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Prepare For The Dark Knight: Batman BeginsBy Rafe Telsch: 2008-07-16 23:33:41
The Dark Knight is one of the biggest releases of this summer, if not the year. How do you prepare yourself for such a monumental picture? By watching previous depictions of Batman in movies, of course. We’re making our way through ten feature length incarnations of the Dark Knight’s stories, from Adam West to animation. We invite you to join us for the ride as we analyze the good, the bad, and the Bat.
(And yes, we’re actually re-watching all of these old flicks rather than just relying on our memory, so we can honestly evaluate each of them in preparation for The Dark Knight). Day Nine: Batman Begins (2005) We’ve looked at eight other incarnations of Batman, from the silly ‘60s take on the Caped Crusader to an independent fan-made film that did a solid job of putting the comic book on the screen for eight minutes. But two things have been missing from all of those versions. First, almost none of the takes on Batman have done much of an origin story. In each version, we catch up with Batman later on in his life and, at best, a passing reflection on the tragedy that made Bruce Wayne become the Batman. Secondly, they were all attempts at putting a comic book character on the big screen. That meant that each respective director did their best job at making the comic a reality, whether it was through animation, neon lighting and black light paint, or muscled, rubber costumes. Along comes Christopher Nolan with a star studded cast, and he proceeds to break both of those commonalities the previous films had. First of all, he makes an origin picture that shows the death of the Waynes, and the progression of Bruce Wayne from that time as a young child to putting on the cowl to fight crime. On top of that, Nolan doesn’t attempt to put a comic book on the screen. Instead, he truly adapts the material into a movie format, and for the first time we’re seeing a Batman movie that is not the same thing as a comic book movie. The result is a film that captures the heartbreaking conflict Bruce Wayne lives in, and is accessible to more than just the usual comic book crowd. Nolan gets the primary truth about Batman - the costumed character here is not the Bat, but Bruce Wayne, even though Bruce came first. What we then see is how that happened, from the death of Bruce’s parents at a young age (the first time I remember honestly shedding a tear over their deaths) to the rage and determination for revenge that tempers Bruce over his young life. When his revenge eludes him, he becomes even more determined to learn about the criminal element, while training his body to become a weapon against crime, as well as a symbol that justice still exists in the world. Over the course of the movie, that symbol becomes Bruce’s primary identity, a fact that draws conflict with those who still care for Bruce Wayne. Nolan’s film also took the unique approach of developing some of the supporting characters that had previously been overlooked. We see a version of Alfred that isn’t just Bruce’s butler and a carrier of the Batman sequel, but the only family Bruce has known for some time. James Gordon isn’t just Batman’s ally in the police force, but he’s also an honest cop in a largely corrupt city. Lucius Fox, the man behind a lot of Batman’s toys, finally gets to show his face. It’s about time these important allies of the Bat got some serious screen time, and Nolan delivers that. Thre’s also the curious choice to ignore most of the heavies of Batman’s rogues gallery, bringing in the Scarecrow and Ra’s Al Ghul as Batman’s first antagonists. This has the interesting effect of introducing audiences to new characters, as well as avoiding comparisons to other, more comic-book styled versions of Batman’s story, by not retreading over any older villains. It’s a risky move, but one that pays off and proves to be the best approach for a new director and a new franchise. It’s hard to assess where the pedigree of Nolan’s film comes from. He brings a slew of talented and Academy recognized actors to his movie, which is what helps make it a serious movie about a comic book characters. But it’s impossible to think of a lot of those actors coming to this movie without such a high quality story. It comes down to a combination of a killer story, a serious approach, and a highly talented cast to make Batman Begins work. While Nolan’s take on Batman is a mature one and a realistic one, it is not without its flaws. Up to this point, Nolan was known more for psychological thrillers, full of drama but little action. As such, he has some issues bringing action into his movie. There’s the ever popular shakey camera syndrome, as well as close ups that make it difficult to see what’s going on, especially early on. I think the script does a good job of countering it a little by focusing more on the theme of fear, and how Batman is as an entity of fear, but when it’s time for fists to fly, the movie can be difficult to follow. I still think Batman Begins is the strongest version of Batman’s story on screen, and subsequent viewings make me appreciate the realistic approach even more. After a wave of heavily stylized Gotham Cities, it’s nice to return to the city presented here - just as full of corruption and the criminal element as others, but more familiar and recognizable, making Batman more of a universal figure that could exist in the real world. There’s something comforting in that, and I look forward to seeing where Nolan takes us next. The Good: I love that Nolan gets the character, and that, as a director, he makes choices that make this movie accessible to everyone. My mother, who is a self-proclaimed comic book movie hater, enjoyed Batman Begins, which is the biggest testament to the movie’s draw. The Bad: Those action sequences reveal Nolan’s weakness when it comes to movie making. By the end of the movie they don’t bother me as much, but those first few scenes, especially the prison fight at the beginning, are really hard to watch. The Bat: The new Batsuit is a lot more flexible, allowing Batman to move a lot more freely. The addition of the “memory cloth” to let Batman glide is a nice touch, departing from the hefty Bat-glider Keaton had. The tumbler takes us back to the seriousness of Burton’s Batmobile, only with a real world feel to it. Frankly, I’m just happy to see the Bat-shaped shuriken, the closest thing to a Bat-a-rang we’ve gotten. Watching all of Batman’s toys come together in this movie is one of the highlights, no matter which is your favorite. Final Rating: 
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