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Director - Christopher Nolan
Writers -
; Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer, based on a story by Mr. Goyer and "Batman"
characters created by Bob Kane and published by DC Comics;
Director of
photography - Wally Pfister
Editor -
Lee Smith
Music
- Hans Zimmer
and James Newton Howard
Production designer
- Nathan Crowley
Producers -
Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Larry Franco
Warner Brothers Pictures.
137 minutes. PG-13.
STARRING:
Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Michael Caine (Alfred), Liam Neeson
(Henri Ducard), Katie Holmes (Rachel Dawes), Gary Oldman (James Gordon),
Cillian Murphy (Dr. Jonathan Crane), Tom Wilkinson (Carmine Falcone),
Rutger Hauer (Richard Earle), Ken Watanabe (Ra's al Ghul) and Morgan
Freeman (Lucius Fox).
1. An Imaginary Dialogue
2. The Review
1. An Imaginary Dialogue
Imagine a meeting between Bruce
Wayne in his Batman get-up and the newly transformed Anakin Skywalker.
"Hey there, Dark Lord!"
"Greetings, Dark Knight!"
“Nice cape.”
“You too! Capes
are cool, no matter what the Incredibles tell you.”
“And that head gear, that’s
impressive.”
“Well, in my case, it’s keeping me
alive. Your bat-mask—that’s more a costume than a life-support system.”
“True, but both
masks have the same effect on their enemies—they inspire fear.
And they distract from the fact that we’re really messed-up, wounded
human beings underneath.”
“Uh-huh. Speaking of wounds, I’m
sorry about your parents. Gunned down in front of you by a crook… that’s
rough. You know, my mom died in my arms after being abused by Tusken
Raiders.”
“I heard about that. I can
understand your anger, your desire to make things right. You lost your
trust in the Jedi. They were a confused bunch,
weren't they? Poor judgment all around.”
“You walked away
from your mentors too, if I'm not mistaken. The League of Shadows.
I rather admired them. But you... you got good combat training
from them, and then you became a free agent.”
“So many people think I’m just
consumed by a desire for revenge. But I’m not a vigilante
or a terrorist. I’m striving for justice, for the kind of world
where kids won’t suffer the way I suffered. I’d be glad to cooperate
with Gotham's government,
but they, like the cops, are corrupt to the core.”
“Hmm. I guess that’s where we
differ. I’m happy to keep questionable company, so
long as it gains me access to ultimate power.”
“I don’t know how you do it. I use
fear to keep Gotham City in line, but you use fear to keep the star
systems in line, Ani!”
“Don’t call me Ani.”
“You know what else we have in
common?”
“What’s that, Bat?”
“Brunettes. We love ‘em. They love
us, but only when we’re behaving ourselves.
When we start kicking butt, they get weepy and walk away.”
“We’re so much alike. Why do you get
cheers, while I’m reviled as one of the worst
villains in history?”
“Well, for starters, I try to
save lives. I show mercy. You
chopped up a room full of younglings.”
“Right. There is that. But that’s
why I rule the galaxy, and you’re just a fly-by-night crimefighter. You
should join me, Bruce. Together we could rule the galaxy.”
“Uh… no. It’s not in my character to
align myself with tyrants.”
“Think
about it. You’ve already decided that justice can only be achieved by
force, by determined human beings. You’re like me
— you refuse to look to any higher
power for help. You believe human beings, at their best, can save the
world. We’re not so different.”
“No, I’ll never join you.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because my director is Christopher
Nolan, and a powerful ally he is. Your director, well…”
Okay, enough kidding around. Let me tell
you about Batman Begins.
2. THE REVIEW
When the
end credits of Batman
Begins rolled at the film's sneak
preview in Seattle’s Pacific Place theatre, the place exploded in
applause. The fanboy next to me stood up and shouted
out the name on every Bat-fan's mind.
No, not “Batman.” He roared, “CHRISTOPHER NOLAN!!”
There’s a good reason
for his outburst. Nolan has directed and co-written
(with David Goyer of the Blade movies) what is, in short,
the finest, most sophisticated, most meaningful Batman film ever made.
Surprise, surprise... the movie's about Batman! It's about
who he is, what made him, what drives him, and what his mission has cost
him.
Director Tim Burton turned the great
Caped Crusader's adventures into a
disappointing (albeit entertaining) freakshow, in which psychotic
villains consistently stole the show from Batman by flaunting their
outrageous personalities.
Granted, Burton’s
version had its pleasures. Michelle
Pfeiffer's Catwoman remains reason enough to revisit Batman Returns
regularly. But did we care much about those characters?
Later, Joel Schumacher melted down Burton's
modest achievements, turning a decent franchise into a trashy, glitzy,
empty costume party on steroids.
That's all history now.
Batman has the movie his fans have always
dreamed about.
Taking its tone, its
realism, and its unflinchingly bleak view from the classic comic volumes
by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli known as Batman: Year One,
Nolan’s epic feels like
a gritty Michael Mann film about tough guys, bad cops,
vigilantism, and revenge. He clearly cares deeply
about Bruce Wayne's past, plight, and motivations, and thus, so do we.
He even finds explanations for the Bat-accessories. We know now
where that batsuit comes from, and to some
extent we know how it works. We know where the Batmobile comes from. We
even meet the
mastermind behind Batman's gear.
Nolan's
film highlights more than any other version that this
entirely human hero finds it easier to be Batman than to be Bruce
Wayne… that Batman is the real human being suffering under the burden of
heavy baggage, and that the Bruce Wayne who struts
around in tuxedos, a smugly smiling
super-playboy/millionaire/mover-and-shaker, is just a disguise for the
misery.
THE STORY YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW
Batman Begins
packs so much story into two
hours, they really should install seatbelts in the
theatres. Few films have ever covered so much narrative ground so
quickly and efficiently (Raiders of the Lost Ark
comes to mind). It’s like watching one of those
high-speed videos of a building being erected from the foundation to the
top of the tower — we
watch the myth of Batman constructed from
scratch before our eyes.
You probably know the
basics: Young Bruce Wayne’s parents are killed, and he inherits the vast
wealth, the mansion, and
the glory. But his anger and loss drive him to try and rid the
world of such crooks. Realizing that he can’t work within the law, due
to corruption and confinements, he takes his own road, by night,
confronting, terrifying, and dismantling the criminal underworld piece
by piece, relentlessly unsatisfied.
Nolan’s story starts
with these building blocks and, inspired by many details from Batman:
Year One, elaborates a much more complex and enjoyable mythology.
Now
we know that Mr. Wayne becomes
resilient, aggressive, and fearless by wandering in the back
alleys of the world’s criminal networks, and
that he trained with ninjas in a covert operation
called the League of Shadows (an
organization that inevitably reminds us of Al
Qaeda). When he learns from the head honcho, Ra's Al
Ghul, that the League occasionally comes out of hiding to
overthrow decadent societies, he must decide whether
to ride with the bad boys or go his own way. Wayne bails,
choosing a lonely but principled path... the defender of justice instead
of the hand of judgment. He returns to Gotham just in time to interfere
in the dirty dealings of a criminal mastermind named Falcone and a
psychiatrist who's more messed up than his patients.
THE BEST SUPERHERO CAST EVER
Christian Bale
is Christopher Nolan’s superb choice to play Bruce Wayne. Bale's
unforgettably intense performance as the young lead in Steven
Spielberg’s underrated Empire of the Sun remains one of the great
performances by a child actor. Since then, he
has refused to go for easy, flashy fame. Over twenty years, he’s slowly
developed a reputation for strong, complicated, muscular performances in
unconventional films like American Psycho, Metroland, and The
Machinist, with a few low-profile action flicks along the way,
including Reign of Fire and
Equilibrium.
Bale's days of obscurity are over. Here,
he finally
fulfills his potential to be a major commercial movie,
delivering one of his most surprising and complex performances,
and reinventing an American icon. His version of the caped
crusader is distinct in many ways. Before him, only
Michael Keaton made Bruce Wayne interesting, and he did so by turning up
the quirks and giving Wayne an edge of insanity. Bale plays Bruce Wayne
as a brilliant mess, a paparazzi-happy celebrity who is clearly
miserable and lost behind the egomaniac facade. He's as interesting
during his day job hours as he is during his nocturnal heroics.
One minute he’s an indulgent, amoral playboy, cavorting in the high life
with foreign supermodels; the next, he's a master of
stealth, a deadly martial artist, an overgrown adolescent trying out new
and expensive toys, or a daredevil, testing the limits of his
courage and his strength.
As
Batman-in-action, Bale makes us understand why bad guys fear the
Dark Knight. He's so
intimidating that he could send all previous "Batmen"
running merely by greeting them aloud. The thing that seals it
— his voice. When he talks to
one of his enemies, watch his mouth —
it looks like he’s having to muster all of his resolve not to
just rip out their throats with his teeth, tempted to
take an all-too-literal bite out of crime. He’s a fierce, harsh,
punishing figure. When he’s not in action, he crouches, clenched like a
fist waiting for something to punch. This is a Batman who takes
“theatricality” seriously.
Fortunately, Bale doesn't have to carry the movie on his own. He's got a
fantastic supporting cast.
Best of all is Gary Oldman as Lieutenant Gordon, the world-weary,
battle-scarred cop whose desire to do his job well puts him in good
stead with Batman. Oldman, so famous for playing psychotic villains,
finally gets a chance to impress upon us that he can be a memorable
good guy as well. What a delight to see him again. He'll be a great
asset in the sequels. (Please, Nolan, stick around for the sequels.)
Michael Caine is surprisingly restrained and effective as Alfred,
the butler with a deep and fatherly affection for his reckless employer.
Morgan Freeman
makes a strong impression in very few scenes--understated, funny,
clearly enjoying himself. Katie Holmes
plays Rachel Dawes, Bruce's childhood sweetheart; she's as cute as...
well... Katie Holmes (and she's a much stronger character than
Rene Zellweger's Mae Braddock in that other
early summer movie about a muscular good guy fighting muscular bad
guys.) Liam Neeson
seems content to continue playing combat mentors, but he's much
better here as Bruce's fight coach, Henri Ducard, than he was in
Kingdom of Heaven or the Star Wars prequels.
The villains may not be as cosmetically enhanced as those in Burton's
films, but they're every bit as engaging. As
the League of Shadows' head honcho,
Ra's al Ghul,
Ken Watanabe
(The Last Samurai) oozes menace (even if he is, once again,
playing a master warlord who will be bested by his young, white,
American trainee).
Tom Wilkinson (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
is delightfully nasty as a crime lord who's so greasy, he could give
Morgan Spurlock nightmares.
And then there's Cillian Murphy
in what amounts to an application for the
job of The New James Spader.
As a particularly twisted shrink, the head of the infamous Arkham
Asylum, Murphy is lasciviously wicked and
perverse, and he owns the screen whenever he's on it.
Last seen as the somber
lead in Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, Murphy reveals impressive
range, and his casting agent will be very busy in the days to come.
There are other pleasant surprises. (Rutger
Hauer! And he's
come full circle: Instead of wreaking bloody revenge on corporate devils
as he did in Blade Runner, he is one!)
DOES IT MEAN ANYTHING?
Christopher Nolan distinguishes himself amongst comic-book film
directors by focusing so intently on storytelling and character
development that he forgets almost entirely about special effects. Sure,
there are flourishes of animation here and there, but you hardly notice
them. This is a drama as much as an action movie, furiously interested
in ethical dilemmas. Like his cult classic Memento, it's full of
flashbacks; like his last film Insomnia, it digs deep into its
characters' psyches.
There are, of course, obvious political implications in the film's plot
about terrorist organizations and a culture of fear, but you don't need
me to echo what everyone else is pointing out.
What's most interesting to this viewer is Nolan's bold assertion
that a hero who executes justice is not enough. We need a hero who has
the power to withhold justice... who has the power to suspend
a punishing blow... who can entertain the thought of mercy and
forgiveness. Nolan intuitively understands the importance of grace in
the vocabulary of a true savior, even if his hero never gets much
opportunity to exhibit that trait... not yet. Batman certainly isn't
looking heavenward for help, but as a symbol of divine justice, he
strikes some resonant chords of truth. We can only hope Nolan explores
this further in a sequel.
For the first time, I found myself really rooting for Batman. He follows
a genuinely heroic character arc, with echoes of Christ-like sacrifice.
(He even shares a moment with Gordon that is pulled directly from a
conversation Christ had with Peter... the famous "Who do you say that I
am?" exchange.) He's tempted by a devil. He dies to his old self. He descends into the hell of a
criminal underworld and becomes acquainted with grief. He descends even
lower, facing his worst fears in the Batcave. And finally, he rises,
transformed, to carry out justice and put his life on the line for the
people of Gotham... people who clearly don't deserve him.
MINOR DRAWBACKS
I
wouldn't be a responsible critic if I didn't note the film's flaws, and
it does have them. The fights, for instance, are at times underwhelming.
They're filmed in such
quick-edit, close-up fashion that you wish the camera would sometimes
pull back so you can see what Batman looks like when he fights. On the
other hand, the use of darkness and concealment is very effective. For
once, when the "idiot principle" goes into effect and you have a bunch
of terrified dummies walking around and sticking their noses into dark
corners, you're actually ROOTING for the monster in the darkness to take
them out.
Continuity and
editing errors are occasionally distracting. There are moments when the
mouths moving do not match the words being spoken.
And finally: The conclusion is dissonant with the rest of the film
primarily because it's such a typical "bad guy threatens to blow up the
world" finale. It's the least satisfying part of the film.
But Nolan makes up for that lapse with a slam-dunk epilogue. He closes
the picture with a
bold stroke that
basically crushes the previous Batman films and tosses them in the can.
That scene must feel like a gut punch to anyone who worked on the Burton
films. Nolan asserts that he can cover whatever ground he wants in the
future... and that he'll do it better than we've seen before.
I
have confidence that, if the audiences show up and the studio realizes
their good fortune, we will see Nolan, Goyer, Bale, and company do just
that. While I
still have some affection for Burton's work, I
now humbly concede that Nolan is the master of the
Dark Knight from here on out.
Oldman: "I'm
finally playing a good guy!"
Jeffrey's Rating:
A-
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