Screenplay by David S. Goyer & Christopher Nolan
Directed by Christopher Nolan
“You must become more than just a man in the mind of your opponent.”
Batman Begins is sold on its performances. It is here that it triumphs — head and shoulders — above Star Wars Episode III. This a movie of emotion, conviction, and artistic vision…things George Lucas has abandoned ages ago.
This movie has, by far, the best cast of the year: Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Ken Watanabee, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer & the inimitable Morgan Freeman. From Neeson’s powerful yet quiet mentor to Freeman’s mischevious inventor to Caine’s no-nonsense take on Alfred the butler, Batman Begins revels in the abilities of its cast, all of whom add layer upon layer of subtle power to their characters AND to the story.
As for Christian Bale….he makes for a wonderful, conflicted Bruce Wayne. He’s not exactly at Michael Keaton’s level in the Batman suit, but he brings a confident air to the role of a young man striding through an increasingly darker world. Compare this to Hayden Christiansen’s hackneyed performance in Star Wars — about all he and Bale share are the bulked up bodies.
The direction, courtesy of Memento’s Christopher Nolan, presents a palate of sepia tints, disorienting flourescents, and dark shadows, with jagged stabs of colour and light. He’s painted a more realistic version of Gotham City, but he offers his own touchstones to the gothic universe of Tim Burton’s films. Instead of nightmares from the subconscious, Nolan takes the everyday nightmares of mental illness, poverty & crime…magnifying them and twisting them into a run-down, near-futuristic world where the untouchable elite reign in their high up towers, and the scum & forgotten of society live in the narrows. This city needs virtually nothing of the polished CGI overload of Star Wars’ Courusant — it’s the real world, gone insane for the sake of good art and good storytelling.
There is also emotion by the bucket-load, starting with the first act. Nolan and co-screenwriter Goyer make sharp, decisive cuts between the Batman origin touchstones: death of the Waynes, wandering the Earth, training and learning the skills necessary to fight crime. It’s all linked together by the actors, giving 100% conviction from the get go…so much so that I was already blubbering when young Bruce was comforted both by a young James Gordon and by Alfred after the death of his parents. In those small, quiet scenes, the abilities of Oldman and Caine combine with the beautifully spartan script to illicit powerful reactions from the audience. Again, by comparison, George Lucas has forgotten how to craft such scenes.
The only weaknesses I can discern are (1) the action….enjoyable, but nothing we haven’t seen before; and (2) Katie Holmes as Rachel, Bruce Wayne’s life-long friend/love interest. She’s simply child-like and too fey compared to the heavyweight actors around her, but at least she doesn’t embarrass herself. In particular, she has two very solid, emotional scenes where we see what a director like Nolan can do — evoking a wonderful performance from an actor of modest abilities.
But this isn’t a movie about action and adventure. Batman Begins is a probing, dark, powerful re-introduction to one of pop culture’s most magnificent characters. It carries a weight & gravitas absent from the Spiderman movies, and emotions totally alien to the Star Wars prequel universe. It’s definitely worth the full admission price at the cineplex…and it’s definitely worthy of a sequel. This will banish all thoughts of Joel-Schumacher-nipple-suits forever!
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