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Batman Begins
Joel Schumacher comprehensively killed the previously wonderful Batman series with the empty Batman Forever and the spectacularly awful Batman and Robin. What to do next? Why, forget they ever happened of course, start again and do it differently this time round.
Despite my reservations, Batman Begins is an excellent movie and well worth two or three viewings. It's crammed full of character, is extremely well-made and will undoubtedly revive the batty franchise. It's not as clever as it thinks it is, and ultimately it doesn't succeed in its aims as well as Tim Burton's premier, but that's like saying that Michelle Pfeiffer isn't as delectable as Natalie Imbruglia - they're both fine specimens so why cast a shadow by comparing against the best? Go see it for the cracking movie it is. I enjoyed this film: I think the average moviegoer will enjoy it: Testosterone Satisfaction Rating: Batman is still super-cool. To enjoy this film you should: prefer a more down-to-earth approach to a superhero.
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Your commentsThe comments printed here are not necessarily the views of Forwardcharm!
At last the film that should have been the first in the sequence is released ... and it's great!!
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The 1989 Tim Burton / Michael Keaton Batman movie is one of my all-time favourite movies, plumping for the fantasy
approach and pulling it off perfectly with magnificent and appropriate performances from Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson
and Michael Gough. Batman Begins chooses a darker and more soulful path, relying heavily on plot and characters to
build its web rather than exaggerated cool fantasy sequences. In fact, this Batman is trying so hard to be real
that it comes across as less real. The very premise of a man in a batsuit flying across town whacking bad
guys is so bizarre that it relies on a degree of fun and fantasy to remind us that it's not really supposed to be true.
Without that tongue-in-cheek ingredient, we have to rely completely on the portrayal of a bat-man being convincing
enough to believe. All credit to the cast and crew, they do in fact manage to pull it off, addressing each potential
difficulty effectively, although naturally with a superhero movie, it wouldn't stand up to careful analysis!
Why have a gap in the bulletproof costume round the chin, for example... doesn't seem too bright to me...
Christian Bale makes an excellent justice deliverer and tunes his performance beautifully to the tone of the story.
Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Rutger Hauer and particularly Tom Wilkinson contribute strong support, with Gary Oldman
fitting into a rare goodie role (Commissioner Gordon) with creditable aplomb. The weakest link in my opinion was
Michael Caine as Alfred the
butler, but I suspect that's largely because Michael Gough so convincingly made the role his own in the previous movies.
Caine himself is fine, but exudes only a fraction of Gough's fatherly charisma.
The fight scenes, although well designed, are a little confused - it's very difficult to see who's clobbering whom,
particularly in the opening jailhouse scenes. Despite the fantasy theme of Michael Keaton's Batman, those hand-to-hand
combat scenes seemed more captivating, with Keaton managing to inject the same character into smacking someone as in
conversation. And as for Jack Nicholson's Joker - well, there's no-one here that comes close.
Story-wise, it's refreshing to see a Hollywood blockbuster that has an intelligent approach to heroes and villains,
even if it's not exploited to its fullest extent. Here, both goodies and baddies believe that they are acting for the
good of all, which is often how major conflicts arise in the real world. The only problem with this aspect in the movie
is that neither side ever doubt that they're absolutely in the right, without considering for an instant the other guys'
point of view. I'd prefer to have seen a Batman troubled with nagging doubts about the ethics of his own standpoint
- they even hinted at
that in the Keaton movie, so why not explore it in a supposedly deeper and more thought-provoking version? I guess that's
because it's not as crowd-pleasing as a half-arsed love interest with new-Scientologist-of-the-moment Katie Holmes.
And at nearly two and a half hours, it's a little tough on the bum cheeks as it stands - so maybe they're saving that
for the sequel. My money, however, is on a Matrix Reloaded type action-fest for episode 2. We shall see.
