’s unpredictable, compulsive, superb to look at
and well worth many repeated viewings. A staggering achievement,
particularly considering the state the Batman franchise had
got itself into.
All Customer Reviews
5 out of 5 - 25 Sep 2006
Christopher Nolan has made Gotham city dark,
seedy and dangerous (as it should be) and has removed the
seemingly pointless 400ft statues and noen lit skyscrapers
of Batman's previous big screen outings.
Christian Bale has given the title role the darker side he
deserves as he terrorises Gothams criminals and interrogates
with a voice dragged from the seventh layer of hell. Michael
Caine has lost the rather annoying bumbly old geezer routine
that we've seen until now and has given Alfred a more acceptable
father figure and friend feel. This names but a few of the
quite excellent performances in the movie, not to mention
Gary Oldman as the spitting image of Commisioner Gordon in
the Batman: Year One comic. And as for the batmobile...forget
about it, it rocks.
David S. Goyer, who wrote "Blade" and is himself
a big comic book fan, co-wrote the script with Nolan and has
certainly left his mark on the final version. The story explains
how and why Bruce Wayne becomes Batman, this was something
not explained enough in other films and was never tackled
fully by any of the previous films. The film also answers
the age old question of "Where did the batmobile come
from?".
My only criticism of the film would be that Batman is still
not violent enough, I know how that sounds but the DC comic
was quite violent, i'm not saying to go too far but perhaps
a bit less editing and maybe a 15 certificate on the next
one.
In short if this is what can be expected of the Batman franchise
from now on, as they are making more, then holy popcorn Batman
am i looking forward to the next one.
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