THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Throughout the 20th century, the world fell in love with the fictional character Batman as they would for Superman, whether they were reading the comic books or watching the onscreen adaptations (live action or animated). When the 21st century begun, a new iteration was needed to bring fresh air. And in 2005, Director Christopher Nolan shocked the world with the first film of his respected trilogy, Batman Begins.
PLOT
The film shows the origin of Bruce Wayne, who was scared of bats after falling down a well and being attacked by a swarm of them during his childhood. His life would take a much drastic turn when his parents Thomas (Linus Roache) and Martha (Sara Stewart) would be murdered by mugger Joe Chill (Richard Brake). The boy would then be raised by his butler Alfred Pennyworth. 14 years later, the same mugger would be killed after testifying against crime boss Carmine Falcone. It brought disappointment towards the adult Bruce because he desired to kill him and extract revenge. Sharing this to his childhood friend Rachel Dawes would only bring her dissatisfaction that he would ever consider acting outside the justice system. After encountering Falcone himself, who told him that real power comes from being feared, he gets inspired to travel around the world to learn combat skills and become immersed in the criminal underworld. Seven years later, he is serving a sentence in a Bhutan prison. There, he meets Henri Ducard who is associated with the assassin cult known as the ‘League of Shadows’, led by Ra’s Al Ghul. He recruits Bruce and trains him ninja methods and to purge his fears. However, Bruce would only reject their edict that killing is necessary and destroy the League’s temple upon discovery of their intent to destroy his hometown Gotham City. With his newfound knowledge, he returns to his city with the intent to fight crime, but also has an interest in his family’s company Wayne Enterprises, currently taken public by the unscrupulous William Earle (Rutger Hauer). Through the company, he meets company archivist Lucius Fox who gives him access to advanced defense technology, including a protective bodysuit and an armored vehicle known as ‘The Tumbler’. Although he would publicly pose as a shallow playboy, he would also set up a base in the caves beneath Wayne Manor. After intercepting one of Falcone’s drug shipments, the city would recognize his vigilante persona under the alias ‘BATMAN’. As the vigilante detective, he provides evidence against Falcone to Rachel, who is now assistant District Attorney. He also enlists Sergeant James Gordon to arrest the crime boss. In prison, Falcone has a meeting with psychologist Jonathan Crane, whose been helping him smuggle drugs into the city, in hopes to take full control of the operation. Instead, Crane writes him out of the equation by spraying him with his own personal fear inducing hallucinogen, that quickly drives him insane and gets him transferred to Arkham Asylum. When Batman investigates the Narrows, he gets attacked by Crane and is exposed by the hallucinogens. Luckily, he is able to call Alfred for help and is given an antidote by Fox. When Rachel accuses Crane of corruption, he holds her captive until the dark knight returns to rescue her. He is even able to subdue the psychologist and expose him to his own drug to make him admit who’s his employer. He admits to be the deceased Ra’s Al Ghul before being left to be apprehended by the police. Batman is able to take Rachel to the cave and give her a spare antidote. As she recovers, Bruce must attend his own birthday party to maintain appearances and respect his family’s legacy. During the party, he asks Fox to make more antidotes as Crane intends to release the toxin in the city. He then runs into the surviving Ducard who is the real Ra’s Al Ghul and knows his secret identity. He admits his intent to drug the city by evaporating the water supply with Crane’s toxins, after he sets off a microwave emitter onto the monorail system. Bruce evacuates the guests to handle this confrontation, but Ra’s is able to overpower him and leave him for dead by burning his home. Luckily, Alfred saves him again and escorts him to the cave to suit up and save the city. With the first batch of toxins being released in the Narrows, Rachel goes there and gives the antidote to Gordon. When Batman arrives to get Rachel out of the now infected city, he gives Gordon access to the Tumbler in order to destroy the section of the monorail track, which’ll prevent the toxins from being spread. The Batman is able to defeat Ra’s in combat, but chooses not to save him when the train crashes, which saves the city. As the city recovers, Rachel does respect his actions as a hero, after he reveals his secret. She admits that she loves him too, but feels that they can't be together until Gotham no longer needs Batman. Bruce even fires Earle and replaces him with Fox. The film ends Gordon now promoted as Lieutenant, giving Batman a newly crafted signal and requests him to look into the actions of a criminal leaving behind Joker playing cards.
THOUGHTS
I remember seeing this in theaters, unsure what to expect, which made me glad that it was unlike anything I had ever seen at that point. Every time I think of Lee Smith's editing, Wally Pfiser's cinematography and the collaborative score from Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard, it felt like I was traveling through the pages of a comic book. All of that helped make the various action scenes appear as exciting as they should be. Every time Batman kicks ass or glides his way into the action, you're just blown away on how fast he does it. The big reason that this movie remains effective goes to how Nolan changes things up by making it all feel gritty, which helps create such a grounded approach. And within that style, we create a stronger bond with the hero. From here and through the rest of the trilogy, I think Christian Bale gives a great portrayal of the caped crusader because he accurately portrays him as a dedicated man who wants his city to improve. Seeing the path he takes to become the hero Gotham deserves proves that success does not happen overnight. The greatest lesson he teaches to the audience how powerful one can be when overcoming fear. Yes his greatest fear as a child is bats, but another that is the worst for him is failure. All he wants is to make the city better than it was like his father wanted and he is afraid of not succeeding to make it so. So seeing him overcome such obstacles to create such harmony is inspiring. What I think is another great aspect of Bale's dual performance is how he handles both sides so carefully, pretending to be an fun seeking playboy who is really true to himself when disguised as an intimidating brute. It's even hard not to feel intimidated when he physically changes his voice to avoid being recognized, rather than using an electronic voice changer. He may have technically taken the life of Ra's by not saving him, but it is a relief that he doesn't personally do it because it is the only thing than the criminals he fights. If he chooses to take a life that, then he'll never be better than Joe Chill. So it even feels empowering to see him maintain such a restraint. I definitely liked this movie's costume compared to the multiple designs we've seen in the 20th century because it looks more flexible and the cape's flowing texture has a stronger presence, making him feel exactly like a ninja he was trained to be. I'd be lying if I said I didn't like the Tumbler. It's definitely the most inspirational Batmobile out there for being extremely tactical for its size. And you sense that inspiration when seeing later versions of it give a striking resemblance (Arkham Knight and Batman v Superman). It is a given how Batman is the star here, that does not mean he is the only interesting character as there were many more than ever. When I say this trilogy gave us the best Batman, I will also say we got the best Alfred from here as well. Michael Caine leaves a memorable impression for being a tireless ally and fatherly companion to the hero. The fact that he adopted Bruce when he didn't have to proved what a valuable gift it is to be loyal and humble. He knew if Bruce went elsewhere, he wouldn't grow to be a good man and he couldn't bare seeing him get misguided. Seeing him be there for Bruce when needed proved how he was family until the end. It's hard not to enjoy Jim Gordon because Gary Oldman is able to accurately portray him as the most dedicated cop out there who like Batman, desires for a better tomorrow. Sharing the same goal only makes their bond stronger. It was heartwarming to see Gordon comfort Bruce when his parents died because before it came back full circle by the end of the trilogy, it told me that heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Going into the newly introduced characters, we got a brand new love interest rather than bringing back Vicki Vale. Without sounding like a bandwagon, I thought Katie Holmes was quite fine in the role of Rachel Dawes for being an outspoken idealist and is not afraid of those who are more powerful than her. Bruce loved her deeply because she always saw the good in him and she loved him back for seeing just that. But she chose to not be with him because she knew that the city needed him more. And if they moved forward with an intimate relationship, he would not give his all as the city's defender. She does give the best advice that it's what you do that defines you, not what you are underneath. It definitely speaks volumes for that being an allegory of actions speaking louder than words. The last of allies Batman had at his repertoire is Lucius Fox. Morgan Freeman made him stand out for being a perceptive and persistent ally. It would be pretty crazy to supply weapons for a playboy becoming a vigilante, but he chooses to roll with it because he sees the good intentions in Bruce like Alfred does. Despite a handful of allies, there were still a handful of villains that were formidable and unforgettable. Ken Watanabe definitely left a good impression as the decoy of Ra's al Ghul, but Liam Neeson perfects the real deal. What makes him such a threat is that he believes he's saving the city by destroying it. He thinks so radically because after living an immortal life as hinted, he doesn't think Gotham deserves a chance to strive. I don't sympathize his actions, but I get where he's coming from because it reflects how general society struggles to adapt. Since Batman stopped him from causing destruction, it is safe to say that Gotham will stand tall in whatever kind of danger. Another villain that was hard to ignore was Scarecrow. Cillian Murphy made a memorable impact out of this character by making him as sadistic and deranged as you'd expect in this twisted world. This guy is obsessed with fear and enjoys making people feel afraid at every given chance. To him, fear is his greatest power and weakness because he uses it on others before they could use it on him. Whenever he is loose, you know Gotham is in for trouble. The last of villains that make an impact is Falcone. Tom Wilkinson owns it being a cold mobster who enjoys the power he gains from the trouble he causes and does not care what others think. The mob may have lived on, but his reign of terror ended the second he thought he was the biggest fish. Little would he expect that there were bigger fish than him. While I give this film more credit than it deserves, even I caught a few flaws when re watching. I know we need an excuse for Bruce's parents to die which'll allow the story to unfold, but how come Thomas didn't look up that the play would involve bats? I get that he wouldn't want to be spoiled, but he still should hav looked into it for Bruce's sake. It's wise of Bruce to play things close to the chest by trusting Rachel, but did the set up have to happen the way it did? Rachel is shown to be pretty smart and since she knows how bad Gotham is, she would not risk taking the train alone. It's easy to adore Bruce choosing to protect his broken city, but why did it take so long for Ra's to share the plan to destroy Gotham? Considering how serious he took the training, I'm surprised he didn't share it sooner. Not even Earle acts sooner on firing Fox when he didn't even like him to begin with. If he didn't like him, there was no point in keeping him around rather than waiting for suspicion. And who thought it was a good idea to put the town supply under a building, especially Arkham Asylum of all buildings? That is literally asking for someone to tamper with it. I mean it is a surprise that the toxin has been in the water supply for weeks, but why exactly does it take so long for people to suffer its side effects? I know the microwave emitter can set it off all at once, but wouldn't at least a few feel something if they were boiling water? It's hard to believe no one had. It does have an interesting setup when announced it was stolen on a ship, but how was someone able to take it if it got turned on to destroy the ship? It would've been more clear if there was a flashback showing League having the tech to pull it off. It is badass when Batman intimidates Gordon's partner Arnold Flass (Mark Boone Junior) for information of the drug shipments, but why didn't he do this with Falcone? The guy was definitely scared of him, so I'm sure he would've spilled the beans and no one close would guess he did it. And the only thing Flass ended up telling him was that the drugs were in the Narrows, so it's insane that he found the same house they were hidden, before Crane declared getting rid of them to avoid a trail of evidence. I've said before how much I loathe continuity errors and boy did I lose it when I saw one officer tell Batman to surrender, only to forget what the Tumbler looked like. And how exactly did Bruce win back any respect of anyone at the party after he kicks them out? He pretends to be drunk and takes the blame of his home being destroyed, but it's not like money is that easy to win people over. It would've been neat to see him win them over with an apology speech. I don't think those people are idiots, but this movie had a fair share of them throughout: One League of Shadows member gets easily taken down by Alfred with a golf club and a cop lets Rachel into the Narrows without asking for her ID. I'm glad that Fox pulled off giving enough antidotes to the city, but how did he do it alone overnight? He didn't have assistants and it didn't look like Alfred was available to help, so that's pretty crazy for me to believe. Other than that, this movie remains enjoyable. In short, Batman Begins is a great kickstart to this incredible trilogy for being patient with its storytelling and the execution of it. If you were disappointed of Joel Schumacher's adaptations in the mid 90s, this film easily makes up for that mess.
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