Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exactly how the fans wanted, 26 Sep 2005
Just to note, this is NOT A REMAKE of the first Tim Burton film. Christopher Nolan creates a whole new film from the comic sources, especially Frank Miller's seminal 'Batman: Year One'. He remains faithful to the character's history whilst developing engaging characters rather than creating a movie around set-pieces. That said, the set-pieces that feature are spectacular, and, like the rest of the movie, grounded in the realism (as much as is possible in a comic-book world). Gotham truly feels like a sprawling, seething city with an impressive monorail system and inner island. The characters play major parts in Bruce Wayne's life and the development of Bruce/Batman as a character is excellent. The movie turns out even better than one could have imagined upon learning that Nolan was going to direct a realistic Batman movie with Christian Bale as the protagonist. It is emotionally and intellectually fulfilling, and supremely enjoyable, something lacking in many films today, let alone comic-book based movies.
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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A whole new beginning, 22 Sep 2005
By A Customer
Only when you've entirely removed the concept that this is continuing on from the Burton (good)/ Schumacher (bad) series, then you will trully appreciate Batman Begins in it's own merit.
As the title suggests, it states the origins of the dark knight.
Here we have a young, bitter Bruce Wayne (Bale) overwhelmed by his impotent rage (from the death of his parents- but you knew that already), brawling in some unnamed prison in China being rescued and educated into a sort of ninja vigilante by a man named Henri Ducard (Neeson). From there on out we have a steady progression into the masked spook we all know and love. Along the way he battles the mob and the Scarecrow (Murphy).
The Chicago settings are utilised to the best of their abilities in creating a dark, grimy, overpopulated city (much.. like Chicago) and the music, though somewhat old-hat, is impeccable in acheiving what we expect, the kind of music you can comfortably ignore when watching a film like this.
The cast too is top notch. Bale is by far the most angry of the Batmen, and certainly maintains the intensity you would expect from a methodical viglante dressed like an animal. Keaton may have got across a dark, more worn out mean spirit of the later Wayne but Bale manages to be every bit as fierce as a young angry man could be. Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman are strong supporting cast, the latter playing against the usual stereotype of nutcase and instead playing earnest and honest Commisioner Gordon. But it's Cillian Murphy who really stands out as the first non-jokey/camp Batman villian. Murphy is superb in his measured malice, a corrupt psychiatrist whose meddling in crime is made more sinister by his hidden pleasure to psychologically torture people. Even his mask is given a reason for existence rather than the usual resigned 'well he's just mad is all' approach. He wears a sort of potato sack mask over his face to scare mental patients in his experiments. By the end he is less like the ridiculous comic character and more a mix between BF Skinner and Harold Shipman.
Of course this movie is not without it's faults. The weak love story between Bale and the ever annoying Katie Holmes only takes away from the action and is only there to make sure no one thinks ol' Wayne is gay. Secondly the Scarecrow isn't given nearly enough screen time, which in comparasion to the Joker and the Penguin's billing in the first two Batmen seems a little lacking. Third, in it's promise to be darker and edgier it still is 12 rating. This isn't nearly as violent as it could've been or even as edgy as it should've been (by comparasion to Batman Forever or Batman And Robin, though, it's the equivalent to Silence Of The Lambs or Clockwork Orange). And Lastly though they claim to be going for all it's ingeniuety it falls into the stock 'train derailed' climax, like Spiderman2 only less.Still, it's a solid interpretation that stands alone as intriguing as it is entertaining. Fans of the comics will be more in tune with this gritty vision and the average joe can be pleased with the limited amount of CGI action.
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67 of 82 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The origins of Batman given proper consideration, 27 Sep 2005
Batman at the cinema has never really worked for me. Michael Kenton's two outings were alright and at least tried to get to grips with the characters psychology and incipient rage. But the first one despite Tim Burtons singular visionary flair was mugged by an over reliance on Jack Nicholson's Joker and the second was once again way too interested in the villains and not enough in the guy with the cape and the chip on his shoulder. As for the follows ups.....lets just say i began to feel nostalgic for the vague campness of the sixties TV show.
Batman should be scary and intimidating especially to criminal scumbags and it's good to see that in Batman Begins Christian Bale endows him with a ferocious intensity. His alter ego billionaire Bruce Wayne is a decent mild mannered sort of guy so it makes it even more startling that once he dons the bat suit his face twists in fury under his mask, teeth clenched in a permanent desire to pound bad guys into the Gotham dust. This guy means business. And so he should. One of the real strengths of Batman Begins is that it really does what it says on the tin it tells us in forensic detail the origins of the character. His loathing of criminals coming from seeing his parents murdered which has been done in other batman movies. But what they never showed is how did he become so good at kicking ass? Why did he choose a bat as his symbol? Where does he get his costumes and gadgets? And no, it isn't Wal Mart. This movie does that.
Directed by Christopher Nolan who made the superb "Memento "it's not surprising that this amount of attention to detail has been incorporated into the script written by Nolan and Davis S Goyer (who wrote the "Blade" movies and Dark City" so we know he does shadowy and gothic well) I'm certain they took their cue from Frank Millers superb "Dark Knight Returns" who realised that Batman and the characters he fought had more in common than was entirely comfortable.
Suffused with anger over his parents death, their killers subsequent light treatment and the escalating degradation of his beloved Gotham City into a corrupt crime ridden hell hole Wayne wanders the world consorting with nefarious types in order to learn their mindset. Then he is recruited by a mysterious stranger (Liam Neeson) into the shadowy errrr "League of Shadows", a group of idealistic fighters who want to purge Gotham of its undesirable elements. And not be very nice about. Aided by his chirpy butler Alfred (Michael Caine) Wayne returns home to find it in the grip of a crime lord Falcone (Tom Wilkinson) who is somehow connected to psychiatrist Dr Crane (Sly nod to Frazier there, though this guy is even more fruit loop, what with donning a scarecrow mask and all) who runs the local asylum and has foul deeds of his own to perform. He can also rely on the help of his friend in the District Attorneys office Rachel ( Katie Holmes) though whether that's a good thing is open to debate, and cop Lt Gordon ( An admirably restrained Gary Oldman) In a nice cameo by Morgan Freeman he also has his own version of "Q" dispensing his numerous gadgets. Bale is terrific, portraying the conflict of his character with seething intensity as he struggles between his role as the affable Wayne and his brooding alter ego. One slight disappointment is that we don't get to see much of Batman's everyday fight against injustice as it concentrates on his struggle to free Gotham of Falcone. Happily there is a riveting finale that shows the Summers other super hero blockbuster "The Fantastic Four" how it's done. Murphy is superbly creepy as "The Scarecrow", Neeson, Caine and Wilkinson bring their usual gravitas to their supporting roles with only the bland and inconsequential Holmes letting the side down. Not really liking her as much as Tom Cruise I was rather hoping she'd cop it in some unfeasibly unpleasant manner but she just hangs about slowing things down.
The great thing about Batman for me is the fact he really isn't a superhero at all. He can't fly. He doesn't have Spidey sense or bizarre mutant powers. But he's motivated and extremely pissed off, and that makes him far more interesting. In an age where everywhere seems to be on the verge of a Gotham style meltdown (If you believe the media) Batman is the most believable, empathetic and desirable superhero of them all. A more get up and go version of the decent citizen in most of us.
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