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Batman Begins Movie Review - Buy Movies - Rent MoviesThe Dark Knight has been reborn; a new vision, a new universe and a new genesis. Batman is no longer the superhero who was made into a laughing stock with erect nipples and a comical codpiece instead he is the psycho-nut who has become the protector of Gotham and the deliverer of justice to the criminal world. His new beginnings penned in the graphic novels by Frank Miller (Sin City), takes the audience back to the roots of Bruce Wayne and the birth of Batman. It presents a picture of his pain, his anger and his fury alongside his helplessness and his fears. This movie shows the transformation and transitional period of Bruce Wayne to his alter ego Batman.
The moment the credits appear it is apparent the influence Spider-man and Raimi has had on the whole comic book movie genre with the DC logo centred in on the screen and its heroes and villains in the background dominating the opening seconds of this film.
Britain’s finest new breed of director, Christopher Nolan, gives us a character led blockbuster that tries to get us to care and understand the characters and their dilemmas. At one level exists the exploration of the vigilante, the crime fighter and the criminal’s psyche to discover their psychological make-up and what drives these people to their actions. The other level is the shallow Hollywood blockbuster where action, car chases and beating the living daylights out of the villain is the order of the day. The good news is that Nolan’s direction is supreme and has retained the dark feel associated with Batman even though there is a slight formulaic Blockbuster feel existing in this picture. In addition the action pieces and SFX play second fiddle to the plot, character development and the performances.
With a cast to make Tarantino green with envy we have the mouth-watering prospect of Bale, Caine, Freeman, Neeson Oldman, Holmes and Watanabe together in the same picture. Christian Bale is the best Batman since... well Adam West! His depiction of Bruce Wayne adds a whole new dimension to this tortured personality as he attempts to find himself and ultimately his reason for being Gotham’s saviour. The choice of Katie Holmes as Wayne’s childhood friend/sweetheart and later D.A (Rachel Dodson) seems at first glance to be a strange choice and even though she performs well, the on-screen chemistry between her and Bale unfortunately lacks the spark that Maguire/Dunst possess. One reason for this seems to be that the story does not truly allow for the romantic development seen in previous comic book movies e.g. Spider-man and Superman. Also she seems to be a little out of her depth when placed beside the heavyweights such as Caine (Alfred) and Freeman (Lucius Fox) who incidentally are fantastic in this movie. Caine is perfect as Wayne’s guardian and father figure and Freeman is quite simply‘genius’ as Gotham’s answer to “Q”. Their electric presence on the big screen and the relationship they have with Bale in the film is fantastic and a joy to behold. To have enormous names like these in a summer blockbuster can only add to the profile of this film (as if it needs it). Oldman as Sgt. Gordon surprisingly, seems to be slightly ill at ease as he goes against the grain and plays one of the handful of good guys in the corrupt city of Gotham. Liam Neeson, whose role in the film becomes clear as the movie progresses, is yet another bonus to a movie that has a cast that would not be out of place from the Peckinpah stable. Cillian Murphy however is the outstanding performer in this film. He is brilliant with frightening and disturbing characteristics as the wimpy looking doctor with dead steely eyes and a stare that would make Medusa turn to stone.
This picture has raised the bar for future Batman projects and is sure to be the standard bearer for all Batman films. This plot led picture with characters we care about makes for an entertaining film. If Raimi is leading the way for Marvel/Spider-man then surely Nolan will guide DC/Batman to a place far, far away from the joke that was... dare it be said... Batman and Robin. If you like your movies dark, grisly and menacing then do everything possible to see this because Batman is back! Leon Nicholson |
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