Batman
Begins
a film by Christopher Nolan released through
Warner Brothers Pictures in 2005
Sometimes stars do make a difference. Tom Wilkinson, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman,
Gary Oldman, Katie Holmes, Ken Watanabe, and Michael Caine contribute to the
astronomical budget of Batman Begins,
but they make the film work. These stars
certainly are a draw for many, but their importance to the film is something
else. By virtue of their talent and warm
familiarity, this new Gotham City becomes a place to which the audience can
identify, a place to which it can eagerly return, at least in time for the sequel.
This Gotham looks to be the home of 30 million people, justifying a comparison to ancient Rome made by Ducard (Liam Neeson). Gotham's design is consistent with reality, which goes a long way to establishing a sense of immediacy and wonderment.
The origins of the Caped Crusader are handled creatively. Much of the established back story is discarded. Instead of the cinema, the Waynes were attending the opera, and young Bruce asks that they, three, leave. They are not safe in a crowd, but vulnerable and alone as they exit to a foreboding alleyway, where they are met by a thief.
Bruce feels guilt
as well as anger at his parents' deaths.
The comic book legend was that he trained himself in fighting and
chemistry and developed the persona of the Batman with no outside help. But in Batman Begins we see that bats are his great fear, we see him plan
the murder of his parents' killer in an ill-thought attempt at justice. We see him train with the
anarchy-enabling League of Shadows. And
we share in his slow realization that all of Gotham is in major trouble, and crime boss Falcone
(played by Tom Wilkinson) is at the center of the storm.
Falcone is a good example of the film's strong characterizations. He is a bad guy, for sure, but we get to see in a confrontation with Jonathan Crane that he fears someone more powerful than himself (Ducard). Later he is trapped in horrors imposed on him by the Scarecrow.
Earlier on,
in a confrontation with indifferent collegian Bruce Wayne, Falcone tells him that he
doesn't really know the painful hardships of life, and we get the sense that
Falcone fought his way to the pinnacle of might out on the meanest streets of
Gotham; whatever power he has, he earned it, and never forgot the lessons of
that journey. Later, when an unknown
assailant (Batman) is making mincemeat of his gun-wielding dock workers,
Falcone investigates the situation himself instead of just running away. This speaks to his bravery.
Apart from Bruce
Wayne the most important character in the film is the butler, Alfred. And the relationship at the heart of the film
is not between Bruce and the leading lady (the case in 1989's Batman) but between Bruce and
Alfred. We see Alfred cajoling,
inspiring, chastising. With Alfred's
succor, Bruce Wayne is able to gird himself, enduring the difficult transition
from vexed survivor to vigilante. The
challenges are two-fold: He must restrain
himself from the temptations of vengeance and, on the other extreme, overcome an
understandable desire to slink away from the fight he's
brought to bear, fearing he'll continue to make the situation worse.
The scene that best
conveys this dynamic between the two, the best scene in the film, begins as
Alfred clocks one of Ducard's men with a golf club and enters the burning
mansion to save Bruce. Hitting the six
keys on a piano that is seconds from incineration, Alfred carries Bruce into
the secret passageway. They escape a
blast of fire cascading down the elevator shaft. As Bruce looks up at the destruction of Wayne
Manor, lamenting his choices, Alfred reminds Bruce that not all is lost. The Waynes did much more than build a
mansion. His father's passive,
altruistic, naive concern for the downtrodden will be redeemed in his daring
son, who, here on the verge of victory, sits broken, spirit vanquished.
Thomas Wayne did
not recognize the true infection of Gotham, the crime behind the poverty (not
the poverty behind the crime). His son learned it firsthand and now Alfred,
perpetually questioning the wisdom of Bruce's nocturnal exploits, now emboldens
him, spurring him to triumph. No, he had
never given up on Bruce, and it is only with his strength that the victory is
possible. And so, once more, Bruce
returns to battle.
The fight scenes
in Batman Begins are numerous and
frenetic—exciting stuff but shot too close, edited to the point of abstraction,
conveying danger and confusion, but denying the audience the chance to revel in
Batman's skill. One doesn't know who's
kicking, who's winning. All that's clear
is that a fight is on and it must be intense because it's cut every eight
frames.
Visual effects in
the movie are outstanding. The promise
of the computer animation revolution has been realized incrementally as one big
advance is canceled by the tasteless work of another director who throws
caution to the wind, seeing the new technology as the license to do anything. In Batman
Begins we only know we're seeing effects because we reason that nothing
like that could be shot in real life,
it is so incredible. This is what visual
effects should always be, an aid to the story, and not a show unto themselves.
Hans Zimmer and
James Newton Howard seem reluctant to attempt a theme, any theme, after the
triumph of Danny Elfman's Batman
anthem, used in the two Michael Keaton—Tim Burton films, as well as the
animated series. The score is fair, but
a real statement needs to be made with the music in this kind of film.
For whatever
reason, perhaps the multitude of characters, some confusion lingers. Is Rutger Hauer's Earle, the head of Wayne
Enterprises, the real villain? Why fire
him? Is it just to avenge Lucius Fox
(Morgan Freeman)? And what of
Falcone? Did he escape from the asylum
with everyone else? We can assume that
the Joker (referenced in the last scene of the film) is one of the products of
Arkham. This was a bold, confident
gesture on the part of the filmmakers in keeping with the many surprises and
delights of this extraordinary film, the greatest of all Batman adventures, and
the start of a new franchise. The fire
is rekindled and the heat will be intense.
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