Short review: Brilliant.
A longer review with medium spoilers follows…
The film opens with an anonymous Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) lost to the world in a remote Asian prison. He’s wandered the world learning the blend in with the criminal element, trying to understand the detrius of humanity that murdered his parents when his was a small child. He is friendless, adrift, and lacking in focus. He is saved by the shadowy Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) who inducts Wayne as an initiate into Ra’s Al Ghul’s (Ken Watanabe) League of Shadows. From them Wayne learns to control his fear and give focus to his anger, they hone his already impressive skills into a tempered weapon. But he refuses to accept their final ritual, to execute a murder, and brings their black temple crashing down in flames. Shortly afterwards Bruce Wayne leaves Asia for Gotham City to reclaim his father’s company and to use the League’s training to bring fear to Gotham’s criminals as the Batman.
And that entire sequence is takes the entire first third of the film. Neeson is suitably Qui-Gon-ish while spouting the various pyschobabble that layers Bruce Wayne’s motivation. I felt that Watanabe’s Al Ghul was a little wasted with the League of Shadows being an obviously more huggable version of the League of Assassins. Still it works well within the context of the film. I also like one or two of the other inserts into the origin. Joe Chill is given a larger role, but it’s also one that is at odds with the current comicbook Batman.
Near the start of the credits is a card saying “Story by David Goyer”, what it should really say is “Story by David Goyer after Frank Millar after Bill Finger.” To all intents and purposes this film in Batman Year One. If you’ve read the graphic novel you’ll recognise certain scenes that have been adapted straight off the page and a legion of incidental characters. Locations get shuffled and character’s get redrawn, but a lot of it’s spirit is here. Even a certain pearl necklace makes an appearance.
As we were leaving the cinema a friend commented that it was a remake of the first Tim Burton film. It took me a while a see it, but the formula for Batman Begins is to merge Batman The Movie and Batman Year One in equal measure, replace the Joker with the Scarecrow, mimic the Superman The Movie act structure, and tie everything together with Ra’s Al Ghul and his League. Luckly it’s a winning formula that produces a film that is, in my opinion, vastly superior to any of the other recent superhero films. Katie Holmes is quite good in the film, but you do get the feeling that she’s just there as the Aunt Harriet character.
There is only one moment in the film that really pulls me out of the picture. We’re use to hollywood superheroes not bothering to save the villain from certain death, but I’ve never liked it. The Batman I grew up reading would never have left the villain to die, he valued human life far to high to do that and wouldn’t have paused before he put his own life on the line to save even the lowest scum. It’s what he does, he is after all a hero! Yet near the end of this film Batman says to one of the villains “I won’t kill you, but I won’t save you!” The real Batman wouldn’t make a distinction between the two – refusing to save somebody you could save is the same as killing them!! It was an unnecessary quip that almost ruined the ending for me and stopped me ranking this film as a 5/5.
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I thought the line was perfect. Truly Batman. I love your site by the way. Just wish you would update it more often
I agree with George. It was an appropiate line and disassociated execution. Batman is a vigilante and although he came close to killing once in this movie, he allowed the “fates” to carry it out for him on the train. Definitely appropiate. Don’t confuse yourself with the word “hero”. We have millions of vets who I apply that same word to.
I thought the first half of the film was alot better then the second half. Infact I thought the first half was perfect and wouldnt change a thing, however I found the second half of the film slightly confusing, particularly the machine that was stolen from wayne enterprises and the liquid that was spilt into Gothams water supply; I just felt that it wasnt explained well enough. Also, this is just nit picking but it bothers me a little, I thought the bat mask didnt look cool enough.
No way would Batman let anybody, no matter how big a villain, die.
That essentially spoils the veryy core of the character of Batman.
The movie was perfect except for Batman letting Ducard die.
in response to Mark Costa’s comment, i feel that the second half of the movie, including the
machine that was stolen was explained just fine. if you didn’t get that then i would see it
again. And as far as the mask not lookign cool enough, you have to remember that this
Batman movie is really the prelude to the first Batman, so the better looking masks come as Batman
continues in the other movies that we have already seen.
the part of the movie that i didn’t appreciate was the fight scenes. they were a little “choppy”, you couldn’t
really see clearly who was doing what in the fight scenes, especially when Batman was fighting more
that one person at a time.
i also agree with Aayush’s comment about Batman letting the villain die.
Just a comment about batman not saving Ras at the end.This is a beginning
for batman and a maturing process.If you will recall ,batman killed a few
guys in the first couple years of detective comics.He learns from this and moves on.
Jay makes an interesting comment about the early stories and it’s one that comes up from time-to-time, but I’m convinced that if those stories are still in continuity then the gun aspect will almost certainly been retconned out. I’ve just reread the Englehart Detective issues (with Silver St Cloud) and it’s very interesting to see close how the tone of Batman Begins is to those issues. There are badguy deaths in those issues that approximate the death of Ducard in the film, but it’s still that line that bothers me. I agree that Batman won’t shed any tears for them, but in my mind he would never pass up the chance to save the badguy.
I agree with Michael about the “choppy” editing of the fight scenes – a flaw that was also present in Revenge of the Sith.
And now a big prediction for the third or fouth sequal: A pit for Ra’s and the appearance of Talia. (Well I can at least hope.)
I agree with jay66. Batman at his beginning was not above offing a few of the worst of the bad guys, besides, to project the values of a matured, heroic Batman on the one just starting out is to overlook character development, as important in life as in fiction. In essence, Wayne was confronted with the same decision as Ducard gave Wayne, but this time the victim is no nameless peasant who killed a single man, but a madman who has likely killed dozens, likely been responsible for the deaths of many more people, and was killed in the act of attempting to kill millions. How would we regard someone who killed Hitler in 1944, as a villain or hero? Many ethicists would argue that Wayne made an ethical, if not necessarily a moral decision.
Besides, why is everyone convinced that Ducard was Ras, because the character says so in the movie? It could be just as likely that Ras/Wattanabe is still alive and sent Ducard to do his bidding, that is the likely scenario I see.
I didn’t agree with the comment about BATMAN BEGINS being a prelude to the other films.
Chris Nolan has been very clear that this is a total reboot of the the franchise. BB was
the first film in an entirely new series and as such was a fitting way to open the new
saga.
Bale IS Bruce Wayne/Batman. Don’t get me wrong, I love Kevin Conroy’s portrayal
in the various DCAU series but Bale finally gives us a movie version worth following.
I do agree with the previous comments about Ducard/Ras’ death but it didn’t detract from
my enjoyment of the film. One last thing, thanks to Mr. Goyer, Mr. Nolan and the incomparable
Gary Oldman for giving us the real Jim Gordon.
Remember the end of a Death in the Family. Batman left the Joker to die in that helicopter and after asked sueprman to look for the body of the dead Joker.
The movie was great, but Holmes was annoying.
I saw Batman Begins a cuple of times and I agree it mixes Burtons Batman 1/2 with Year One and the 70′s/80′s Bats stories- no camp in here! It is definatly a strong, mature Batman story.
The weakest part for me was the burning of the Manor- while it made sence in the plot it was sad to see all that Wayne history buring.
As for Batman letting Ducard/Gas die- did you see a body? Nope! Remember in comics unless you see a body then the villian is not dead! I am gald they are not following the same route as the eariler movies by having the villian(s) die at the end.
Last thing – was it me or was Gotham not ‘Gothic’ engough?