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“Making
a Man out of the Myth…”
When I was growing up I had my share of
comic books. I never really did the collecting
thing, well… at least as far as for
money. I think when I sold my original comic
book collection, which was around 3,000
or so, it was at the behest of an insane
girlfriend who wanted me to buy a car. I
was 15 at the time, so I stupidly took the
first offer that came my way which was a
measly $600. It didn’t take me long
to recognize the error of my ways, and that
girlfriend! Thankfully long gone.
When I bought and read comics it was for
fun, and though my all-time favorite super-hero
was Spider-Man, he was really the only Marvel
character that interested me.
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I was really more of a DC guy. Every week, I
hit the comic shop with my allowance and picked
up stories about Superman, Green Lantern, and
my absolute favorite DC character, Batman. He
embodied everything that my immature mind could
understand as being a tortured character. His
parents were murdered in front of his eyes when
he was a small child and everything he had done
since, all the nightmares and all the bad guys
he put away, stemmed from that fateful night.
He was dark, scary and imposing. He was “it”
as far as I was concerned.
Over the years, Batman has been represented in
all manner of movies and cartoons. Most of the
early movie serials were pretty good, the first
two Tim Burton flicks were alright, while the
two follow-ups sucked hard, and in spite of its
silliness I liked the Adam West / Burt Ward 1960’s
schlock series. But it wasn’t until 1992,
by this time I was well into my late 20’s,
that I saw what I considered to be the best Batman
series ever. When “Batman: The Animated
Series” first aired I was completely blown
away. I was used to all the cruddy cartoons that
had become a staple of the 1980’s, and was
floored when I saw the groundbreaking animation
style, fully developed characters, and stellar
voice work that made this series stand out amongst
the masses. Up until now, this was the definitive
Batman.
When I heard that director Christopher Nolan was
set to helm a brand new Batman movie, I began
to have this feeling that audiences were in store
for something special. After all, Nolan gave us
the mesmerizing “Memento”, as well
as “Insomnia”, proving he had a knack
for directing tortured characters. Then the news
came down the wire that actor Christian Bale was
to be the new Batman. That little bit of information
firmly planted in my head the idea that the whole
presentation of Batman was going to be turned
in its head.
I first saw Bale when he starred in Steven Spielberg’s
underrated “Empire of the Sun” at
the ripe old age of 13. His performance was a
revelation as far as the world of child actors
go, and Bale was able to project a world weariness
beyond his years. Since that time, he’s
worked in a wide range of films, both high profile
and independent. His most infamous role was that
of Patrick Bateman in 2000’s “American
Psycho, where he played the single most egocentric
serial killer ever committed to film. When he
starred in the often maligned “Reign of
Fire” as Quinn, I was again impressed with
his ability to create a 3-dimensional and realistic
human character in the midst of the fantasy world
surrounding him. Then there was “The Mechanic”,
where Bale portrayed a man who had not slept in
over a year. It was one thing to deliver a performance
full of such strong paranoid schizophrenia, but
totally another to immerse himself so physically
into a character as to lose over 60 pounds in
order to become nearly a walking skeleton. That
is just one of the many facets of his abilities
that impressed me by his performance as Bruce
Wayne / Batman. Bale was always known as an actor
who took care of himself, and as such stayed in
really good shape. But to lose such an immense
amount of weight and muscle tone for one role,
only to have to gain it back and bulk himself
back up for the role of a super hero… well…
what can I say?
“Batman Begins” is what is known as
an origin story. In it we learn again of the things
that haunt the adult Bruce Wayne through an unlimited
number of flashbacks. Nolan is a master of telling
stories in a non-linear fashion and here he doesn’t
stray from that pattern. We move back and forth
through Bruce’s life to see all of the things
that turned this man into the myth. And it is
that direction that makes this film work so incredibly
well. Seeing Bruce Wayne as a happy and loving
child whose parents are wrenched from his grasp
right in front of his eyes is heartbreaking. We
watch him as he grows up, bitter and angry towards
the man who took them from him only to have his
revenge taken away as well. When he runs away
from his life, we are taken along for that journey
in order to experience his lowering to the depths
of criminality, his training at the hands of master
assassins, and his eventual redemption and taking
up the mantle of defender of the defenseless.
All this in the film’s first half, shown
out of order, with memories within memories, yet
never feeling rushed or confusing.
The second half of the film is a mixture of Bruce’s
growing into the role of the Batman and the introduction
of friends and foes. We meet Lucius Fox (Morgan
Freeman), who is to be Bruce’s gadget guy
and Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), the one honest cop
in the Gotham City Police Department. We learn
more about Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), the assassin
who was once Bruce’s friend and mentor.
And not to give away any kind of spoiler here,
but what is learned comes as a thrill to longtime
Batman fans. We are also introduced to Dr. Jonathan
Crane (Cillian Murphy), who is better known as
The Scarecrow. His representation in “Batman
Begins” is one of the best ever for a Batman
villain. The idea that his Scarecrow mask is only
a little unsettling is heightened a thousand fold
by the introduction of a hallucinatory fear toxin.
This works in the film, not only as a way to make
his character more frightening, but is as effectively
used in making the Batman similarly so.
While I can honestly say that Christian Bale’s
performance was what really kept the film on track,
I’d be wrong. Most of the characters in
the film were played by big name, A-list actors,
which had some fans a little worried. However,
each and every actor was completely lost into
the character they were playing. They took the
roles seriously and performed them as such. Most
notably was Michael Caine as Alfred, the Wayne
family’s longtime butler. He comes and goes
throughout the film, as he does throughout Bruce’s
life, but every moment he is onscreen is pure
magic. It is somewhat reminiscent of Maggie Smith’s
role as the elder Wendy Darling in “Hook”
in that he anchors the film with a powerful emotional
sense of family.
I have little in the way of comments about things
I might not have liked about “Batman Begins”,
with the exception of Katie Holmes in the role
of Rachel Dawes, Bruce’s childhood friend
and later semi-romantic interest. And to be honest,
I really did like her in the role much more than
I expected, but felt the character was a bit superfluous.
Still, Holmes did an admirable job, and did end
up posing some of the film’s more insightful
lines of dialogue.
The moment I saw “Batman Begins” on
the big screen, I began counting the days when
the DVD would come out. I cannot remember a disc
that I waited for with such anticipation. When
it showed up on my doorstep about a month ago
(one of the things I LOVE about my job…),
it took us no time to pop it in and watch it.
And we watched it TWICE over a two-night period.
That’s how much I loved the film. The first
thing I noticed about the DVD was the wonderful
transfer that Warner Brothers delivered. The film
is inherently dark in spots, yet there was never
moment that I could not make out every little
detail, the contrast was so sharp. And the sound,
which I had to try out on our surround sound system,
was unbelievable. I think the next time I’m
home and the baby is at the sitter’s, I’m
going to have to watch it again with the sound
turned up… a lot.
Warner’s is releasing 3 different version
of the DVD, the first 2 being single disc Widescreen
and Full Screen versions. But for the Batman completist,
they are also offering a two-disc special edition,
full of hours of additional materials. The first
disc contains for the most part, only the movie.
No commentary at all, which is fine as it left
more room on the disc for the terrific transfer.
There is a short parody of the film with Jimmy
Fallon that was shot for MTV called “Tankman
Begins.” It is mildly amusing, but I’m
not really a fan of Jimmy Fallon.
The second disc of the set offers up a ton of
behind the scenes features, which you can access
by navigating an interactive comic book (which
was admittedly a little frustrating) or by a more
direct listing of materials. The main piece is
a documentary that follows the development of
the film. It runs a little under 15 minutes and
offers comments from the filmmakers. There are
also several featurettes of varying lengths that
focus on items like the new Bat Suit, the re-designed
Batmobile (I have GOT to get me one of those…),
the sets and miniatures used to create Gotham
and Wayne Manor, and the various CGI used for
the film. You’ll also find a nice little
feature on the history of the Batman. Add to this
some great poster and photo galleries, along with
background on some of the hardware and characters
in the film, and you have an extremely well put-together
DVD set.
If you find yourself in the mood for some reading,
Warner Brothers also included a 72-page comic
book with the first "Batman" story,
"The Bat-Man" by Bob Kane, which first
appeared in Detective Comics No. 27 way back in
May of 1939. There are also two additional stories,
"The Man Who Falls" and a chapter of
"The Long Halloween."
It’s looking as though there is going to
be a new franchise for Batman, and I for one could
not be happier. With this new cast and crew dedicated
to creating a whole new and exciting world for
the character, I can only hope that it won’t
get run into the ground like it did under director
Joel Schumacher’s garish direction a few
years ago. Christopher Nolan has successfully
taken a mythological comic book character and
turned him into a believable human being.
This is the “Batman” movie I’ve
waited my whole life to see.
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, Morgan
Freeman, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson
Extras: MTV's Tankman Begins: A Spoof , Inner
Demons Comic: Explore The Special Features Through
an Exclusive Interactive Comic Book, The Journey
Begins: Creative Concepts, Story Development and
Casting, Shaping Mind and Body: Christian Bale's
Transformation Into Batman, The Tumbler: Reinvention
of the Batmobile, Gotham City Rises: Production
Design of Gotham City, The Batcave, Wayne Manor,
and More, Saving Gotham City: The Development
of Miniatures, CGI, and Effects for the Monorail
Chase Scene, Genesis of the Bat: A Look at the
Dark Knight's Incarnation and Influences on the
Film, Confidential Files: Go Beyond the Movie
and Discover Facts and Story Points not in the
Film, Theatrical Trailer, Cape and Cowl: The New
Batsuit, Path to Discovery: Filming in Iceland,
Confidential Files, Character/Weaponry Gallery,
Photo Gallery
DVD-ROM Features: Batman Begins Mobile Game Demo
& Web Links, Exclusive Collectible 72-Page
Comic Book Containing: Detective Comics #27 (The
Very First Batman Story), Batman: The Man Who
Falls (A Classic Story That Inspired Batman Begins),
and an Excerpt From Batman: The Long Halloween
(A Chilling Story That Also Inspired the Film)
Specifications: Widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1
Surround Sound
Studio: Warner Brothers
Release Date: 10/18/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Website
We'll give Batman Begins an A+.
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