Film review: Batman Begins.
Caught this the other day, on opening night. Hence the review.
Warner Bros is a brave, brave company, I'll tell you that. After the disaster that was Batman & Robin, back in 1997, the Batman Franchise was something most film companies didn't even want to touch with a ten foot pole. It was dead. It was buried. It was a part of cinema history, never to be spoken of again. Until now.
To be honest, I was weary about this. I loved the original Batman; the film with Michael Keaton and the utterly brilliant Jack Nicholson was the first film I ever saw at the cinema, so it will always have a special place in my heart. The fact that it rapidly went downhill after that does nothing to diminish that.
I'm happy to say that I've not been disappointed. Batman is back, alive and kicking, and the franchise seems to have been kickstarted. Batman Begins is a flawed, but very enjoyable film, which will surely spawn a sequel or two. Christopher Nolan has managed to do what Joel Schumacher and even Tim Burton weren't able to do - he has made Batman human, and Gotham real. And it is this 'realness' that makes this film so incredibly fun to watch.
More points are awarded to this film for it's cast - I commend Nolan for going with a relative unknown as his lead; Chistian Bale is superb as the broody and troubled hero. With Bruce Wayne/Batman, Nolan has gone back to the roots of the character, portraying an angry and confused Bruce Wayne, who struggles but ultimately rises to become Gotham City's greatest hero. Do not expect to see many shots of Batman in this film, though; the story revolves around Wayne and it focuses mainly on his years of training and preparation for becoming the Dark Knight. The viewer is teased throughout the first half of the film, waiting to see Christian Bale in the iconic costume, as it keeps holding back to keep you in anticipation. When Batman does finally show up on screen, it is well worth the wait. Christian Bale, in my opinion, was born for this role.
The rest of the cast is simply amazing; Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katy Holmes, Ken Watanabe and Tom Wilkinson are not to be sniffed at. The three standout supporting roles in this film were, for me, Michael Caine as Alfred the butler, whose relationship with his Master Bruce was endearing and, at times, funny; Gary Oldman as the friendly cop Jim Gordon, Oldman's first non-villain part, ever; and Cillian Murphy, as Dr. Jonathan Cane, the incredibly eerie but surprisingly human villain of the part, the Scarecrow.
As for the action, stunts and SFX of the film; they are all adequate. One thing I noticed is that there is a distinct lack of CG effects; Nolan decided to take a more traditional approach to the SFX, which is commendable. The result of this approach is a satisfying visual experience that has a great, gloomy feel to it. The CG simply provides the icing on the cake, instead of trying to be the whole cake, as is the case with many action films today (which is not always a bad thing).
My two gripes are this - the audio of the film was too loud (perhaps due to the theatre) and too hectic. There were many sounds blaring at you simultaniously that they, at times, all merged and became one monotonous soundbarrier. Also, the cinematography could have been better, especially during the fight scenes. The camera was so close to the action most of the time, that it was nigh on impossible to make out what was in fact happening on screen. Minor Gripes, but gripes none the less.
Batman Begins is a dark film, centred around themes of fear, overcoming the demons of your past, and the fight for justice in a corrupt world. Unlike most comic book films, Batman begins is not aimed at children. It is not strictly adult in nature, not at all, but it offers intelligent character development, complex portrayals of characters and adult conflict. To sum up, this film (among others) proves that comic books can be the source of films that are equally good as the dramas that win the prizes come awards season. Batman Begins is more than just a film about a guy in a suit and a cape who fights crime; it's an emotional rollercoaster ride into his inner self and, of course, it's also a hell of a lot of fun.
It seems that Batman, finally, Begins.
A 74 out of 100.
Cheers
Warner Bros is a brave, brave company, I'll tell you that. After the disaster that was Batman & Robin, back in 1997, the Batman Franchise was something most film companies didn't even want to touch with a ten foot pole. It was dead. It was buried. It was a part of cinema history, never to be spoken of again. Until now.
To be honest, I was weary about this. I loved the original Batman; the film with Michael Keaton and the utterly brilliant Jack Nicholson was the first film I ever saw at the cinema, so it will always have a special place in my heart. The fact that it rapidly went downhill after that does nothing to diminish that.
I'm happy to say that I've not been disappointed. Batman is back, alive and kicking, and the franchise seems to have been kickstarted. Batman Begins is a flawed, but very enjoyable film, which will surely spawn a sequel or two. Christopher Nolan has managed to do what Joel Schumacher and even Tim Burton weren't able to do - he has made Batman human, and Gotham real. And it is this 'realness' that makes this film so incredibly fun to watch.
More points are awarded to this film for it's cast - I commend Nolan for going with a relative unknown as his lead; Chistian Bale is superb as the broody and troubled hero. With Bruce Wayne/Batman, Nolan has gone back to the roots of the character, portraying an angry and confused Bruce Wayne, who struggles but ultimately rises to become Gotham City's greatest hero. Do not expect to see many shots of Batman in this film, though; the story revolves around Wayne and it focuses mainly on his years of training and preparation for becoming the Dark Knight. The viewer is teased throughout the first half of the film, waiting to see Christian Bale in the iconic costume, as it keeps holding back to keep you in anticipation. When Batman does finally show up on screen, it is well worth the wait. Christian Bale, in my opinion, was born for this role.
The rest of the cast is simply amazing; Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katy Holmes, Ken Watanabe and Tom Wilkinson are not to be sniffed at. The three standout supporting roles in this film were, for me, Michael Caine as Alfred the butler, whose relationship with his Master Bruce was endearing and, at times, funny; Gary Oldman as the friendly cop Jim Gordon, Oldman's first non-villain part, ever; and Cillian Murphy, as Dr. Jonathan Cane, the incredibly eerie but surprisingly human villain of the part, the Scarecrow.
As for the action, stunts and SFX of the film; they are all adequate. One thing I noticed is that there is a distinct lack of CG effects; Nolan decided to take a more traditional approach to the SFX, which is commendable. The result of this approach is a satisfying visual experience that has a great, gloomy feel to it. The CG simply provides the icing on the cake, instead of trying to be the whole cake, as is the case with many action films today (which is not always a bad thing).
My two gripes are this - the audio of the film was too loud (perhaps due to the theatre) and too hectic. There were many sounds blaring at you simultaniously that they, at times, all merged and became one monotonous soundbarrier. Also, the cinematography could have been better, especially during the fight scenes. The camera was so close to the action most of the time, that it was nigh on impossible to make out what was in fact happening on screen. Minor Gripes, but gripes none the less.
Batman Begins is a dark film, centred around themes of fear, overcoming the demons of your past, and the fight for justice in a corrupt world. Unlike most comic book films, Batman begins is not aimed at children. It is not strictly adult in nature, not at all, but it offers intelligent character development, complex portrayals of characters and adult conflict. To sum up, this film (among others) proves that comic books can be the source of films that are equally good as the dramas that win the prizes come awards season. Batman Begins is more than just a film about a guy in a suit and a cape who fights crime; it's an emotional rollercoaster ride into his inner self and, of course, it's also a hell of a lot of fun.
It seems that Batman, finally, Begins.
A 74 out of 100.
Cheers
3 Comments:
Nice review. Looking forward to the movie.
However, Gary Oldman has played the occasional non-villain, eg Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead or Immortal Beloved (though some might consider Beethoven to be pretty villainous).
I was being slightly sarcastic - I do that, sometimes.
Thanks for the compliment.
Cheers
Aha. I must have been humour-impaired.
Post a Comment
<< Home