Director Christopher Nolan has hit it out of the park. “”Batman Begins,”” while not as emotionally involving as I would like it to be, clicks on all cylinders. This is the Batman that fans have been waiting for.
Now personally I don’t get all the new found hatred for the Tim Burton “”Batman”” film, (maybe it’s spillover due to the fact that the other 3 films sucked so badly) for me it is still the best “”Batman”” film of them all, and is one of my top 10 favorite films. “”Batman Begins”” doesn’t come anywhere near that level of greatness, but it’s way up there in quality and is a fine example of how to do a super hero franchise the correct way. While Burton’s original “”Batman”” was admittedly cartoony, and over the top, it kept the dark tone of the source material. “”Batman Begins”” is anything but cartoony, this new film is serious, real, and most of all BELIEVABLE. This is both why the film is amazing and why it failed to elicit a “”strong”” emotional attachment for me.Never once do you not believe that this world exists, that Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is not a real person, that the young Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman) isn’t honest, that Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) isn’t an idealistic, earnest Assistant District Attorney. The cast in this film all did an amazing job. They understood the material, and took it seriously – the way it’s meant to be. The only complaint about the cast would have been Morgan Freeman as Bruce Wayne’s goto tech guy Lucius Fox. It’s not that he’s bad, it’s that we’ve seen Freeman in this role too many times. It wasn’t acting, so much as Morgan Freeman being Morgan Freeman. The reason the actors are so strong in this, is the script is amazingly good. Hear that Hollywood???? Go figure, a great script equals a great film! As the name suggests “”Batman Begins”” takes us back to the beginning of Batman’s career. This is the film that answers the Joker’s question “”Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?”” While Burton’s “”Batman”” tells the story of “”Why”” he becomes “”Batman”” this film is the story of, “”How?”” How does a man learn to channel his anger, and over come his fear? How does a man learn to become greater than he is? The film explains how Bruce builds the Batcave, where he gets his Costume from, how he learned his fighting skills, where he got his toys, and more. It explores Wayne’s psyche a little (not as much as in Batman).We find out that Wayne lived in the slums of Gotham and traveled the world as a bum in order to find out what it’s like to be a criminal. While on his travels he runs into the man who eventually gives him direction and focus, Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) who works for Ra’s Al Ghul (Ken Watanabe) the leader of a Martial Arts/Ninja organization called the “”The Shadow.”” After he’s done training he returns to Gotham to take on the mantel of the Batman. While working out how to do his job, he discovers that a villain called “”The Scarecrow”” (played by a really creepy looking Cillian Murphy) is planning on poising the water supply with a chemical that spreads fear throughout the city of Gotham. While the Scarecrow turned out to be a much better villain than I thought he would be, the way he’s dispatched in this film is really easy and stupid. But “”Batman Begins”” isn’t a villain centered piece. It’s about Bruce Wayne. The nice thing about this film, is that it actually gives us a look at the Wayne’s when they die we actually care, because we get to know these people. Bruce’s relationship with Rachel is complicated, she was their maid’s daughter and they were close friends as children, but grew apart after the death of his parents. She becomes a crusading Assistant DA and doesn’t like the fact that Bruce doesn’t seem to care about the world around him.Director Nolan does a fantastic job of directing this, all of the performances are top notch, the pacing is smooth as silk, and the atmosphere is right on target. If I had one complaint it would be that he plays it almost too safe, there isn’t a single memorable shot in this film or a moment where you go “”WOW!!!”” or “”COOL!”” and the action sequences were too pedestrian.I went into this with little expectations and was blown away by how good this is. The problem is, it’s not as memorable experience as I would have liked, but from beginning to end it’s almost a perfect film.“”Final Grade A””EM Reviewby Michelle AlexandriaOriginally Posted 06/15/05