Batman Begins (For Real, This Time)

Over the weekend, I really did go out to see Batman Begins. I was a bit concerned about getting my hopes up. I'd been lukewarm toward the first Tim Burton film, so the fact that Batman Begins was getting a similar critical and public reception (at least as far as I remember how that one was received) only went so far in reassuring me that I'd like it, too. I'm happy to say, though, that for the most part, I did. Once Batman came on the scene, the movie captured the best elements of the character from the comics: the mystery, the drive, and, well, the coolness factor. (I'm not going to get into massive spoilers, but I may mention some minor ones, so be careful if you read any further.) Gotham was properly corrupt (except for decent and honest police Sgt. Jim Gordon, played note-perfectly by Gary Oldman), with plenty of the dark alleys, nooks, and crannies that Batman needs to operate. Although he wavered a bit, for the most part Christian Bale projected the authority necessary for the Darknight Detective, and even when he didn't quite, there was still the fallback excuse that this Batman was just starting out and learning the ropes. Although I haven't read Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli since it came out almost twenty years ago, the tone of this movie matches what I remember of that story in which Bruce Wayne takes his first faltering steps into his new identity. We've got a Bruce Wayne and a Batman who's feeling his way, setting and readjusting the boundaries between his two identities, falling down so he can learn how to get up again. The villainous plot was threatening and chilling enough (though I did wonder what happened to the innocent people affected by that plot getting partway to fruition), and the effects of the Scarecrow's hallucinogenic drug were nicely conveyed.

My hesitation toward giving the movie a full-out rave is that it seemed like it took longer than necessary setting itself up. Certainly, we needed to understand what drove Wayne and how he got to the point of putting on the costume, but we may have been able to telescope it a little bit so we could have gotten to Batman sooner. Perhaps if we'd had a taste of Batman early on in the movie, that would have tided me over. One "rule" of screenwriting is to avoid falling back on flashbacks, but since they were already present here, one more layer of moving backward might not have hurt.

As for the other performances, I thought they were mostly strong. Michael Caine was great as Alfred, showing the balance the character must maintain as both a mentor and a servant to Bruce Wayne. I haven't been keeping up with Batman comics for a while so this may have changed (though I doubt it), but Lucius Fox has always been an underdeveloped character, and although he doesn't leap forward in depth here, as played by Morgan Freeman, we still get a fuller idea of Fox's potential as a prime mover at Wayne Enterprises. Liam Neeson was strong as Henri Ducard, one of the men who trained young Bruce Wayne, but a certain duality in the role kept the character from being as strong as he might have been. Although I understand why the script required this, I was disappointed that we didn't get to see more of Ken Watenabe. And Katie Holmes? She was OK. I think the film would have benefitted from a stronger presence in the role of Bruce's long-time friend. Although they say any publicity is good publicity, given her prominence in all the gossip columns these days, any time she appeared on screen, it pretty much knocked me out of the movie. I don't know if this occurred to anyone else, but my mind couldn't help but wander and develop comparisons of its own when she fell under the sway of the older Scarecrow and began to lose her mind. It also didn't escape my notice that Katie and Tom got engaged the weekend Batman Begins opened. Does anybody want to give me odds that they elope to coincide with War of the Worlds?

The gadgets worked, too. I would've preferred a sleeker Batmobile, but other than that, the car worked well. It makes sense to give the Batmobile the ability to jump, and I really liked the fact that Batman has to jump in and out of the Batcave. The glider wings on the cape weren't overused, but they looked fabulous. In closing out the movie, the filmmakers gave us a nice boost into a sequel. I'll be ready.