Batman Begins (2005) Review

Bringing indy film style directing to an iconic comic book character, Batman Begins resets the story from the beginning (shocking, I know) and shows how Bruce Wayne became Batman.  But is it more than just another comic book movie adaptation? More importantly, is it more than yet another Batman film?

After the 1990s Batman films devolved from a gothic take on the caped vigilante into a horrible camp fest, there was barely a sliver of hope that a serious version would be attempted again. Taking a calculated risk, Warner Brothers hired Christopher Nolan to write and direct a reboot figuring a back to basics approach could save the franchise.

Known for edgy and complicated films featuring plots bouncing back and forth in settings and time, Nolan was not a big budget director of summer blockbusters. Fortunately for all involved, he had a passion for making the movie – one that was infectious. Make no mistake about it, Batman Begins is a Christopher Nolan film first and foremost – and that is a very good thing.

One of the trademarks of comic book movies is using a flashy way to introduce the main title. Tim Burton’s Batman and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man are excellent examples of the special effects work put into the opening logo and title. So when Nolan’s film starts up, the big surprise is the lack of a title. Bats swirling in the dusk vaguely form the famous insignia of the title character, but it quickly fades to two children playing. That got my attention in the movie theater back in 2005 and my hopes began to rise.

The film wastes no time in setting things up. We get to see young Bruce Wayne (Gus Lewis) and Rachel Dawes (Emma Lockhart) playing on the grounds of the Wayne estate. An unexpected tumble into an abandoned well lands Bruce into a cave filled with bats. With a startle, adult Bruce (Christian Bale) awakens in a mud hole of a prison in Bhutan.

Filled with unresolved anger and a bellicose attitude, Wayne finds himself a target of other prisoners. Unfortunately for them, they are locked up with him, not the other way around. Wait… that is the wrong comic book character, but it still applies.

His actions draw the attention of a mysterious well dressed man, Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) who has an offer for the younger man. Sensing a desire for justice in Bruce, Ducard informs him there is a better path than the one he is on. That path leads to the League of Shadows and an opportunity to become “a legend” to fight crime.

Sprung from jail, Wayne hikes up the mountains in a gorgeous series of scenes shot in Iceland. Up in the isolated cliffs is his goal, a residence built into the sides of the mountain. There he finds Ra’s Al Ghul (Ken Watanabe) and a brutal beating at the hands of Ducard. This is the beginning of his training.

 

Typical of Nolan’s work, the movie shifts back to the past to show how young Bruce was rescued by his father, Thomas (Linus Roache), from the cave. It also serves to introduce us to Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine), the family butler. While the mother remains something of a cipher, insights into the elder Wayne’s idealism and compassion add depth to the tragedy that follows.

Also introduced during the flashback is Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), a sympathetic cop in the Gotham Police Department. It is a brief appearance, but conveys the fundamental decency of the character. Oldman is cast against type, yet you would never believe it watching this scene. While many a comic book movie has great action and sometimes decent character development, Batman Begins has these two characters who exude humane warmth in virtually every scene they are in. It really adds something special to the mix.

One of the themes of the current Batman in comic books is his rejection and hatred of guns. While the Batman of the 1940’s sometimes carried a gun, that changed around the time of Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams silver age run which steered the comic from silly kids stuff to something serious. I thought how Nolan and Goyer handled it was a very interesting way to show just how obsessed Bruce is.

The flashback also serves to introduce the adult Rachel in the form of Katie Holmes. Her best moment in the entire movie is in the car scene in an otherwise pedestrian performance. The first appearance by mafia boss Carmine Falcone (Tome Wilkinson) is far more memorable, though. Watch for a bum, since he is a set up for something later.

Back in the present, Wayne’s combat training under the tutelage of Ducard proceeds in montage style with a focus on conquering fear and using it as a weapon. There are many good moments contained in these scenes and something of a surrogate father and son relationship feels realistic. Debates over how far to take things against criminals dominate their exchanges, which lead to an unpleasant break between the two.

Bruce’s return home introduces the other big star of the movie. No, I do not mean Cillian Murphy as Doctor Jonathon Crane, but Gotham City. An amazing composite of Chicago and other cities, it is a creation that the SFX artists and designers should be proud of and has a personality unto itself. Massive and sprawling with a reek of decay about it, Gotham is corrupt to the core.

Crane is a psychologist specializing in getting criminals declared insane to keep them out of prison. This infuriates Rachel, which leads to her getting an expository lecture from her boss, the Gotham DA. With the legal system under the sway of Falcone, hopes for justice are dead.

Fear not, for help is on the way. Actually, fear a lot, for that is the main weapon Bruce plans to use to fight crime in Gotham City. With Wayne Industries having gone into weapons development, the newly returned billionaire finds abandoned prototype equipment of all sorts in the dead end division run by Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman). So the question of where he gets all his toys is answered here and with wit. The performances by Bale and Freeman not only sell the concept, but are a joy to watch.

We also get the answer to why Wayne chose to run around dressed like a bat and it does make sense. Since the whole film is an exploration of fear, the logic of using one’s own worst fear as a weapon fits nicely. But there is more fear to come!

Bruce’s first forays into the nightlife of Gotham’s underworld as Batman are exciting action pieces and the way he terrorizes the criminals is vicious fun. Ninja methods combined with horror movie style attacks rattles the thugs to their cores and nets a very big trophy in these very fast cut scenes. It is a pity it ends with a callback quip to the bum seen earlier. A little too 80s action movie for my taste.

Deciding to contact the only people he deems trustworthy, Batman’s visits with Gordon and Dawes leave them a bit rattled as well. Who wouldn’t be after being visited by an apparent psycho in a costume? But the information he gives them is too good to pass up and soon they are involved.

It strikes me that Holmes was not given much to work with the way Dawes is written. Unlike the way the men are written, the character is very bland and comes off more like another gadget for Bruce to use than as a person. She is there mainly to advance the plot in places and be a damsel in distress.

I loved the iconic shot of Batman watching over Gotham City from on high. That is straight out of the comic books.

Falcone finds out that faking an insanity plea can have very negative consequences, especially when your psychiatrist is Doctor Crane. Simply put, the doctor enjoys his work a little too much. It is a nice little scene and also hammers home that there is a big bad out there who is feared even by the mob boss.

Another nice little scene has Batman dropping by Gordon’s apartment for a brief exchange of information. It is a very normal setting, except for the guy in the black bat suit. These little vignettes help ground the movie in reality, compared to previous Batman movies. But most of all, it gives us Jim Gordon to identify with amidst all the larger than life characters. Gordon isn’t flashy, rich or an extrovert and his quiet demeanor is reassuring for us, the audience.

Once again, that is straight out of the comic books.

It is Batman’s second major foray that marks a turning point in the movie. After being an unstoppable force striking fear into criminals, his encounter with Crane in the slums called the Narrows reveals Bruce to be all too human. But there he also runs into a little boy who has heard the rumors about Batman and idolizes him. Here we get a glimpse of a gentler side of the hero and I found myself liking Wayne for the first time.

Events promptly spin out of control and the film becomes a  train relentlessly hurtling down the tracks to the end. Along the way, one of the best car chases since Bullitt makes the Tumbler one of the all time greatest automobiles to grace the screen. Massive action combines with a desperate race against time for an impressive finale worthy of a James Bond film.

Thoughts

Gritty, dark, and serious, the movie is a tour de force action film aided by terrific acting. While the script is good, it is not great, but the actors more than make up for its shortcomings. That is one of Christopher Nolan’s strengths as a director, for it seems he always gets the best out of his casts. For films as visual as his are, it amazes me how he pulls that off. Yes, I am a fan of his work. He may not be a Kurosawa or Hitchcock, but he is young yet, so give him time. In some ways, he directorially reminds me of Orson Welles.

Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman turned out to be a great bit of casting and he effectively channels the internal rage driving the character in a visceral performance. While his rasping in costume voice is subject to a lot of mockery for good reason, there are only so many ways to alter your voice without electronic help – and a falsetto is out of the question.

Special mention of the soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard is merited. The music is unorthodox, but still orchestral and is very much about using specific frequencies to influence emotions in the listener. We are all familiar with the use of music to put a person on edge while watching a horror film and this is taken to a new level here. The opening piece, Vespertilio is based on the heartbeat before moving to tones that rise in nervous fashion. Perfectly complimenting the scenes on screen, it manages to be memorable while not detracting or distracting.

Visually, the movie is a treat and there are so many things too look at that it bears repeated viewing for that alone. Despite being dark, it is a very pretty picture filled with beautiful shots. Make no mistake about it, when you watch it you know this is a big motion picture.

Batman Begins is not a movie for little kids and justly deserves its PG-13 rating. There are multiple scenes involving hallucinations and violence, with the former being unnerving to adults and absolutely terrifying to young children. There will be some examples in the spoilers section. Beyond that, this is not a kiddy movie and is aimed squarely at adults with teens pulled in by the action.

I recommend Batman Begins to action fans, comic book buffs, James Bond aficionados, and those who like well crafted examples of true movie making. This is an excellent film and easily better than its predecessors. It is far more than just another Batman or comic book movie.

Technical

This review is of the Warner Brothers Blu-ray disc, but much applies to the DVD which lacks the extras in its basic release.

The picture quality is superb, but I wonder if it could have been a little better since they did not use as much of the disc for it as I expected. One nice thing about Blu-ray is that it handles darker films much better than DVD does and that will become apparent on a good HDTV. Presented in 2.4:1 ratio, it is a slight oddball because 2.35:1 is more common.

Audio is equally good, but once again could have been a little better. DTS-HD is not to be found and Dolby TrueHD is only available in English. Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks in English, French (Quebec), Spanish, and Portuguese. Subtitles in all those languages are included, plus Chinese and Korean.

A multitude of extras in DVD quality are found on the disc, but you have to actively bring up the menu to get to them, because the movie starts playing automatically. This is something I have never encountered on a Blu-ray before, but my experiences are limited. One nice thing is that there are no ads before the movie, which is a rarity these days. They are presented in letterboxed 4:3 ratio, so the visual quality leaves something to be desired.

If you are a true film buff or are curious about how films are created from step one, you will want to watch these extras. I consider them the best I have seen outside of the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings movies. So please bear with me as I describe some of them a little.

Batman – The Journey Begins interviews Christopher Nolan, David Goyer, and Christian Bale among others while chronicling how the production got started and the preparation involved. The enthusiasm for making the film is palpable and explains why it turned out so well. When was the last time you heard about a blockbuster film being written and designed in someone’s garage? Check out Nolan’s washing machine and dryer in the background.

Shaping Mind and Body focuses on the stunt work and conditioning that Bale went through to fit the costume. One of the things that irked me when the movie came out was the way some people thought the fight scenes were lame and used fast cuts to hid how bad they were. I had watched the same sequences and was going nuts because I wanted to see them more clearly, for the fighting style was new and brutally beautiful to me. All these years later and I got my wish. The Keysi Fighting Method (KFM) is nothing short of brilliant to me, because I love practicality and efficiency above all else. You will appreciate just how much hard work went into the fights after watching this.

Gotham City Rises is also worth watching. I had no clue how much of the movie was actually built and was not pure CGI or even mostly CGI. Two airship hangers housed the Batcave and huge chunks of Gotham City. This allowed them to film night scenes during the day and completely control the climate. The sets were so big they were driving cars through them! Amazing stuff and a throwback to film making of the past.

Batman – The Tumbler documents the conception of the new Batmobile from a crude clay model made by Nolan to kit bashed models and finally to the full size real thing. Built by British engineers it is quite an accomplishment. It easily handled high speeds and some of the filmed chases hit 80 mph, though they said they got it up to 100 mph on the open road. From the comments, it appears nearly everyone wanted to take it home after filming ended, so when Gordon makes his memorable comment after first seeing it, he speaks for the cast and crew. Sadly, I want one too.

Path to Discovery covers the on location hardships of filming in Iceland, where the weather fought them the entire time. Film making is never easy and here you get to see how difficult it can get. The results were worth the pain, I think.

Saving Gotham City gives the miniatures artists their turn in the spotlight and also showcases how the finale was put together. If you ever wondered how they pull off big sequences, this short documentary is for you.

Other extras include short documentaries on the digital effects used, the history of Batman in the comics (though it focuses too much on the 2005 era), the creation and problems of the costume, stills gallery, theatrical trailer, and data files on characters and gadgets.

Also included it Tankman Begins, a spoof done with Jimmy Fallon and Andy Dick for the MTV Movie Awards. Since I find both those “comedians” unfunny, it was a waste of disc space even with a cameo by Jon Heder as Napoleon Dynamite.

The Dark Knight IMAX Prologue is included in HD to tempt you into buying that Blu-ray. Being an even better film, give in after watching the riveting beginning to the sequel.

BEWARE! HERE BE SPOILERS!!!

 

 

 

The fear gas induced hallucinations made for some very memorable scenes. In particular, I thought the way Scarecrow and Batman perceived each other while under the influence was quite interesting. Both men use fear as a weapon, so seeing their fears manifested and how they handled them made for great character moments. Crane’s answering machine line was perfectly delivered by Murphy, who turned in a very good performance as the mad doctor.

I mentioned the great car chase involving the Tumbler before and I still find it exciting every time I see it. It was also nice to see a chase that had a motivation other than the hero trying to catch someone. Nothing like having the gal you are sweet on dying from being poisoned to motivate you. The scene in the Batcave afterward was a classic comic book scene done in almost every adaptation of the material. Bring someone in unconscious, they get a glimpse and brief conversation, then are drugged unconscious. In real life, they call that kidnapping and imprisonment.

The fights in the Narrows while the fear toxin spreads made for a lot of good action scenes. In some ways it felt like the constant shifting between panels in a comic book, but without being overt about it. Looking at Ra’s with the facemask on, I cannot help but think of it as a design preview of Bane in The Dark Knight Rises coming out later this month. The League of Shadows ninjas look like like the Snake Eyes action figures from G.I. Joe of the Eighties. Apparently, Batman isn’t the only one with cool toys.

I loved Gordon getting to drive the Tumbler after his first amazed reaction to it earlier in the film. He truly gets to substitute for the audience here in a wish fulfillment kind of way. For me, the best part of Batman Begins is Jim Gordon. Finally, they got him right in a film adaptation.

The final fight with Ra’s was very well executed, both in stunts and dialogue. The hostility that only comes from disappointment was conveyed authentically by Bale and Neeson. They came off as equals in every sense, which gave the ending more impact, no pun intended. Speaking of that impact, Ra’s seemed awfully composed there. Was it a hint of his comic book immortality?

It was a nice nod to Thomas Wayne’s legacy when Batman glides past the Wayne Tower. Having come to terms with various facets of his past, Bruce is now ready to start shaping the future of Gotham City.

This just amused me greatly. Being able to read the article thanks to HD made it even better.

The movie comes full circle with Bruce and Rachel in the burned out ruins of Wayne Manor. While there is a kiss, it is a goodbye kiss and bittersweet. At least she tells him that his father would have been proud. The stethoscope of his father so prominently featured in flashbacks is ruined, but Bruce vows to rebuild it just like it was and embrace his family name. His search for his identity is over.

Yet his problems may only have just begun. Gordon introduces him to the Batsignal and a calling card left by a criminal with a flair for the theatrical. The discussion of escalation is fascinating and leads into the next movie. Just before the credits roll, we finally get the main title of the film. That’s appropriately theatrical, for the film stood on its own merits rather than the property it was base on.