I love writing reviews and I'm doing my best to add some interesting comments. I hope to add more r...
I love writing reviews and I'm doing my best to add some interesting comments. I hope to add more reviews whenever I can and get better!
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The original series of Batman films, started by Tim Burton in 1989, left a few questions hanging in the air with their depiction of a reasonably mature Batman fighting crime with a minimum of backstory. Where in the name of Adam West did he learn how to be Batman? Who taught him martial arts? Where does he get his gadgets and car from? Does anyone help him secretly?
Batman Begins, an excellent reboot/rethink of the franchise, answers these questions and establishes itself in the Premier League of comic-book films.
The film opens with a young Bruce Wayne falling through an old well on the grounds of his family's estate and thus discovering the batcave that he will put to use as Batman. The film then cuts to the adult Bruce Wayne. Wayne is in a bedraggled state in a Far East Prison. He is there to study criminals and toughen himself up, though for what and why he isn't quite sure. In a series of flashbacks we see the death of his parents and Wayne turn his back on his fortune and the corrupt Gotham City to stow away on a ship. He is visited by the mysterious Ducard played by Liam Neeson. Ducard works for the even more
mysterious Ras Al Gul and tells Wayne that if he carries a rare flower to the top of the mountain he will find the answers he is looking for. He finds a strange Ninja Sect when he arrives and begins the path that will lead to him becoming Batman...
What is great about Batman Begins? The casting for starters. It was an inspired move to cast British actor Christian Bale as Wayne/Batman. Bale is an excellent actor and adds a bit of gravitas to the centre of the film. He's more than buff enough to fill the Batsuit and does a good job in seperating the Wayne/Batman identities. He's refreshingly intimidating as Batman (Batman is supposed to scare criminals afterall) but often acts the drunken spoilt millionaire fool with Wayne. In real life Batman's identity would be rumbled in days but it was a nice touch to show that Batman at least uses his Bruce Wayne identity to make Wayne an unlikely person to be Batman in the eyes of Gotham.
Liam Neeson is great as Ducard. I've spometimes found him a bit dull in other films but he spouts wonderful comic book gobbledygook with such seriousness here I must doff my cap to him. The respect for the comics and mythology of Batman is very evident throughout the film and the scenes with Ducart, with panoramic mountain views, give Batman Begins an ambition and scope beyond the patchy Batman films produced from 1989-1997.
The second half of the film moves the action to Gotham and the production design, which is at times closer to Bladerunner than Tim Burton's gothic take on the character, is fantastic. There is also a spectacular and enjoyable chase involving the new Batmobile that gives Nolan a chance to flex his action muscles.
I should add that Michael Caine is an absolute delight as Alfred and Cillian Murphy makes his mark as secondary villain Scarecrow. Batman Begins is crammed with terrific actors like Tom Wilkinson and Gary Oldman. Oldman, in a rare non-villain role, looks just like Jim Gordon from Frank Miller's Batman Year One, a graphic novel that provided a major part of the inspiration for Batman Begins. Morgan Freeman is as likeable as ever as Lucious Fox, an employee in a mysterious section of Wayne Enterprises who becomes an ally. Perhaps the only weak link is the bland Katie Holmes, a vague love interest for Bruce wayne.
Director Christopher Nolan, a brave choice for Batman Begins, puts Batman into a more real world than the gothic/camp Batman films produced in the late eighties and early nineties and this effect is heightened by our fresh knowledge of how Batman came to be. The film has many striking images and makes good use of Scarecrow's mind-altering gas for some nightmarish effects. The climax is exciting and the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Alfred is deftly developed and touching.
There is a lot of backstory to convey in Batman Begins and the film allows plenty of time to develop the emergence of Batman. Some might feel that there could have been a bit more action in the film but I think the big set-pieces, when they arrive, work better for being part of a restrained film that tries to give the audience some character development rather than shoehorn in too many popcorn stunts.
The shaky cam and fast-editing, a bit like the Bourne flms, is a bit overdone during some dimly lit fight scenes but Nolan, overall, must be commended for giving this fresh take on Batman a reasonably new feel, as far as one can in the Batman 'universe'.
Overall
Batman Begins is in the top-tier of comic book films and the best treatment of the character to reach the screen yet.
The extras package is extensive. You get a trailer with the film on disc 1 and disk 2 has countless screens where you click to get the extra feature for that page. There is a huge amount of production detail and interesting comic sections where they touch on elements in the story and mythology that were taken from the page to the screen.
Available Audio Tracks: Dolby Digital 5.1 Sub Titles: Arabic, English, German, Hebrew, Icelandic Dubbed Language(s): German Hearing Impaired: English, German Disc Format: DVD 9 Theatrical Trailer Inner Demons Comic Batman The Journey Begins Shaping Mind And Body Batman The Tumbler Gotham City Rises Saving Gotham City Genesis Of The Bat Confidential Files
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![Batman Begins - 1 Disc Edition [DVD] [2005]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78485357.jpg "Batman Begins - 1 Disc Edition [DVD] [2005]")
![Batman Begins - 2 Disc Edition [DVD] [2005]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78484325.jpg "Batman Begins - 2 Disc Edition [DVD] [2005]")
Jan 20th, 2008
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