Batman Begins

Revenge of the Sith worried me. The last installment of Star Wars was a solidly appealing film that should have benefited from its historical significance; it would forever close a highly influential chapter in my life. And yet when I walked out of the theater film I felt numb and disjointed instead of sad but satisfied. I thought perhaps I was broken; perhaps age and cynicism had corroded my ability to suspend disbelief and lose myself in the world of film. I mean, if I couldn’t lose myself in Star Wars after years of conditioning, what films are out there to effortlessly transport myself to another time and place for two hours?

The answer is Batman Begins – quite simply the best comic book film ever made. In terms of quality, I would say it is virtually tied with Spider-Man 2, but Batman the character, with his deep-seeded guilt and angst, proves a much more compelling individual than your friendly neighborhood webslinger. Bruce Wayne is a broken man, if he can be considered a man at all. The death of his parents in a seedy black alley at the hands of a lowly mugger permanently poisoned his heart, and on that day, as one character points out at the end of the film, Bruce Wayne became the mask for Batman to hide behind.

Comic book films have enjoyed quite the cinematic renaissance during the past decade. The X-Men and Spider-Man franchises realized the potential for these larger-than-life characters on the big screen, and they were a success simply because – inconceivable! – the directors of these films did the characters justice. The stories and histories of these figures were there from the beginning; what Singer and Raimi were able to do was mine the depths of those histories and simply morph the medium. I do not mean to belittle what those two directors did (Spider-Man 2 was my favorite film of last year), but their main task in those films was not to screw up what was already there. To say they went for par instead of pulling out the big dog sounds condescending, but it’s not. X2 and Spider-Man 2 were exceptional pars. But Christopher Nolan never thought twice about pulling out his driver, and he got himself a breathtaking hole-in-one.

Twenty years ago Frank Miller forever changed the character of Batman in comics with The Dark Knight Returns. Now, with Batman Begins, Nolan has done the same for Batman in film. No more frilly costumes, over-the-top villains, or nippled batsuits. This Batman is dark, disturbed, and best of all – frightening.

Batman’s intention from early on in the film, under the tutelage of Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), is to “strike fear into those who prey on the fearful.” He studies ninjitsu and learns to hide in the shadows and rely on stealth, stalking his adversaries with agonizing patience before striking with animalistic speed and ferocity. This Batman could have his own horror movie, if he wasn’t on our side.

And that’s exactly the mood Nolan establishes with this Batman. He is the boogeyman that chases petty thieves and crimelords through their nightmares. If they’re lucky enough to see him (which most of them don’t) what they see doesn’t make sense, doesn’t seem real. It can’t be. In one of the more ingenious moments in the film, Dr. Johnathan Crane a.k.a. Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) has his own hallucinogenic toxin used on himself and we get a chance to see what most of these villains think Batman looks like when he’s not hidden by shadows. It's horrifying.For a film that clocks in at about 135 minutes, it moves at a clip. We open with Bruce Wayne in an Asian prison where he proceeds to pummel six or seven fellow prisoners before being carted away to isolation:

“Isolation? For what?” Wayne says.

“Protection,” the officials respond.

“I don’t need protection.”

“It’s not for you. It’s for them,” they say, indicating the half dozen men groaning in the mud.

In isolation he meets Ducard, who recruits him to train with the League of Shadows, a secretive militia group run by the mysterious Ra's Al Ghul, played with a sinister quiet by Ken Watanabe. The training here moves so fast that it could be considered a montage except that it’s so densely layered with the themes of the rest of the film that I don’t want it to be confused with other “training” montages. After being offered membership in the clan, things fall apart quickly and Wayne returns to Gotham – a gritty metropolis slowly crumbling into dust. Crime is rampant. The bad men run the town. And those who would fight are so sparse as to have no allies. Batman changes that equation, turning the power to the other side.

Shot on location in Chicago, the city is both familiar and new. But most importantly it feels real. The difference between Batman Begins and a film like Revenge of the Sith is striking. I can imagine setting foot in Gotham (because I have in many of the places the shot), but that same sense of reality is nowhere to be found in Star Wars -- everything feels constructed. That is the blessing of this film and what will separate it from most of the other summer films (and certainly every other Batman ever made). Nolan grounds his Batman in reality, so much so that the first time he jumps off a roof its result is clumsy and painful, very un-superhero. Despite the subject matter, Nolan strives for realism in his surroundings and especially the performances.

For convincing performances, you can’t get much better than the supporting cast. Watanabe, Neeson, and Murphy all chew into their villainous roles without ever going over-the-top (or at least inappropriately so). Rounding out the nefarious side of the cast are Rutger Hauer as Earle, the acting head of Wayne Corp, and the wonderfully vile Tom Wilkinson as Carmine Falcone, Gotham’s reigning druglord. Wilkinson’s Falcone is so nasty that I found myself smiling through every one of his scenes.The good guys don’t catch short shrift in the acting chops department either. The heart of the film belongs to Michael Caine, as Alfred the butler. His mourning of Bruce’s parents, as well as his real time concern, for the Wayne heir gives Batman a human face even as he goes to very dark places. Morgan Freeman has fun as Lucius Fox, Batman’s gadget guru, and Gary Oldman plays a weather-beaten Captain (soon to be commissioner) Gordon with such quiet you have to remind yourself after the film that it was Gary Oldman. The only weakness in the cast comes from the future Mrs. Tom Cruise (God help me) Katie Holmes, whose puppy dog eyes can’t help but draw you in. But aside from her final scene with Bruce Wayne, her character doesn’t break any new ground in the female foil department.

But all of this would be for naught if Christian Bale wasn’t able to fill the cape and cowl. Well, not only did he fill it, Bale fucking owns it. I’m afraid to go back to the first Batman film (which I enjoyed), because after Bale’s ferocious imagining of the Caped Crusader Michael Keaton is going to look neutered. It seems stupidly obvious for a superhero named after an animal, but Bale is the first actor to play Batman as if he were one. When Bale finally announces to the world “I’m Batman” in a vengeful snarl, nobody would argue with him. He shakes and growls like a man possessed by something wild, something feral. His performances inches so close to the edge that it makes the audience uncomfortable; there are moments of interrogation in this film when I felt like Batman may unhinge his jaw and swallow a man whole. That’s the Batman we’re dealing with here.

I’ve spent all this time talking about character but I should mention that the film does not lack action in the action department. Still, it plays more like a thriller than the banal action fare we usually get during the summer. This is closer in tone to Silence of the Lambs than it is to Batman and Robin. Batman Begins is tense, dark, and powerful. Everything one should expect from the Dark Knight.

Grade for Batman Begins: A