Possibly My Nerdiest Post Yet! As I Take A Close Look At Batman Begins!

Batman Begins
Originally uploaded by livingfilm.

I was very pleasantly surprised last night when I saw Batman Begins. I have to admit, I was very skeptical, particularly after seeing the trailer. Thankfully my suspicions were put to rest when I was treated to possibly the most complete vision of Batman ever filmed.

Batman has always been my favorite of the major super heros, and his screen and television incarnations have rarely done him the justice he deserves. Not unlike many people my age I became obsessed with the Tim Burton film when I was 11, and up to that point, I feel, it was the greatest portrayal of Batman on the screen. It was a darker and more threatening Batman than we had previously seen, and set to Danny Elfman's brilliant score I was swept away. 15 years later that film is certainly dated, but it still holds a place in my heart, warts and all. I felt that this incarnation reached it's zenith in it's sequel Batman Returns, before Joel Schumacher's sequels destroyed the series.

I was skeptical of Christopher Nolan as the director chosen to resurrect Batman. Of his films I've really only seen Memento, which I thought a decent film, but the hyperbole surrounding that film caused me to dismiss it, and credit it's enormous success to an obvious and flashy gimmick that caused every asshole on the street who had seen it believe he was an expert in mise en scene. This judgment (though knee-jerk, I admit) was solidified for me when Nolan followed that success up with the big budget American re-make of Insomnia. Frankly, I have a hard time with anyone who gives Robin Williams a job.

Well, to my pleasant surprise Batman Begins was a clever and pretty faithful re-interpretation of the Batman legend. This Batman is a little less stylized than it's predecessors, and time was taken to firmly ground the origins of Batman in a believable way. All in all creating a believable, if fantastic story. Christopher Nolan's direction was very solid, this film felt as if it had been finely crafted and less indulgent (I might even go so far as to say under-stated) than most action based films. This is a newer, and exciting trend in the mostly American made big budget action films. Don't get me wrong, there have been intelligent action films in the past, but I think that there is less of a need to dumb films like this down to reach a wider audience, as there was in the past. The shift seems to be towards being more faithful to the source material, pulpy as it might be, without excusing it with irony. Also, the fan base of comic and graphic material has become considerably more mainstream during the past 15 years, possibly creating a more sophisticated audience that is more willing to follow a story without being slapped in the face with a constant barrage of cheap and inappropriate bits of "entertainment value", loud noises, cheap gags, one-liner etc.. One example I would use of this trend would be Sam Raimi's Spider-man films which though far from understated, and often corny, are pretty accurate adaptations of the original comics, mixed with a cinematic vision of modern mythology worthy of Fritz Lang. I would also point out The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and even George Lucas' latest Star Wars film, as further examples of this trend. And though none of these films are completely free of dumb moments, I feel they are considerably more sophisticated than most films of their variety made during the past 15 years.

Of the very large all-star cast of Batman Begins the only person who I felt was mis-cast was Liam Neeson, who I find has less screen charisma than a game of Uno. A true Douche Bag. Besides that, everyone else impressed me particularly Christian Bale, who actually seemed perfectly cast as Bruce Wayne, which is kind of the hardest part of his role if you think about it. I mean The Rock could play a muscle bound freak, but you would never believe he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. I'm also excited to see Gary Oldman's Commissioner Gordon move up in rank and grow as this films continue. I will say very little about Scarecrow, so as to let you experience him first hand.
That being said, (God I'm so long winded!) I feel that Batman Begins, is that rare object, an intelligent and exciting Hollywood Summer Blockbuster. Highly Recommended.