bradygirl_12 | Batman Begins Review

I finally got to see Batman Begins (yes, I’m slow, but better late than never) and coincidentally, the first Batman movie with Michael Keaton.

I knew a lot about Batman Begins from fanfic and general discussion, but it’s always good to see it for myself. I’ll be concentrating on mainly this movie, but make some comparisons with the Michael Keaton version as well.

I liked the more serious approach to Batman Begins, and showing us the origins of the Batman and Bruce’s early life before donning the cape and cowl. The child actor (Gus Lewis) playing young Bruce was cute and conveyed his happiness, fears and grief very well. A nice touch that he’s afraid of bats.

The murder scene was well-done, and it’s my canon that Jim Gordon is one of the officers comforting Bruce after the murders (it’s probably so in comicsverse, but I know it’s always been mine). Here we get to see a bond form between Bruce and Jim, one that allows him to trust the older Jim Gordon in corrupt Gotham years later.

Aimless Bruce is certainly understandable as he drops out of Princeton and despises the Manor, feeling it’s empty without his parents, but I’ve always felt that Bruce had a drive by the time he reached college age, sticking with college to learn what he could before going out and learning ‘real life’.

Also, I'm unsure of Bruce carrying a gun. I can understand him wanting to kill Joe Chill, but guns are anathema to the Batman I know.

Seven years away? I suppose one needs to take that long to learn about the criminal underworld and the ways of the ninja, but how long does Batman have to be viable, anyway? As a non-meta, his availability as a crimefighter will be as long as his body holds out, if crippling injury or death doesn’t occur first.

And it’s a movieverse trend: Clark spends twelve years at the Fortress in training and five years away on the mission to Krypton. Little wonder he’s sometimes so disconnected with humanity! I prefer the comics version of learning on the job, and not spending so much time away. The comics Clark is very connected to humanity, which I feel is essential for the most powerful being on the planet.

I loved Liam Neesom as Ra’s. Perfect casting! And is Ra’s really dead? We know that in comicsverse he has the Lazarus Pit. His talk of the League of Shadows being around for centuries and sacking Rome, spreading the bubonic plague, and burning London…could he have been actually at these events? It’ll be interesting to see if he ever returns.

Alfred is awesome, as he is in any ‘verse. Michael Caine really hit it out of the park with his portrayal of faithful family retainer and father figure to Bruce. He’s also handy in a fire and will allow Bruce to take out the Rolls for a spin now and then! J

Great seeing Lucius, too, and Morgan Freeman was excellent in the role. It stands to reason that with all the tech, Bruce would need help building it.

Do I like the Tumbler? I prefer the sleekness of the traditional Batmobile, but the armored look is certainly appropriate for Gotham.

Rachel? She’s a far better love interest than Kim Basinger’s Vicki Vale. That woman annoyed me with her screaming in the first movie. This is a hardened combat photographer?

I loved the tiny glimpse we got of Barbara at the Gordon apartment, and Jim Gordon is excellently-played by Gary Oldman. World-weary but still with that spark of hope that will make him Commissioner someday. And while Gotham’s cops no doubt will still take bribes when they can, now that there’s hope, the honest cops (or at least those leaning towards honesty) will take new pride in their profession and maybe start turning things around.

I liked the understated performance of Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman. He matched with Brandon Routh’s understated performance as Clark Kent/Superman in Superman Returns. Bale’s Bruce was aimless and angry at first, still angry now but with a purpose. He keeps compassion to separate him from the criminals who have none. He pulled off Brucie Wayne quite nicely, and he’s great eye candy! ;)

Bruce cares. He was afraid for Rachel when Falcone threatened her in the club scene, and notice his eyes when Alfred was threatened?

When Ra’s says that Thomas failed and that was why he and Martha were killed, he’s wrong. Compassion is the only thing that keeps us from being complete monsters. The League of Shadows touts balance. They should realize that without good men’s compassion, there is no balance, just evil’s rapaciousness.

Scarecrow is a great villain in this movie about fear. I read that Cillian Murphy was considered for the part of Bruce, and he probably could have pulled it off. His cheekbones remind me of Dean Cain and the eyes of Tom Welling. J He could have played Bruce as beautiful and yet pulled off the driven Batman as well.

A note: a great scene when Bruce shows he’s conquered his fear of bats by letting the bats swirl around him, and another telling scene when he uses the bats at Arkham to distract the cops and to cement his growing legend.

Great to see Arkham in the movie as it’s so much a part of the Batman mythos.

And I also liked the little kid whom Batman gives a batarang to and who is saved by the Bat in the Narrows.

The music in Batman Begins was very well-done. I thought it set the tone perfectly.

The architecture is very Gotham, kind of Art Deco-meets-Blade Runner, and the monorail is cool! The Waynes truly are Gotham’s royalty as their influence is everywhere.

Usually it’s tough to make the Bat-costume look anything but silly, but I think they managed it here. J

The waterfall in the Cave is a nice touch.

What I disliked: while the emphasis on Thomas Wayne was admirable, I felt that Martha Wayne (whose name was never even mentioned) was shortchanged. I know in a patriarchal society the name descends from the father, but still, was there nothing of Martha in Bruce?

I liked the pearls imagery in the murder scene in the Keaton movie and even if people think it’s cliché, I missed it in BB. Thomas shows the pearls to Bruce, but we never see them break and fall to the pavement.

I was happy to see the importance of Thomas' stethoscope and Bruce's memories of it. It was one of the few things to survive the fire. Appropriate.

And Die Fliedermaus is a good choice for the fateful night, though I’m still partial to the Zorro movie.

I really loathed the burning of the Manor. To me, a building isn’t just bricks and mortar, and neither are possessions just things. They represent time and memories and are handed down from generation-to-generation. Once lost, they are gone forever, no matter that Bruce vows to rebuild it the same brick-for-brick. Something that has stood for hundreds of years or possessions that have been in the family that long shouldn’t be burned up. Just my opinion!

And in comparison to the Keaton movie? Michael Keaton was certainly intense as Bruce and Batman, but I didn’t like the use of the Joker as his parents’ killer. I prefer two-bit hood Joe Chill as the catalyst to Batman.

And as mentioned above, I found Vicki Vale annoying. She was far too damsel-in-distress for me. I preferred Rachel’s kick-ass attitude.

Keaton’s Bruce is a very lonely man, too, though seems a little goofy to be Batman. I did like Pat Hingle as Jim Gordon and the character of newsman Alexander Knox was good. I’m not a big Jack Nicholson fan but he projected just the right amount of menace/psychosis as the Joker.

The first movie was enjoyable, but Batman Begins is a superior film, IMO.

Since I am a shameless Dick Grayson girl, my rant ahead is about him. Some people say that he isn’t integral to the Batman mythos! Poppycock, I say! ;) Why, after Robin was introduced in the spring of 1940, the sales on Batman really took off! Could Batman have survived the purging of comics in the early ‘50s without Robin? Maybe not!

I do find it tiresome that since the Robin character was in two of the worst movies of the last cycle, there will be no Robin in the future in this new cycle. If any Batman needed a Robin, it’s this one! I’ve never seen a lonelier Bruce, possibly because unless it’s fanfic, there’s no hope of a crossover with Superman or any other JLA heroes.

Could Robin fit in this ‘verse? Of course! But it would have to be done right, and does Hollywood have a deft enough writer to pull it off? Goddess knows!

I do find it surprising (but in a good way) that there was little gore in this film. Action films today seem to demand gore and gruesome scenes, so it was a pleasant surprise to see this movie lacking in that. Even the first Batman movie had the stomach-curdling scene of the Joker burning a criminal alive. Ugh.

Am I looking forward to The Dark Knight? Yes! Will the sociopathic Joker create blood and gore in this second film? Only time will tell!

Great ending/foreshadowing with the Joker's calling card!