Review: Batman Begins (2005) *SPOILERS*
As a huge fan of all things Batman, I was eagerly anticipating this movie. The biggest reason was my high hopes that it would resurrect the Batman franchise from the embarrasingly shameful depths of the previous two films. So did Batman Begins deliver? Yes, I found myself enjoying Christian Bale a great deal as Batman was being taken seriously again. Here are the strengths and weaknesses of the film...
STRENGTHS
+ Liam Neeson was the perfect Ra's Al Ghul
+ Morgan Freeman was the perfect Lucius Fox
+ Gary Oldman looked exactly like the young Jim Gordon
+ The Scarecrow was pretty darn scary
+ Tom Wilkinson played a great gangster
+ Some awesome martial arts fighting
+ The League of Shadows was bad ass
+ Great Alfred by Michael Caine
+ The Batmobile car chase was a killer action scene
+ Christian Bale was a great Batman. But even better was Bale's portrayal of Bruce Wayne! Perfect! Especially his restaurant scene as the overindulgent playboy.
WEAKNESSES
- Although I like the fact that the origin was aiming to be true to the comics, I was annoyed at the inconsistency with the origin from Tim Burton's version in Batman (1989). Batman (1989) still remains the best Batman movie and it's sacrilegious to erase Jack Nicholson's Joker from the origin construct.
- The fight scenes were intense but they were too blurry. After The Matrix (1999), audiences expect awesome fight scenes where we can actually tell who's hitting who.
- Although I liked Christian Bale a lot, too often his mouth area looked chubby in the batsuit.
- Katie Holmes' character just didn't add anything to the movie. She wasn't interesting and the relationship with Bruce Wayne seemed so contrived.
- I'd like to see more of Batman doing what he's known best for: detective work. Where's the Sherlock Holmes side of Batman gone to???
- It was awesome to finally see Arkham Asylum but the jailbreak was portrayed as so insignificant, it lost the sense that dangerous criminals are held there.
- Ra's Al Ghul goal of destroying Gotham City somehow seemed beneath him. It was tough to understand his motivation for targeting that one city as opposed to having worldwide aspirations for such a grandiose villain.
- Batman from the comic books never killed. Neither would he have let anyone die through his inactions, even Ra's Al Ghul. Yes, we all know what happens at the end of The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel, yet you have to take into consideration that was Batman in the future (after dealing with such villains for many years of frustration).
- The most embarrassing aspect of the film was the serious overuse of double quote references. This has become a terrible Hollywood cliche. Okay, it works in small doses, but just because a character repeats a quote that was said earlier in the movie, that DOES NOT spontaneously give that quote an enhanced significance. This was WAY overdone. See if you can count how many times it happened.
Overall, a really great job of turning around the Batman movies. Yet, still falls short of the 1989 Batman. I definitely look forward to seeing more films with Christian Bale as the lead, and hope they can keep the seriousness and respect that this icon deserves.
Great review on a great film.
I especially agree on Liam Neeson who was BRILLIANT as Ra's Al Ghul.
I esp. liked the sequences where the young Bruce Wayne develops batphobia... the potrayal by the child artiste was simply superb... also the sequence when he goes into the batcave again is simply awsome... one of the defining moments of the movie.
The batmobile's appearance was disappointing although the test ride sequence was nice :)
Ah, good call. I definitely enjoyed seeing Bale crouch in fear from the bats at first, then slowly rise into the maelstrom, embracing his fear and conquering it.
I just saw the film last night and really enjoyed it, but thanks for pointing out the repeated quotes; when the one quote was repeated between Batman and Dawes, I was a bit irritated. The reappearance of a certain small object also fits in with this and could be seen coming from a mile away.
Good points.
Johnny Waco
I unfortunately came a few minutes late to the film, so not only did I not see the reappearance of said small object coming a mile away, I was utterly baffled by the scene. Then my friend Alan explained it to me a few days later...
Could that have been any MORE of a Braveheart rip off? It's...been...done.
I agree on all points, especially about the inconsistencies with Burton's movies.
A good point was that at the beginning of the movie Gotham can be seen in daylight. Then at some point matching Bruce Wayne's "transformation" into Batman, it is always night in the city.
But I would add that the architecture of Gotham was quite weak. Where is gone the metal post-gothic style? The statues omnipresent in Burton's movies? Where is Gotham Cathedral?!
Good review!
Hey, some very interesting things you mentioned that I didn't even notice. Batman went out in the daytime in the comics quite a bit. And the architecture from "Batman" (1989) was awesome, and certainly should be carried on so that Gotham City doesn't turn into Detroit before we realize it.
The reason there are inconsistencies between Batman (1989) and Batman Begins (2005) is that Batman Begins has nothing to do with that series. As far as Batman Begins is concerned, Batman (1989) does not exist, therefore Jack Nicholson's Joker does not exist within the confines of this movie either. In the Batman Begins Sequel, we'll be introduced to a new Joker.